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Kos is Konfused
By John
Sorry for the millionth, unoriginal iteration of swapping 'c's for 'k's when talking Kos.... it's just so hard not to, y'know?
So anyway, Jeff Emanual pointed me to this silly blog post by Markos, where he gets all huffy over the fact that military members can (and will) be disciplined for participating in political events while in uniform. It's silly because the post, a response to the disciplinary actions taken against an IRR Marine who attended an anti-war rally in uniform, is your prototypical emotional, kneejerk reaction that can only exist in the factless vacuum of the anti-war blogosphere. Kos writes:
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.
So there's two angles to play here. The first is what the DoD regs say about participating in political events in uniform. The second is the Kos line that Republicans "use" the military as props during political rallies.
Jeff decided to do the fact checking that didn't really interest Kos, citing the DoD regs forbidding military members from participating in this type of event. Regs that include members of the inactive ready reserve (IRR). It's a compelling and well-researched read, click here for more.
Now the fact that Republicans like Vice President Cheney and President Bush are often seen speaking at military events is true. Just like it was true for Democrats during the Clinton years. There is a stark difference between a servicemember attending a sanctioned speech at a military base and a servicemember participating in a political rally in uniform. I'd argue that having such poor knowledge of your military and the political process is un-American, but I guess I'll just write that off as conjecture.
All in all, his post is just....wrong. Not ideologically wrong....factually wrong. And it continues with our OPFOR driven-theme that much of the war punditry that you read in a given day is false, incorrect, or misleading.
Do, in large part, to guys like William Arkin and Kos.
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Comments
I think you both miss the point that wearing a uniform implies an endorsement by the military of the event at which you are at.
Merely wearing the uniform to the event is usually not a problem - speaking at the event in uniform usually is. The second is not allowed unless it is an official event - and the CinC gets to have official events.
Whether the CinC should use the military as a back drop for a political event is a separate issue, but as CinC, rightly or wrongly, he gets to make that call.
wrong. Read the regs.
The last sentence should read: "Due, in large part..."
No snark intended. Eight years of parochial school education is like boot camp. You never get over it. I like your blog.
To be fair to Kos, there's a nuance here that he just can't understand in his "you're with me or against me" world.
"All in all, his post is just....wrong. Not ideologically wrong....factually wrong."
In all fairness, this statement is correct. And applies to 99% of what is posted by Marcos.
Marcos is an internet troll. He doesn't care if what he says is true as long as it supports what he believes and/or wishes to be true.
Just playing a little devil's advocate, but minus the nametape, "USMC" tape, and rank, doesn't it lose its status as a "uniform" for legal purposes?
I can get a set of MARPATs (or a damn good replica) from Brigade Quartermasters. Same with ACU's (much to the detriment of those CA guys that were captured and executed by Iranian Quds soldiers not too long ago).
I believe that, minus all the insignia, the uniform just becomes another set of civvies... albeit ugly ones.
MARPATs issued/sold on base have the service emblems embroidered on the pocket. They also have smaller versions of the emblems raandomly placed throughout the pixel pattern, as a way to copyright the uniform. This emblem makes them "distinctive"-read below...
From the Marine Corps Order on uniforms:
Per 10 U.S.C. 771, no person, unless otherwise authorized by law, may
wear the uniform or a distinctive part of the uniform of which is similar to
a distinctive part of the Marine Corps uniform.
2. According to 18 U.S.C. 702, whoever wears the Marine Corps uniform
without authority, in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States
will be fined not more than $250 or imprisoned not more than six months, or
both.
Damn... little EGA's in the pattern??
You Marines are friggin radicals. :)
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I am so sick of this. It has been 7 years since I served, but I can still tell BS when I read it. Everywhere that you look there is inaccuracy in military reporting and opinion making and it usually favors the bad guys. Why?
My understanding of Kos is that he spent a few years in the army. How many blog readers look to him as an authority on the war?
The military bloggers are an important fact checking mechanism, but it is not enough.