tyranny

Politics, not science

Much has been made of Governor Ron Desantis’ executive order banning schools from mandating masks. School districts sued and won the ability to override parent choice by requiring all children to wear masks.

School boards cite the CDC’s recommendation that all students in school wear masks as their reason for doing so.

It isn’t science that is at play here, though. The CDC caved to pressure from teachers’ unions when they wrote that recommendation.

By Divemedic, ago

A tempest in a teapot

Remember the guy who yelled at an MSNBC reporter? He was arrested by a US Marshals task force in Ohio. They congratulate themselves on arresting a “violent fugitive.” Calling him violent is a stretch. All he did was yell at the reporter. There is no evidence that he ever touched the reporter.

Even so, all of the charges against him are misdemeanors. He wasn’t even a fugitive unless they can prove that he was aware of the charges and was fleeing the state to avoid them. I can’t believe that these charges merited an entire Federal task force to catch him. From the US Marshals’ own webpage:

 The purpose of regional fugitive task forces is to combine the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and assist in high profile investigations.

This is ridiculous. So the US Marshals are saying that this guy is one of the most dangerous fugitives in America? Of course not.

Anyone on the right who challenges the left is going to be placed in the gulag. Maybe the cops SHOULD be defunded.

By Divemedic, ago

Lindell is an unperson

January 6 protester is returning to jail because he listened to Mike Lindell, who they refer to as “one of the most prominent and prolific proponents of the election fraud conspiracy theories and lies” surrounding the January 6 protest.

I truly believe that the rally planned for September 18 will see some huge event that will be used to result in a nationwide crackdown. January 6 was the Reichstag fire. The COVID lockdowns were, and continue to be, our Krystalnacht. We are rapidly sliding towards a complete collapse of the Republic.

By Divemedic, ago

Disturbing escalation

From Miguel, I learned today that the US military is threatening to expand the application of the UCMJ with regards to retired military saying disparaging things about the President. The Article to be used is Article 88. One thing that strikes me as odd is that Article 88 only applies to commissioned officers. I am sure that they will find another article to go after enlisted retirees.

Most obviously, the UCMJ applies to those who are currently serving on active duty in the armed forces, students enrolled in a federal service academy, and prisoners of war. After an amendment in the 2010s, the UCMJ also applies with equal force to contractors or other individuals “serving with or accompanying an armed force in the field.”

Now it is not unheard of for the UCMJ to be applied to those who are no longer in the military, but the use has been very narrow and specific before now.

The UCMJ does not apply to veterans who were discharged before reaching 20 years of service. The UCMJ also does not apply to retired reservists. However, it does apply to service members who retired from active-duty service, especially the Navy or Marines. This is because marines and sailors who leave active duty after more than 20 years in uniform but less than 30 and who want to collect retiree pay move into the Fleet Reserve, or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve. That’s right- retirees from the military are actually reservists.

Before 2021, I could not find any case of a retiree being prosecuted for a minor offence. Each incident I found involved serious offenses like kidnapping, sexual assault, or murder.

The problem here is that using the UCMJ changes everything. The application of UCMJ jurisdiction to retirees is significant because courts-martial are not Article III courts and are therefore not subject to some of the basic protections contained within the Bill of Rights. For instance, court-martialed defendants do not have the right to a jury trial; instead, an eight-person “member panel” selected by a high-ranking officer serves as the trier of fact.

That all changed after January 6. That was when the US military began using the UCMJ to go after military retirees for participating in the protest. This is a major expansion of military authority. This administration truly HAS declared war on the right. In unequivocal terms, they have said that no one can criticize this President without risking jail time.

By Divemedic, ago

Purging the military

Here come the camps. Military troops are the first ones to be purged. The language is subtle, but it’s there.

allowances would certainly be made for religious exemptions and for those with pre-existing conditions that precluded vaccinations.

Admiral John Kirby

You have to have been in the military to catch the lie in this one. Chaplains in the military are commissioned officers. When I was in, they used to tell us that they were loyal to God first and the military second, so we should feel safe in talking to them. I didn’t believe that for a second. As officers, their careers depend on their fitrep. God won’t be the one writing their fitrep, their superior officer would. One small phrase in a fitrep can end a career. There won’t be any religious exemptions.

Medical doctors in the military? You guessed it, they are officers, too. If the President says the jab is safe, it’s safe. Orders are orders. There won’t be any medical exemptions.

So what then?

 “They will also be offered a chance to sit down with their chain of command and their leadership to talk about the risks that their objection will impose on the unit and on the force and on their teammates.”

Conversations with the chain of command aren’t what civilians think of as conversations. In the military, the superior talks. The subordinate says things like “Yes, sir,” or perhaps, “Yes, Sergeant,” or even, “Yes, Chief.” Anything else leads to the next step.

“There are — it is — once you mandate it, as we’ve done, it is a lawful order. It’s a lawful order, and we fully anticipate that our troops are going to follow lawful orders,”

The UCMJ is specific on this one. The one that applies here is Article 92: Failure to Obey a Lawful Order or Regulation. What is a lawful order? Whatever the President or an officer says it is. You can try to be a “bedroll lawyer,” but it won’t work. No officer in this military is going to oppose this President, not unless he or she wants to also be charged with an Article 92.

So what happens when you violate Article 92? A violation of or failure to obey lawful general order or regulation may result in a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years. It would also be considered a FELONY conviction.

Does anyone reading this doubt that anyone pushing this will be broken at the wheel?

By Divemedic, ago