What’s Wrong with the World

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What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more

The U.S. Military vs. conservatives

I caused a certain amount of consternation in certain quarters by venturing to say, here, that the U.S. military is not a good place for conservative Christian young men.

I've been meaning for some time to blog this story about Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers. According to Sommers, his superiors in the U.S. army

--asked him to remove political bumper stickers from his private car which were negative toward Obama (they later backed down on this one specific demand, after Sommers got legal counsel),

--told him he could not silently read a book by David Limbaugh or another book by Mark Levin while in uniform or where other military members might see him and be offended by his choice of reading material,

--promoted him but then reprimanded him in a document for featuring Chik-Fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party and mentioning (on Twitter) that he was doing so partly "in honor of" the Obama/Holder refusal to defend DOMA. (He was told that he couldn't tweet anything "bordering on disrespect of the President.")

--personally warned by an officer that his tweets were deemed offensive and that some considered them racist (!)

--received a bad efficiency report, apparently for said tweets,

In the above list, when I mention "tweets" I've had in mind the following:

“In honor of DADT repeal, and Obama/Holder’s refusal to enforce DOMA act, I’m serving Chick-fil-A at my MSG promo reception for Army today.”

He also tweeted to radio host Mark Levin: “@Marklevinshow ‘luv ya, Mark! Fellow Virginian & MSG, Army. Being promoted today, serving Chick-fil-A @ reception in honor of DADT repeal.”

Later, the army dug through his twitter account and dug up a retweet of what someone else had said that did include the f____t word for homosexuals. Sommers admitted that the retweet was a case of "bad judgement" on his part but refused to posture and apologize in general on the issue as a whole.

In the name of full disclosure, I will tell my readers that the army has released the following statement, of which I am quite dubious:

“Accordingly, the Soldier was not prohibited from displaying a political bumper sticker. Instead, the Soldier’s supervisor discussed the appropriateness of the bumper stickers with him and potential perceptions of others in light of the regulatory guidance.”

“The Soldier is not, and never has been, “facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party,” the spokesperson added.

I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you if you take that to be decisive. Speaking for myself, I believe Sommers. And if being told you can't read Levin and Limbaugh where others might see you (or in uniform!) isn't "facing punishment" in the military, I don't know what is, because in the military you're supposed to do what you're told.

Soldiers don't have the same rights as civilians. I don't entirely mind that. However, when that fact is being used to micromanage their political reading and political views, we have a major problem. I don't actually know the official law on these matters. Sommers has a lawyer. We shall see what happens. It's impossible to read the story about Sommers or this one about the chaplain who was told he needed to "get in line" or resign after the repeal of DADT without realizing the great hostility toward conservatives that is building in certain quarters in the military. That hostility appears to be channeled through the authority structure to punish those who stray into wrong-think and don't stay in the closet about it.

The world darkens.

Comments (8)

I would be a lot more sympathetic to the military's account if we were to observe them taking the same actions with soldiers who have pro-Obama bumper stickers, or who tweet "Go Holder on DADT". But we all know that we will never happen, we know that failure to tolerate points of view in official government actions never lands on LIBERAL points of view.

I also take a very cautious view of military commentary on the President himself. That's an area where they really do have reason to tread a careful line. But there is a big difference between disrepect of the President and lack of respect for his POLICY on actual law, policy as expressed through the Justice Department (on DOMA). I don't know what the military code says about expressing personal opinions, but if it doesn't distinguish between things like these differences, then it seems remiss.

It appears to me pretty much undeniable that they are obliterating any line between "disrespect of the President" and disagreement with the President on policy. Deliberately so, in fact. And the "racism" accusation is a kind of self-caricature, but what I'm beginning to realize (in part from this story) is that certain superiors in the U.S. military really do represent the most extreme caricature of politically correct leftism and wield whatever vague phrases ("disrespect of the president," "violation of order" or what-not) they have available to them as an explicit political club. No one, evidently, calls them to account for it, because it's all harrumph "military discipline, ye know."

Lord have mercy.

I love the way in the story of Sommers that the military takes credit to itself for not having actually forced him to get rid of the bumper stickers, when in fact according to Sommers they tried to do so and backed off _only_ because he obtained legal advice. I guess that's a good example of their chutzpah.

Our greatest institutions are indeed most heavily attacked by leftists in this country. And the military naturally falls into this category as it is a part of the Federal government, and the federal government is increasingly on the left.

Isn't it ironic? Sommers, who now feels unjustly discriminated against because he retweeted a tweet on "f...t Tuesday", "lefty loons", and "Obamabots", reads D. Limbaugh and Hannity? Authors who denounced (non-foul-mouthed!) critics of commander in chief, George W. Bush, as "unpatriotic", "unamerican", "inviting" or "justifying terrorist attack" etc. And, by the way, there were no weapons of mass destruction, no connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda etc., you know.
And Hannity? Really? Of all conservative hacks, he is the dumbest. There can be no doubt: a Master Sgt. who reads or listens to Hannity is a serious danger for the troops.

Grobi, I welcome your intelligent comments. Why don't you look in your bag and see if you have any, these didn't make the grade.

And Hannity? Really? Of all conservative hacks, he is the dumbest.

Oh, no, that's not true. Regardless of how dumb Hannity is, I guarantee there are dumber ones. Dumber than a doorpost. Hannity, at least, has made tens of millions with his abilities, he's only middling-dumb at the worst.

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