A few days ago, four U.S. Representatives and two U.S. Senators, including Arizona's popular Senator Mark Kelly, released a video telling U.S. military members to "refuse to follow illegal orders." They didn't say what orders those may be. They didn't even tell our military members they need to be very careful and be sure an order is illegal before they refuse to follow it. They said "We've got your back."
The military Oath of Enlistment includes the statement "I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me." The oath itself doesn't mention anything about legal or illegal orders. That topic is covered The average military member, particularly enlisted members, have no idea what orders from their superiors might be illegal. What these elected officials don't say is that if a service member refuses to follow an order because he/she believes it to be illegal, they'd better be 100% sure, because they're likely to face court martial, where they'll have to prove the order was illegal.
The six elected officials say "We've got your back." No, they don't. Not one of them will be present during a court martial of someone who refuses an order. Not one.
Of course, the six elected officials say they were merely exercising their First Amendment rights. But is that accurate considering what they said?
Merriam Webster defines sedition as "incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority." The six elected officials were careful to use the words "illegal orders," but the purpose of the video was to turn the military against the President, which is the very definition of sedition. The punishment for seditious behavior by civilians is up to 20 years in prison. Military members can be executed if convicted of sedition. That's the law.
President Trump published a couple of things about it on Truth Social. He said "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" He's correct about the punishment for military members. Democrats in DC and the left-wing media immediately began saying "Trump wants to kill his opposition!!" Of course that's untrue and a gross exaggeration of what Trump said. But the affect on the leftists and Trump haters was immediate. Democrat representatives said this morning they talked to the Sargeant of Arms to "insure nothing happens to those six members." Apparently they think Trump has put out a hit squad or something. They're ridiculous.
Trump also said "It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET."
I must agree. They should all be arrested and charged. The former military officers like Mark Kelly can actually be called back to active duty and be court martialed. Then they can try to explain how their words were not intended to turn the military against the President.
