We have often heard it said that no one is above the law, but we know from decades of experience, that in the United States military, that just is not true at all.
Never has it been more clearly revealed when flag-ranking officers came out of the woodwork to denounce President Trump’s suggestion that if the anarchy in America’s cities is not quelled by local authorities, he may have to ask the military to become involved.
The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385, original at 20 Stat. 152) signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes, the purpose of which continues to limit the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States.
The Posse Comitatus Act specifically applies only to the United States Army and, as amended in 1956, the United States Air Force. Although the Act does not explicitly mention the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy has prescribed regulations that are generally construed to give the Act force with respect to those services as well.
Does this mean the President can legally dispatch some aircraft carriers off the coast of Seattle, Washington and bomb the living shit out of the “CHOP” in downtown Seattle? The personal favorite of our law-and-order friends would be for a battle ship to lob in some 2,000 lb. shells leaving craters where the CHOP used to be.
Ok, we know… that would be a little extreme. That’s a little too much law and order for most people.
The Posse Comitatus Act does not prevent the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard under state authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state’s governor.
The United States Coast Guard (under the Department of Homeland Security) and United States Space Force (under the Department of the Air Force) are not covered by the Act either, primarily because although both are armed services, they also have maritime and space law enforcement missions respectively.
The title of the Act comes from the legal concept of posse comitatus, the authority under which a county sheriff, or other law officer, can conscript any able-bodied person to assist in keeping the peace. Good luck with that maneuver to deal with American anarchists.
MILITARY RESISTANCE MOVEMENT
AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
On January 29, 2020, it was reported by Military.com that a naval appeals court released a split decision finding that a Navy retiree (Chief Petty Officer Stephen Gegani) was properly court-martialed and convicted for a crime committed after he left active duty.
So, one would think if the admirals and generals break UCMJ regulations, while on active duty or even after they retire, they too would be held accountable. Well, you would think.
It’s been reported that well over ninety-six (96) current and former defense employees have publicly come out against the President’s idea to control insurrection in America’s cities by using the military. Some have done what they could to undermine the President in other ways. And here is a list of the rogue officials from the Department of Defense…
- Admiral Mike Mullin
- Admiral Sandy Winnefeld
- General Jim Mattis
- General John Allen
- General Mark A. Milley
- General Martin Dempsey
- General Tony Thomas
- Leon E. Panetta, former defense secretary
- Chuck Hagel, former defense secretary
- Ashton B. Carter, former defense secretary
- William S. Cohen, former defense secretary
- Sasha Baker, former deputy chief of staff to the defense secretary
- Donna Barbisch, retired major general in the U.S. Army
- Jeremy Bash, chief of staff to the defense secretary
- Jeffrey P. Bialos, former deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial affairs
- Susanna V. Blume, former deputy chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary
- Ian Brzezinski, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Europe and NATO
- Gabe Camarillo, former assistant secretary of the Air Force
- Kurt M. Campbell, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asia and the Pacific
- Michael Carpenter, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
- Rebecca Bill Chavez, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Western hemisphere affairs
- Derek Chollet, former assistant defense secretary for international security affairs
- Dan Christman, retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- James Clapper, former undersecretary of defense for intelligence and director of national intelligence
- Eliot A. Cohen, former member of planning staff for the defense department and former member of the Defense Policy Board
- Erin Conaton, former undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness
- John Conger, former principal deputy undersecretary of defense
- Peter S. Cooke, retired major general of the U.S. Army Reserve
- Richard Danzig, former secretary of the U.S. Navy
- Janine Davidson, former undersecretary of the U.S. Navy
- Robert L. Deitz, former general counsel at the National Security Agency
- Abraham M. Denmark, former deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia
- Michael B. Donley, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force
- John W. Douglass, retired brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force and former assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy
- Raymond F. DuBois, former acting under secretary of the U.S. Army
- Eric Edelman, former undersecretary of defense for policy
- Eric Fanning, former secretary of the U.S. Army
- Evelyn N. Farkas, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
- Michèle A. Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy
- Nelson M. Ford, former undersecretary of the U.S. Army
- Alice Friend, former principal director for African affairs in the office of the under defense secretary for policy
- John A. Gans Jr., former speechwriter for the defense secretary
- Sherri Goodman, former deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security
- André Gudger, former deputy assistant defense secretary for manufacturing and industrial base policy
- Robert Hale, former undersecretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
- Michael V. Hayden, retired general in the U.S. Air Force and former director of the National Security Agency and CIA
- Mark Hertling, retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe
- Kathleen H. Hicks, former principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy
- Deborah Lee James, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force
- John P. Jumper, retired general of the U.S. Air Force and former chief of staff of the Air Force
- Colin H. Kahl, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Middle East policy
- Mara E. Karlin, former deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy and force development
- Frank Kendall, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
- Susan Koch, former deputy assistant defense secretary for threat-reduction policy
- Ken Krieg, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
- William Leonard, former deputy assistant defense secretary for security and information operations
- Steven J. Lepper, retired major general of the U.S. Air Force
- George Little, former Pentagon press secretary
- William J. Lynn III, former deputy defense secretary
- Ray Mabus, former secretary of the U.S. Navy and former governor of Mississippi
- Kelly Magsamen, former principal deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs
- Carlos E. Martinez, retired brigadier general of the U.S. Air Force Reserve
- Michael McCord, former undersecretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
- Chris Mellon, former deputy assistant defense secretary for intelligence
- James N. Miller, former undersecretary of defense for policy
- Edward T. Morehouse Jr., former principal deputy assistant defense secretary and former acting assistant defense secretary for operational energy plans and programs
- Jamie Morin, former director of cost assessment and program evaluation at the Defense Department and former acting under secretary of the U.S. Air Force
- Jennifer M. O’Connor, former general counsel of the Defense Department
- Sean O’Keefe, former secretary of the U.S. Navy
- Dave Oliver, former principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
- Robert B. Pirie, former undersecretary of the U.S. Navy
- John Plumb, former acting deputy assistant defense secretary for space policy
- Eric Rosenbach, former assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security
- Deborah Rosenblum, former acting deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics
- Todd Rosenblum, acting assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and Americas’ security affairs
- Tommy Ross, former deputy assistant defense secretary for security cooperation
- Henry J. Schweiter, former deputy assistant defense secretary
- David B. Shear, former assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs
- Amy E. Searight, former deputy assistant defense secretary for South and Southeast Asia
- Vikram J. Singh, former deputy assistant defense secretary for South and Southeast Asia
- Julianne Smith, former deputy national security adviser to the vice president and former principal director for Europe and NATO policy
- Paula Thornhill, retired brigadier general of the Air Force and former principal director for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs
- Jim Townsend, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Europe and NATO policy
- Sandy Vershbow, former assistant defense secretary for international security affairs
- Michael Vickers, former undersecretary of defense for intelligence
- Celeste Wallander, former deputy assistant defense secretary for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia
- Andrew Weber, former assistant defense secretary for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs
- William F. Wechsler, former deputy assistant defense secretary for special operations and combating terrorism
- Doug Wilson, former assistant defense secretary for public affairs
- Anne A. Witkowsky, former deputy assistant defense secretary for stability and humanitarian affairs
- Douglas Wise, former deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
- Daniel P. Woodward, retired brigadier general of the U.S. Air Force
- Margaret H. Woodward, retired major general of the U.S. Air Force
- Carl Woog, former deputy assistant to the defense secretary for communications
- Robert O. Work, former deputy defense secretary
- Dov S. Zakheim, former undersecretary of defense and Defense Department comptroller
SUBJECT TO THE
UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE (UCMJ)
Each one of the commissioned officers that are either on active duty or retire collecting a pension from the military ARE SUBJECT TO THE UCMJ. But, we know better don’t we. The flag-ranking officers are above the laws they apply to everyone else.
Article 88, UCMJ, says that any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, etc. in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
The article doesn’t have a get-out-of-jail-card saying, that “an officer in good conscience must speak out against the President if they feel it necessary to do so.” There is no amendment to Article 88, UCMJ that permits contemptuous words.
But, the officers uttering their words of “disagreement” with the president will say they were not in contempt of the President. Contempt in the law means willful disobedience to, or open disrespect for rules or orders. In a court it’s called contempt of court. It’s an act showing disrespect.
Some would say disagreeing with the President is just expressing an opinion and is benign, not necessarily disrespectful at all. Others would say that saying or doing anything that undercuts the President is dangerous. What if the rank and file of the military decide to follow the general and not the President, then America is now being controlled by the military and not civilian leadership as the founders had intended.
Let’s do what the convening authorities do. Let’s do a little file-loading before taking all the officers in the list above to a general court martial to assure ourselves of a conviction at court martial.
Since they failed to comply with Article 88, UCMJ, did they not fail to obey orders? That would be Article 92, UCMJ. It’s a stretch, but it’s what the military does to junior officers and enlisted personnel. They load up the charges to ensure a conviction.
Now, let’s toss in Article 94, UCMJ, Mutiny & Sedition, just for the hell of it.
Since our admirals and generals weakened the President in the international theater, did they not commit misbehavior before the enemy? That would be Article 99, UCMJ.
And whoa, let’s not forget the catch-all crime of “Conduct Unbecoming an Officer.” That would be Article 134, UCMJ. We might be able to toss in conspiracy (Article 81, UCMJ) to undercut the President if they were phoning each other to coordinate their public attack.
Trust us, if a well-trained JAG officer were to draft formal charges, there would be 12-15 charges against each former or current commissioned officer who chose to speak out against the President.
You know some spoke out so that if Joe Biden gets the big job they might be considered for an ambassador’s job or some other high-paying government job. They call it the deep state.
SUMMARY
UCMJ laws are for the “little people” as the “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsly used to say. The UCMJ allegedly applies to all active duty and former members of the military receiving a pension check. Those of you who are retired had better realize that you could very easily be reactivated to be prosecuted. They can do it, just for the hell of it.
But, if the flag-ranking officers violate any of the laws in the UCMJ, they get a pass. They are above the law.
This is why the UCMJ needs to be scrapped and be completely redone. The UCMJ is designed to KEEP CONTROL, not to fairly mete out justice. The military judicial system is in dire need of reform from top to bottom so that no one is above the law. That includes the admirals and generals who are generally always allowed to retire to avoid investigation and prosecution.
Sometimes, they even allow officers to resign to avoid prosecution as they did in the Major Dan Johnson case in Columbia, South Carolina. He stole $7,000 from the military and they gave him an honorable discharge.
We know that not all admirals and generals are sneaky political snakes, but there are many who witness criminal behavior by their fellow flag-ranking officers and remain quiet as church mice. If they don’t help solve the problem, then they are the problem as well.
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Please know that your identity is safeguarded. We know, all too well, how the military retaliates against those who report criminal misconduct. With your help, we may one day actually reform our military to make it stronger and more lethal… a citadel of integrity.
Presently, many parts of our military is nothing more than a big lump of Swiss cheese, a quagmire of sycophants and boot-lickers who are devoid of any leadership traits at all.
That’s why we continue to fight for truth, expose the corrupt and try to fix what is broken by exposing ethical and criminal misconduct of those allegedly leading our military.