About that major

[pecunium]

He's more stupid than I thought.


He was, you see, a volunteer. He asked to be deployed. When, you may ask, did he put his name on the list... how long before his "come to Jesus" moment when he realised Obama completely invalidated any order which comes down the pipe.

That, actually, is the crux of his argument. He dresses it up with flashy window dressing about war crimes, but when you strip that nonsense away, the core argument he makes is that Obama not "proving" he is a "native born" citizen invalidates any orders.

That argument means nothing can be done. Any private can refuse to clean the latrines, etc., because the orders aren't lawful. The Army is, in his view, in limbo. No one can tell them to do anything.

So, when did he put his name on the list.

May.

Which means it's, almost certainly, a stunt. It's, sadly, a no-lose situation for him. Since he volunteered, he can back out; right up to the day before he ships out.

So, since he's asked for release, it's been granted. Already the right-wing noise machine has gone into spin mode. The best... he was released because that way the truth about Omama's birth in Kenya can be hidden a little longer. (an example in the wild from Chicks on the Right).

Me... I still think he ought to be cashiered. It's not that he is mad as a hatter, no, it's that he has by his example, commited offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice

§ 881. Art. 81. Conspiracy

Any person subject to this chapter who conspires with any other person to commit an offense under this chapter shall, if one or more of the conspirators does an act to effect the object of the conspiracy, be punished as a court-martial may direct,

§ 882. Art. 82. Solicitation

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who solicits or advises another or others to desert in violation of section 885 of this title (article 85) or mutiny in violation of section 894 of this title (article 94) shall, if the offense solicited or advised is attempted or committed, be punished with the punishment provided for the commission of the offense, but, if the offense solicited or advised is not committed or attempted, he shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. (b) Any person subject to this chapter who solicits or advises another or others to commit an act of misbehavior before the enemy in violation of section 899 of this title (article 99) or sedition in violation of section 894 of this title (article 94) shall, if the offense solicited or advised is committed, be punished with the punishment provided for the commission of the offense, but, if the offense solicited or advised is not committed, he shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

§ 888. Art. 88. Contempt toward officials

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

§ 894. Art. 94. Mutiny or sedition

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who—
(1) with intent to usurp or override lawful military authority, refuses, in concert with any other person, to obey orders or otherwise do his duty or creates any violence or disturbance is guilty of mutiny; (2) with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of lawful civil authority, creates, in concert with any other person, revolt, violence, or other disturbance against that authority is guilty of sedition; (3) fails to do his utmost to prevent and suppress a mutiny or sedition being committed in his presence, or fails to take all reasonable means to inform his superior commissioned officer or commanding officer of a mutiny or sedition which he knows or has reason to believe is taking place, is guilty of a failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition.
(b) A person who is found guilty of attempted mutiny, mutiny, sedition, or failure to suppress or report a mutiny or sedition shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.

§ 933. Art. 133. Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman

Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

§ 934. Art. 134. General article

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.

Throw the book at him.

Comments

[onyxlynx]

Yes, the book. The heaviest book one can find.

Followed by the cat-kicking-litter-over-its-feces motion.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Isn't there also something specific about speaking to a member of the armed forces in such a way as to decrease their confidence in their orders duirng wartime being treasonable? I know Heinlein discusses it somewhere in Grumbles from the Grave, but I don't remember if he cites chapter and verse, don't have the book with me now, and don't know if that bit would still be on the books anyway.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

There are some interesting problems, actually, because of his Reserve Status. It's possible none of this appplies, if he can show all the conversations took place when he wasn't on federal (Title 10) orders.

I don't know what part of the federal code might touch on that, but I am sure there is a sedition law on the books somewhere.

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

15 minutes of infamy

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Some of this stuff, I expect the lawyers have defined the words so delicately that we can't know what they mean.

And after the last eight years, I suspect no court-martial would dare touch Art. 133, as too many might have reason to think they would be next.

If they even know what a gentleman is...

[phonemonkey.livejournal.com]

I'd have thought that the army would be the LAST place in the world where you'd find screaming drama queens.

Throw the book at him, definitely.

[thatpotteryguy.livejournal.com]

Only because you've never been in the army...I agree. Throw the whole f'ing librabry at him.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

My thoughts exactly.

Pottery

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

Totally off topic-- what kind do you collect? i'm Gladding McBean with a touch of Fiesta and Nor Calif misc.

Re: Pottery

[thatpotteryguy.livejournal.com]

Not a collector - a potter. I make reproductions of historic pottery and ceramic goods. I also collect pre-colonial English and German peices, but not on a large basis - it's an expesive hobby, though it's arguably useful for research purposes.

Re: Pottery

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

Yes, i have friends that collect Quimper and a few other things. Lovely hobby though- i could easily enjoy doing reproductions- way kewl!

Re: Pottery

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I miss throwning pots. Maybe I'll get back to it.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

Compare this jackass to Lt. Danny Choi, who simply refused to lie about being gay any more. Personally, I'd love to see hardcore right wingers defend him and attack Choi, because then the 90% of America who's sane could get a good look at what crazy looks like.

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

But sinboy-- 90% of America isn't sane... more like 53% on any given day. There is sadly a HUGE percentage that have deluded themselves into thinking that they make their own reality.
Their commander in chief said so, so it must be true:)

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I don't correlate "sane" with "agrees with me" or "isn't bigoted", so I class it as more like 10-30% who're permanent nutcases. The rest are where people can be swayed by the tide of history.

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

Sanity- now there is an ideology to debate into the next century. When talking politics, i tend to believe that those who sincerely expect the imminent arrival of the rapture, that their commander in chief TALKS to *any* God, or that their country is in immediate danger of being overrun and taken over by what amounts to a terrorist organization that could not hold Delaware let alone the USA, do not fall into my parameters of 'sanity' in the short term sense.
i can easily accept your percentages however- even 30% is 1 in every 3 people.... (quickly looks around at who else is in the room with me).

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

Dipshit also worked for a company with a DOD contract, from what I understand. He asked for time off to go to Afghanistan. Company found out he wasn't going and tossed him. This is all because he's a paranoid malingerer who wants a spot on Limbaugh's show? Lovely.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

That is too rich. Petard, hoist.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I suspect nothing will happen.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Would it be worth getting him to prove he's completely, and unequivacablye able to prove he's a U.S. citizen. Probably not, since folks who aren't U.S. citizen can serve in our military. (Which I think is rather stupid, but I know some people use as a route to get citizenship...)

[sethg]

Of course, if he's court-martialed, or less-than-honorably discharged, or gets an aisle seat instead of a window seat on the plane to Afghanistan, then he can spend twice as long on the wingnut gravy train declaring that he has been PERSECUTED for DARING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

The truly ridiculous thing is: he doesn't get to decide if the President is qualified. That's up to the Electoral College and the Congress; and, at last resort, to the courts. The courts have already thrown out suits based on this.

Compare this Obama Derangement Syndrome to the calm acceptance of the crooked 2000 election results ...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

He won't see a court martial board, but he'll also never see LtCol. What he's done is called a career ending move.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

No, he won't get cashiered for this, but he ought to be.

[(Anonymous)]

This strikes me as a fine case for Section Eight (assuming that term is still used for psychiatric discharges). In a civilian, I suppose this Major's aberration would be an acceptable quirk, but in an Officer, it seems to me to render him unfit for command. He is, after all, denying the Authority of his Commander In Chief, and of all of his superior officers who accept that authority. (I don't know if there's a mechanism for reducing him to the rank of Private and ordering him to Active Duty, willy-nilly, but that might be an appropriate thing to do, and certainly no-one should be required to serve under him.)

Don Fitch

(temporarily using a computer/browser that doesn't want to activate "LiveJournal user" status.)

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

We still call it a Section 8.

[sethg]

I am reminded of wdstarr's proposed solution to the whole gays-in-the-military issue, back during the Clinton Administration: define "homophobia" as a mental disorder for the purpose of Section 8. If you think having a gay person next to you in the trenches is going to hurt your morale and discipline, then you can sign right up...

[izzydesan.livejournal.com]

This guy needs to be removed from the military, and the sooner to better. Furthermore, he should not be allowed to retract his court claim at this point, since it seems to me that his entire ability to function in the military is completely and totally compromised by his own argument.

If he does not believe the current President to be a lawful Commander-in-Chief then he 1) cannot obey orders from ANY superior officer (if my understanding is correct and these orders are ultimately spoken with the indirect voice of the CIC) during President Obama's duration in office, nor can he 2)give any orders to people under his command as in doing so he would be indirectly speaking with the President's "voice" - a voice which he has claimed is invalid. The first time he gives an order or obeys one he becomes a complete hypocrite and negates his own argument.

Therefore, it seems to me that the trial of his claims is essential to determine how the course of his military career proceeds.

Sedition and mutiny - absolutely.

[sharon-masters.livejournal.com]

i am beginning to believe that anyone who sincerely follows the GOP and has certain beliefs is certifiable.
i wonder if i can get on a talk show and cash in, provided i am inflammatory enough.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I am coming back here to say thank you. Last night my husband nad I had dinner with two other Americans and a Dutch guy - colleagues of his; I work in the same company but didn't really know them. One of the Americans brought this up - he didn't seem to be a serious right-winger but was sounding convinced of a problem, especially mentioning the idea that the military rescinded hte orders to Afghanistan to avoid talking about the "problem".

And I was able to explain that the release was granted by SOP, not as a cover-up, entirely due to your explanations. I really appreciate that.

(Then we got into the Moon landing; after a bit of chat the same guy said "consensus seems to be that they really did land on the Moon but the pictures we saw were faked." With several years experience each working at the Johnson Space Center, we were much better equipped to counter that one! Ted started with "Well, that's not exactly the consensus *I* ever heard...." )