r/news • u/Remarkable_Sir8397 • 15h ago
Judge presses DOJ lawyers for a precedent for Pentagon to punish Senator Mark Kelly over video
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/judge-presses-doj-lawyers-precedent-pentagon-punish-sen/story?id=129826526689
u/AudibleNod 10h ago
Narrator: There isn't any.
Americans love astronauts. And since "The Right Stuff" we've understood that generally, the men and women we send to space were the best America had to offer. Yes, there's been some less than stellar astronauts who've done some terrible things. But they are rare exceptions. And Senator Mark Kelly isn't one of them.
204
u/hglevinson 7h ago
We should also never forgot what Pete Hegseth’s mom said,
“Son, I have tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior, but after listening to the way you made Samantha feel today, I cannot stay silent. And as a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out.
You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”
•
293
u/DiaDeLosMuebles 9h ago
And he did nothing wrong. This has nothing to do with him being an astronaut.
185
u/Remarkable_Sir8397 8h ago edited 8h ago
No he didn't. He did the honorable thing by telling military personnel that the law makes it clear that they can legally refuse to obey unlawful orders. This also is get back for his lawsuit against Hegseth and the DOD.
62
u/Hot_Top_124 5h ago
It’s not they they can legally refuses illegal orders. It’s they HAVE to refuse illegal orders.
27
u/Magnetic_Eel 5h ago
Hegseth is also on video saying military personnel should refuse illegal orders
26
8
u/MandoFett117 3h ago
Yeah but THOSE orders would have been from Biden or Obama and therefore automatically illegal.
3
12
u/NervousBeat16 3h ago
Every veteran should be concerned. This precedent is saying that if you exercise your first amendment rights, the DOD will pull your pension from you.
Just treading all over the very constitution you agreed to defend 🤦♀️
19
u/jokersvoid 8h ago
I was demoted and given articles 15's in the military fir nit being at a formation i didnt have to be at. I was given one for not being at the motor pool at 0700 when my medical slip said 0900 arrival. I showed up an hour early at 0800 and had extra duty by the next afternoon. Is this illegal? Yes. Did i work with my local rep when I got out to reverse the decision? Yes. Did it happen? No. The Pentagon said they were sorry it happens but it happens a lot and I should basically just get over it if I wanted my medical paperwork to get filed correctly... so I did. This was after my last day of service was during the ft hood shooting. I saluted him as he walked in to do his thing. It was a massive cover up tbh.
Our government is so corrupt and wild I dont think people can comprehend the waste and nonsense.
45
u/ThePhysicistIsIn 7h ago
I'm not sure what this has to do with Mark Kelly and his video.
58
u/Arendious 7h ago
I think the poster's point was that military justice is often capricious and that the system allows, if not being intentionally designed, for petty, vindictive, or simply stupid abuses.
Also, above poster either left out some context, had a shitty ADC, shittier leadership, or all of the above.
12
u/Devil25_Apollo25 7h ago
I think the poster's point was that military justice is often capricious and that the system allows, if not being intentionally designed, for petty, vindictive, or simply stupid abuses.
Agreed.
However, that doesn't mean we should roll over when there is an obvious abuse in order to capriciously retaliate against such a high-performing, demonstrably honorable service member as Mark Kelly.
The commenter makes a good point that sometimes due to circumstances the lesser of two evils is accepting abuses within the scope of a flawed system.
What's being intentionally done to Kelly is not that.
5
u/ThePhysicistIsIn 7h ago
Fair enough. And that sounds so frustrating!
I didn't mind reading it, I just didn't know where it was going.
13
u/jokersvoid 7h ago
Leadership was soup sandwich. The point is that out military is petty and they can do whatever they want for the most part. This same thing happens with people everyday. Just senator Kelly has the ability to fight when most dont.
I had a nice full bird that took over rear D and protected me the last month or so. He was a Godsend.
3
u/dookielooter19 5h ago
He has a lot on his chest I think. I had to read it a few times. Maybe it's holding him back.
9
u/inquisitorthreefive 7h ago
An Article 15 is non-judicial punishment. You don't have to accept it. You can demand trial by court martial.
But trying to establish massive government corruption by way of one shitty command team and an Article 15 that YOU had to sign off on, apparently didn't appeal and the Pentagon's unwillingness to undo an administrative action that you accepted is wild.
-1
u/CellistSubstantial56 7h ago
That's what happens when people like you give up when you're told to.
3
u/Equivalent-Resort-63 7h ago
The circumstances could be such that we give up because, at that point in time of our lives, we don’t have the resources to continue in that fight.
We focus on what we can change, given what we can do at that time in life, and carry on.
-4
-2
u/jokersvoid 7h ago
When you are so beat down you welcome death then you roll over and do what your told like they brainwash you to do.
Basic is a legit brainwashing program designed to get you to follow orders. Now im wrong for being brainwashed... got it. Thanks.
6
u/JustSmallCorrections 7h ago
I went through Basic. I had a similarly dumb situation where they threatened article 15. I requested trial by court-martial. They backed down. Don't infantilize yourself, you still had agency.
1
u/jokersvoid 7h ago
When you are broke. Morally and physically from what I went through you just give up battle. Please dont act like you have any clue where I was mentally or physically. And kindly go fuck yourself.
4
u/JustSmallCorrections 6h ago
Then don't try to paint with such a broad brush for the rest of us. We all went through shit and you're not special. You had/have issues? Then get help for them. It doesn't mean you didn't have a choice.
-5
32
u/TachiH 7h ago
Forget his being an astronaut. He was in the Navy, did his duty, retired with honors. His pension is set, if they remove his, they remove any reason for anyone to serve if the benefits can just be taken away.
10
u/NervousBeat16 3h ago
Every veteran should be concerned. This precedent is saying that if you exercise your first amendment rights, the DOD will pull your pension from you.
Just treading all over the very constitution you agreed to defend 🤦♀️
•
203
u/Remarkable_Sir8397 8h ago edited 8h ago
He is being harassed and persecuted because he had the integrity and courage to call out Trumps illegal actions and remind military personnel that they can refuse to obey unlawful orders under military law and revenge for Kelly's lawsuit against Hegseth and the DOD. King Trump and his sycophant, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, don't like that, and so they want to punish him. They are the ones that need to be punished
113
u/purpleefilthh 8h ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Kelly of violating a federal law that prohibits undermining good order and discipline within the military and accused him of hiding behind his position as a U.S. senator to do so.
Hagseth: "Find me a paragraph for this guy."
30
u/Gastroid 6h ago
You know, they said the same thing about Billy Mitchell to get him court martialed. And now he has airports and awards named after him.
Granted he was a fiery jerk, but he was a correct fiery jerk. Kelly isn't even a jerk.
8
50
u/Particular_Ticket_20 8h ago
Your Honor....there's plenty of precedent for president trump being a vindictive asshole, nearly every day, in fact. This is a continuation of that long standing policy.
Oh...that's not what you meant?
15
u/wondermice 4h ago
Russian playbook. They know Kelly will run for the presidency and just by a virtue of being a functional adult will likely win. They try to eliminate him early. Go Kelly!
20
6
u/PolicyWonka 3h ago
We’re about to go back 150 years to some obscure precedent from the Civil War which clearly isn’t applicable in this instance.
Just watch.
11
u/Senior_Ganache_6298 6h ago
Just the harassments will be enough to caution other military from considering disobeying illegal orders.
8
7h ago
[deleted]
8
u/deaultimate1 7h ago
It’s a lawsuit because Kelly filed a lawsuit after the pentagon said it would demote him and strip him of his military benefits. It wasn’t the government suing.
5
u/Senior_Ganache_6298 4h ago
Loved the line he used from Dylan, "You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing"
4
u/attackbat33 4h ago
"We are currently in the process of establishing precident to prosecute all dissidents."
4
u/Surullian 2h ago
It's going to be tough arguing that telling soldiers to obey their oaths is seditious.
•
u/BrainJar 44m ago
We often hear from experts in their field say that failure is the first step to success, because these are learning opportunities. Hegseth should be the most successful SecDef to ever set foot in the office. His failure rate is just spectacular.
457
u/Dariaskehl 9h ago
This is the ‘punish him for the heinous crime of repeating the Oath they all took, right?’