Kuro5hin: Active Duty Military Attending the RNC

[porkrind]

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/9/3/162335/9285

A recent report filed by the Associated Press contained a startling bit of information:

About 15 percent of the 4,800-plus delegates and alternates to the convention in New York are veterans, organizers said Monday. An additional 3 percent are active military personnel.

This report was displayed prominently on the Republican National Committee's website, and lauded gleefully by the fine folks at Free Republic, among others

As it turns out though, it's actually not such a good thing to have active-duty military anywhere near a political convention - if you value your democracy. In fact, up until just a few days before the convention, it was quite illegal for active-duty military even to attend. And yet, there it was in black and white. Active duty military members were not only attending, but participating as delegates in the RNC. How could this happen?

:dem:

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Read about the Right-Wing "Master Plan": http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-contents.html

Have you read "War is a Racket"?: http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

Read George Orwell's classic "1984" free online here: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984

[bluestateguy]

1. That can't be legal

It's illegal for federal civil service employees (not elected politicians) to serve as delegates, so I can't see the logic of this being legal.

Names should be taken of the active duty military personnel who attended the convention as delegates. That notation should be put into their permanent file and be noted every time they come up for promotion. We ought to be cautious about entrusting the defenses of this nation to people who believe the military exists for the purposes of being an arm of the Republican Party.

[bluestateguy]

2. Please delete

[tritsofme]

3. Active duty military could go to the Convention

but it would be illegal for them to be delegates.