UPDATE via NewsBusters:
Quite fortuitously, Moulitsas posted on this very subject on June 2, 2007 (emphasis added, h/t Charles Johnson):
So they’ll prosecute me if I wear my Army uniforms to an anti-war protest? Really?
But that’s not the point. As we’ve seen time and time again, we see military personnel, in uniform, all the freakin’ time as backdrops to Republican pro-war events — including with Mr. 28% — and there haven’t been any prosecutions of those folks.
Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh has already been discharged. He has every right enshrined under the Constitution, including those of free speech and peaceful assembly.
And anyone that thinks otherwise, quite frankly, is legitimately and objectively un-American.
Well, Markos, if that’s the case, then John Soltz, the gentlemen who wouldn’t let the soldier in question continue to speak during your convention’s breakout session Friday morning is legitimately and objectively un-American.
And, so is the representative of his group VoteVets.org who posted this explanation at Daily Kos Sunday morning (emphasis added):
Many civilians may not understand that, but it’s important to those who serve and who have served in the military. Do we get stern with rule breakers? Yep. Do we value discipline? Yep, we do. And we do it for a reason. So Jon may have gotten a little “excited” over the whole thing, but regardless, he was correct: The soldier is not allowed under military law to do what he was attempting to do.
So, it appears it’s okay to the Kossacks for soldiers to wear their uniforms at anti-war rallies, but not at their own convention if they are going to defend what’s going on in Iraq.
Dontcha just love it?
Oh this is rich! The American Prospect witnessed the this at the YearlyKos:
As the Military and Progressives panel came to an end, a young man in uniform stood up to argue that the surge was working, and cutting down on Iraqi casualties. The moderator largely freaked out. When other members of the panel tried to answer his question, he demanded they “stand down.” He demanded the questioner give his name, the name of his commander, and the name of his unit. And then he closed the panel, no answer offered or allowed, and stalked off the stage,
Wes Clark took the mic and tried to explain what had just occurred: The argument appears to be that you’re not allowed to participate in politics while wearing a uniform, or at least that you shouldn’t, and that the questioner was engaging in a sort of moral blackmail, not to mention a violation of the rules, by doing so. Knowing fairly little about the army, I can’t speak to any of that. But it was an uncomfortable few moments, and seemed fairly contrary to the spirit of the panel to roar down the member of the military who tried to speak with a contrary voice.
Allah: “[T]hat the left in general and Wes Clark in particular would balk at someone using their Absolute Moral Authority to advance a political agenda is an irony too enormous to be absorbed in one take.”
Charles at LGF: “I’m not familiar with the exact regulations on this, but for the sake of argument let’s say that it was against the rules for a uniformed soldier to ask a question. When did it become the duty of a YearlyKos panel moderator to enforce Army regulations? I wonder how they would have treated Scott Beauchamp if he had shown up in uniform?”
Kos community double standards “>LGF has the video
Yearly Kos morons wonder: Should bloggers unionize?
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This nutjob who showed up in uniform did the same thing the night before and was lecturing Wes Clark, who told the soldier that it is immoral and illegal for him to attend a political event in uniform.
Obviously, the idiot did heed the general’s sound advice advice and decided to show up the next day at the panel hosted by VoteVets.org again in uniform. The panel moderator who stopped him, Jon Soltz, is a Captain in th Reserves and he was obligated to stop this soldier in uniform from committing a crime.
Pot meet kettle
Is it the same Wes Clark that was relieved of duties?
That would be the same Wesley Clark who despite having lived more or less his entire life either as an Army dependent, dependent on the Army (College, Grad school, etc etc, retiree pension), or an officer in the Army turned around and said that he was not, nor had he ever been a soldier. Maybe they should take away his general officer over 30 pension and give it to someone who was a soldier. Funny how the officers that their men love consider themselves soldiers while the officers their men loathe don’t.
Pfft. Again, the “trackback”/blog hoaring system has spammed this discussion thread. I can’t follow it so it makes no sense to offer a reply here.
Daily Kos = Daily Pos
17,24, Tofu, you are an idiot to begin with, but now you are a hypocritical censor. YOU’VE NEVER CRITICIZED ANYONE IN UNIFORM CRITICIZING THE WAR, BUT HERE YOU ARE AGREEING TO CENSOR A SOLDIER IN UNIFORM STANDING UP FOR THE WAR.
You are now dismissed, putz.
TT- your lack of response has nothing to do with trackbacks!
I wonder if those folks who call themselves “Progressive” on this site actually knows what that means?
30, they call themselves Progressives not to be correctly labelled as LIBERAL DEFEATOCRATS!
31,
If you look at the jistory of the Progressive movement, they advocate the government “acquiring” corporation for the good of the people.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
32, Yeah, Hugo Chavez nationalizing everything he can.
33.
Close.
Two other counties stand out for doing this: the USSR (Communism) and mid 1900′s Germany (Fascism).
It is the one thing that Communism and Fascism have in common- centralizing corporate contril to the governement.
Along with the “Progressive” movement, of which George Soros is a prominent leader.
Does that seem progressive to you?
34, I call it theft and Soros should be hung from the nearest lamppost.
Ted, also consider comparing the Progressives to Robert Mugabe. They will accomplish the same things.