A DC federal judge on Thursday sided with Dem Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and blocked binge-drinking date rapist Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth from demoting the decorated retired Navy captain and former NASA astronaut – as well as docking his pension – for having reminded service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders from a tyrannical and incompetent regime in the “Don’t Give Up The Ship” video. That everyone saw this ruling coming is prooooobably why Hegseth’s fellow alcoholic former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro slapped together her amateurish and similarly doomed attempt to punish Kelly – and the five other Dems – through different means.
Wrote District Judge Richard Leon, emphasis his: “United States Senator Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer, has been censured by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for voicing certain opinions on military actions and policy. In addition, he has been subjected to proceedings to possibly reduce his retirement rank and pay and threatened with criminal prosecution if he continues to speak out on these issues. Secretary Hegseth relies on the well-established doctrine that military service members enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces. Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired service members, much less a retired service member serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military.”
“This Court will not be the first to do so! Worse still, Secretary Hegseth contends that this Court is not yet competent to decide the issues in this case. He and his fellow Defendants argue that military personnel decisions are exempt from judicial review and, in any event, that Senator Kelly should first be required to go through the military appeals process so the military can have the first crack at adjudicating his First Amendment rights. I disagree. This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it! Senator Kelly’s First Amendment claim is not only justiciable; he is likely to succeed on the merits. He has also shown irreparable harm, and the balance of the equities fall decidedly in his favor. As such, his motion for a preliminary injunction on his First Amendment claim is hereby GRANTED”