Media Strikes Again

Going to lead off with a rant.

Dunno who saw the Louisiana killings’ news over the weekend. Shamar Elkins shot ten people, killing eight, ages 1-14. including seven of his own kids. 31 years old, and what do we know about this a$$hole? Well, he has assumed ambient temperature (good work by the po-po) but it seems the only actual personal detail: he’s a veteran. Seven years in the Louisiana National Gurad, during which he achieved the lofty rank of PFC/E-3 as a support specialist.  (Later news says he was working at UPS and had a felony weapons conviction, so he sure wasn’t a legal gun owner.)  But any headline that says anything? ARMY VET.  7 years as a private sounds pretty low-speed high-drag to me, and a conviction in 2019 suggests he may not have been a model soldier (if not indeed asked to leave the service.) But I get real tired of the media always harping on “he’s a vet” ONLY when a crime is committed. Puke on UPS if you have to, that’s six year’s more current.

And, as a blind man could have predicted, an open letter from 73 retired flag officers and service secretaries in support of Mark Kelly as an amicus brief in his suit against the Trump administration.

They collectively served under each president, from Dwight Eisenhower to Donald Trump, and include 17 4-star signatories.

Kelly and a handful of other Democratic military veterans made and released a video in November 2025 reinforcing active-duty service members of their constitutional right “to refuse illegal orders.” It sparked a contentious back-and-forth between Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, and the Trump administration, extending into legal battles.

“This decision is not made lightly: the attempt to punish Sen. Kelly suggests that public disagreement with the secretary—even if made in good faith and supported factually—invites retaliation,” the amicus brief states, adding, “This chilling effect risks silencing dissent from those who served in uniform—a critical ingredient in American self-governance dating back to those who fought for our independence.”

The video that Kelly and others made certainly was characterized as seditious , and according to some here, treasonable – but as others have said here, what the text may be seen as implying versus what it actually says – as the Bard said, there’s the rub. And for SecDef to try and reduce Kelly’s retired pay and rank? Tough to justify legally. The actual text of it did not seem to cross that line.  “You have a duty to refuse unlawful orders” is hardly calling for sedition. I don’t credit Kelly with enough smarts to have intentionally laid a trap – but Hegseth has definitely put himself in a vulnerable position.

The list of 73 officers follows. If you remember the retired military folks who have sonsistently come out pro-Democrat and anti-Trump in past filings, most of the names will sound familiar.

• Former Secretary of the Army Louis E. Caldera
• Former Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton
• Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
• Former Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro
• Former Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley
• Former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James
• Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall III
• Former Acting Secretary of the Navy James E. McPherson
• Former Secretary of the Navy Sean C. O’Keefe
• Former Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters
• Former Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth

• Admiral C. Steve Abbot, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Thad W. Allen, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)
• Admiral Dennis C. Blair, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• General George W. Casey, Jr., U.S. Army (Ret.)
• General Peter Chiarelli, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Admiral William E. Gortney, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• General Michael V. Hayden, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Admiral Gregory G. Johnson, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Samuel Jones Locklear, III, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral John B. Nathman, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Robert J. Natter, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral William A. Owens, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Gary Roughead, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Scott Swift, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Admiral Henry G. Ulrich III, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• General Anthony Zinni, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
• Vice Admiral Donald C. Arthur, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Vice Admiral Michael T. Franken, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Lieutenant General Walter E. Gaskin, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
• Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Lieutenant General Jan-Marc Jouas, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Lieutenant General Charles P. Otstott, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) William D. Baumgartner, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Kelvin Dixon, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Richard T. Devereaux, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Major General Paul D. Eaton, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Albert Garcia III, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) F. Stephen Glass, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Jonathan S. Gration, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Donald J. Guter, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Richard S. Haddad, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Major General Irving L. Halter, Jr., U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Janice Hamby, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) John D. Hutson, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Steven J. Lepper, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral Thomas G. Lilly, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Randy E. Manner, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Major General Frederick H. Martin, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Upper Half) David R. Oliver, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Major General Gale S. Pollock, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Major General Patricia S. Rose, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Major General Linda Singh, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Major General Antonio Taguba, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Major General F. Andrew Turley, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Michael S. Baker, M.D., F.A.C.S., U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Lower Half) James A. Barnett, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Jay A. DeLoach, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
• Brigadier General John W. Douglass, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Robert J. Felderman, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Charles D. Harr, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Brigadier General David R. Irvine, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Brigadier General David McGinnis, New York National Guard (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Joseph V. Medina, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
• Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Harold L. Robinson, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
• Brigadier General John M. Schuster, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Paul G. Smith, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Allyson Solomon, U.S. Army (Ret.)
• Brigadier General Robin B. Umberg, U.S. Army (Ret.)

Category: Politics