I have heard rumors of civilians who had been caught committing felony crimes on US Military property had been sent there in the past, but nothing recently.
In the ongoing case on the of disgraceful US Army Lieutenant, Ehren Watada (who accepted his commission after the start of OIF, but when his unit was called up, refused to depoly) had his defense properly tossed out of court on its ear, along with all of his circumstantial “witnesses” last week when the courts martial correctly ruled that Watada’s belief of OIF being an “Illegal War” and therefore his participation in it would be tantamount to committing a war crime was not a valid defense.
But that dis not stop his “witnesses” from holding their own little mock “tribunal” over the weekend at the Evergreen Community College (Tacoma Campus). You can read the live-blogging of it here, but to whittle it down to the meat of the matter; They first decided amongst themselves that Watada’s “Illegal War” defense was plausable, then proceeded to conclude that OIF was an “Illegal War”, which was followed by Watada’s aquittal at their hands.
Their contention is that the military court has no right deciding whether OIF is or is not a “Legal War”, even though by tossing out that defense for Watada, the courts martial disticntly decided that it was not their business to go about delcaring wars “Legal” or “Illegal”. However, the civilain “tribunal” couldn’t get that point though their thick skulls and released this statement: “If Lt. Watada cannot get a full hearing about the war’s legality in a military trial, then his case should at least be presented in the court of public opinion.”
The official site lists there having been 600 people in attendance which, if the numbers presented by other leftist groups in the past are any example, that means there were about 150 people there.
But that story is not what prompts my question in the title of this post?
It seems that Watada said something relevant to his case to members of the press, both freelance (Sarah Olson who writes at moonbat site, Truthout.Org) and MSM (Gregg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin) and the US Military Court has subpoenaed both of them to verify their work.
Needless to say, Olson is screaming “Freedom of the Press!” at the top of her lungs.
She got a piece into Editor & Publisher where she wrote the following:
A member of the press should never be placed in the position of aiding a government prosecution of political speech.
So now, if I could ask Ms. Olson one question, it would be: Is what Watada said was actually “political speech” if he himself is claiming that his reason for refusing to deploy is non-political?
In my mind, if the person in question does not consider his words “political” then, by default, no one else can claim that they are political, thereby making her stand against the subpoena from the courts martial irrelevant.
But she is bound and determined to get some sort of status out of this case, and if she has be held in contempt for her own set of double-standards, then in her opinion, so be it.
Anyone? Bueller?
So, will they send her to Leavenworth along with Watada or does she get to go to Club Fed?
She could go to Leavenworth, but to the regular Federal pen there, not the military one (properly known as the United States Disciplinary Barracks, or USDB.) Actually, because she’s a she, she probably wouldn’t. And if she were a military she, she’d go to the brig in San Diego, since the USDB houses only males.
And if Waturda refusal to deploy because the war is illegal was a political statement, he’d be in trouble for making political statements while in uniform, which is also a no-no.
Bingo on your point about the political vs non-political speech. They always want it both ways.
Even money says that both reporters refuse to testify, and then the remedy will be the local pokey for them (in the status of a rent-a-con) for the duration of two grand juries, which I think are 6 months in length on the Federal side.
If’n she were to go to the civvy clink in Leavenworth, she’d be proximate to my position, and I would need only a very short drive to get her within range, if you know what I mean.
Just sayin’.