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bigtree

(93,360 posts)
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 03:40 PM Monday

Sen. Mark Kelly: "Nothing more un-American"

Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly
Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.

If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.

11:33 AM · Jan 5, 2026

x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2008215189275963870

38 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Sen. Mark Kelly: "Nothing more un-American" (Original Post) bigtree Monday OP
When Senator Kelly sues, he will have fun using these statements from Hegseth and Bondi LetMyPeopleVote Monday #1
Forgive me, but these are supposed to be our hard-working members of government. calimary Tuesday #25
K&R MustLoveBeagles Monday #2
Amen to That! The Roux Comes First Monday #3
Bravo!!!!! SheltieLover Monday #4
Thank you for fighting back! newdeal2 Monday #5
Thank you, Senator Mark Kelly. sheshe2 Monday #6
Such a powerful statement democrank Monday #7
I would take Senator Kelly's military service over the service of five generations of the trump family LetMyPeopleVote Monday #8
! Marcuse Monday #15
Only 3 Trump generations have been born in U.S. DemocracyForever Tuesday #31
I think that trump's paternal grandfather came to the US in 1885 LetMyPeopleVote Tuesday #34
Trump's father's generation the 1st U.S. born Trump generation DemocracyForever Yesterday #37
LOL LetMyPeopleVote Yesterday #38
Now THERE is an American! Kid Berwyn Monday #9
GOOD one! Nice the way you put it, too. calimary Tuesday #24
Well stated Senator. Evolve Dammit Monday #10
What they're doing to Senator Kelly is disgusting and terribly wrong. ...nt Jarqui Monday #11
To all those who got us to this moment, FUCK YOU! ffr Monday #12
I'm a retired Army officer AverageOldGuy Monday #13
Pete Hegseth isn't fit to clean the septic tank of the the guy that cleans out Mark Kelly's septic tank. Zelda_Orchid Monday #14
Veterans have your six Senator! BidenRocks Monday #16
I'm on it! MarcoZandrini Tuesday #26
Mahalo, Sen. Mark Kelly! A True American Cha Monday #17
PREACH IT BROTHER MARK! Skittles Monday #18
He has every right canetoad Monday #19
We can call our Senators and express our disgust. I intend to. Believe we ought allegorical oracle Monday #20
Excellent! Bravo, Senator Kelly. brer cat Monday #21
That's my Senator, MarineCombatEngineer Monday #22
He's my Senator too DemocracyForever Tuesday #29
oompah is making nixon + johnson look soooooooo much better. the axis of stupid, gwb, ronnie pansypoo53219 Monday #23
Bushes created roadmap for Trump DemocracyForever Tuesday #30
If nothing Abstractartist Tuesday #27
MaddowBlog-'I'm never going to back down': Mark Kelly pushes back against Hegseth's intensifying crusade LetMyPeopleVote Tuesday #28
A Big Mistake Marvin Jones Tuesday #32
This Vietnam vet is about to... BH liberal Tuesday #33
This is not American...however, it is very tRmpy. MontanaMama Tuesday #35
I am so sorry all this "meaness" is happening to you young_at_heart Tuesday #36

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,961 posts)
1. When Senator Kelly sues, he will have fun using these statements from Hegseth and Bondi
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 03:44 PM
Monday

If the administration intends to investigate Democratic veterans in Congress, it should prepare equal treatment for members of the White House Cabinet.

In prior remarks, Hegseth and Bondi also said troops must disobey illegal orders - MS NOW

apple.news/AtPlYxgM_Q1S...

(@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T17:49:00.527Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/in-prior-remarks-hegseth-and-bondi-also-said-troops-must-disobey-illegal-orders

CNN reported last week, for example, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who’s helped advance the partisan offensive against the Democratic veterans, delivered remarks in 2016 explaining that U.S. military personnel “won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief” and described the refusal of illegal commands as a part of the military’s ethos and standards.

CNN also found that, as Election Day 2016 drew closer, the former Fox News host told viewers that service members are “not going to follow illegal orders.”

That is to say, eight years ago, the future Pentagon chief delivered the same message he and Trump are now condemning.

Evidently, Hegseth is not alone. The New York Times reported:

Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said the same thing as the [Democratic] lawmakers last year in a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court as a lawyer for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that represented three former military leaders.


In the legal brief, which is available online through the high court’s website, Bondi wrote, “Military officers are required not to carry out unlawful orders.” The Florida Republican added, “The military would not carry out a patently unlawful order from the president to kill nonmilitary targets. Indeed, service members are required not to do so.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Trump administration won’t launch sedition investigations into the incumbent president’s defense secretary and attorney general, but if officials continue to pursue Democratic veterans in Congress, they should probably prepare an answer to a straightforward question: “Why aren’t you also pursuing cases against the president’s defense secretary and attorney general?”

calimary

(89,041 posts)
25. Forgive me, but these are supposed to be our hard-working members of government.
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:16 AM
Tuesday

At the very top of our government. And two out of three of them actually HAVE been working…

On their TANS.

Nice gigs if you can get one.

newdeal2

(4,778 posts)
5. Thank you for fighting back!
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 03:48 PM
Monday

Every bit of pushback helps and I think this is a losing case for the White House.

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,961 posts)
8. I would take Senator Kelly's military service over the service of five generations of the trump family
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 04:44 PM
Monday










DemocracyForever

(26 posts)
31. Only 3 Trump generations have been born in U.S.
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:01 PM
Tuesday

which are Trump's father, Trump and Trump's kids. You are most correct to point out that none of them have served in the military. Trump is only 1 generation removed from being an immigrant.

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,961 posts)
34. I think that trump's paternal grandfather came to the US in 1885
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:35 PM
Tuesday

In addition, trump has grandkids who may be eligible. I have seen video of a granddaughter named Kai who looks old enough to enlist. Kai somehow got to play in a professional golf tournament a while back.



Again, in five generations, no trump has served in the military

DemocracyForever

(26 posts)
37. Trump's father's generation the 1st U.S. born Trump generation
Wed Jan 7, 2026, 01:19 PM
Yesterday

which makes Trump 2nd U.S. born generation and only 1 generation removed from being an immigrant himself. It does look like Trump's grandkids are headed down the same no military service path along with getting into places because of their last name and no qualifications.

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,961 posts)
38. LOL
Wed Jan 7, 2026, 01:48 PM
Yesterday

trump's paternal grandfather immigrated to the US in 1885 and was eligible to serve in the military but declined. This asshole was a draft dodger in Germany and continue to be a draft dodger here in the US. Five generations of trump family members have refused to serve in the military including a draft dodger who fled Germany to the US to avoid military service.

trump's paternal grandfather is part of the trump tradition of not serving in the military


Kid Berwyn

(22,958 posts)
9. Now THERE is an American!
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 04:45 PM
Monday

He didn't tell the world about how great he is, Mark Kelly just did what it takes to be great.

calimary

(89,041 posts)
24. GOOD one! Nice the way you put it, too.
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:11 AM
Tuesday

Cuz Mark Kelly did exactly that. He showed America what it takes to be great.

ffr

(23,325 posts)
12. To all those who got us to this moment, FUCK YOU!
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 05:54 PM
Monday

If you supported this regime, FUCK YOU.

AverageOldGuy

(3,351 posts)
13. I'm a retired Army officer
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 05:55 PM
Monday

Pete Hegseth is an ignorant, cowardly, unqualified, alcoholic, skirtchasing, phony "christian" piece of shit.

Does that about cover it?

Zelda_Orchid

(36 posts)
14. Pete Hegseth isn't fit to clean the septic tank of the the guy that cleans out Mark Kelly's septic tank.
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 06:01 PM
Monday

canetoad

(20,221 posts)
19. He has every right
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 06:21 PM
Monday

To be angry at his treatment. I wish more people, in a position to do something, were angry enough to act.

allegorical oracle

(6,184 posts)
20. We can call our Senators and express our disgust. I intend to. Believe we ought
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 06:31 PM
Monday

to stand behind this man who has given so much. A lawsuit is going to cost him money, time, and the way TSF has corrupted the courts, Kelly could lose.

MarineCombatEngineer

(17,716 posts)
22. That's my Senator,
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 08:15 PM
Monday

Trumpedo and Kegsbreath know they can't even come close to matching what Capt. Kelly has done in his life time so they have to try to humiliate and silence him, this is already backfiring on them and it's going to be a pleasure to watch Capt. Kelly humiliate them in public and in court.

DemocracyForever

(26 posts)
29. He's my Senator too
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 12:53 PM
Tuesday

and I totally agree with you. My father was also a veteran and the way Senator Kelly is being treated by Chickenhawk Trump makes me madder than words can accurately describe.

pansypoo53219

(22,884 posts)
23. oompah is making nixon + johnson look soooooooo much better. the axis of stupid, gwb, ronnie
Mon Jan 5, 2026, 09:42 PM
Monday

fucking raygun, + oompah. build your arch so w/ can treat it like trash.

DemocracyForever

(26 posts)
30. Bushes created roadmap for Trump
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 12:56 PM
Tuesday

I think the Bushes rank right up their with Trump because they created the roadmap for stealing Presidential elections and kidnapping other countries leaders.

Abstractartist

(417 posts)
27. If nothing
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 09:36 AM
Tuesday

If nothing else in this country moves every democrats to get off the sofa and vote blue, then at least do it for a hero soldier, and astronaut who serves his country with honor. He is being punished for telling the truth…

LetMyPeopleVote

(174,961 posts)
28. MaddowBlog-'I'm never going to back down': Mark Kelly pushes back against Hegseth's intensifying crusade
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 11:43 AM
Tuesday

The Pentagon chief is moving forward with plans to demote the senator’s military rank. The secretary may not be prepared, however, for what happens next.

‘I’m never going to back down’: Mark Kelly pushes back against Hegseth’s intensifying crusade - MS NOW

apple.news/A8Ld_5ONZSbu...

(@oc88.bsky.social) 2026-01-06T15:20:46.352Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mark-kelly-demotion-pete-hegseth-010626

In mid-December, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “escalating” his crusade against Sen. Mark Kelly, launching an “official Command Investigation” into the Arizona Democrat. It was, as The Washington Post noted soon after, “an unprecedented use of the military justice system to investigate a political adversary.”

Three weeks later, the beleaguered Cabinet secretary, who presumably has more important matters on his plate, took the next step down a radical path. My MS NOW colleague Erum Salam reported:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that he plans to demote the military rank of Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona after the retired Navy captain reminded those actively serving to disobey illegal orders. […]

Hegseth said he issued a ‘letter of censure’ to Kelly, calling it a first step toward a demotion and a decrease in pension. Censure is a formal disciplinary action, sometimes punitive, that can only be issued by someone in a service member’s chain of command. If successful, it can result in demotion of a service member’s rank and a reduction in their retirement pay
.


For those who might have lost sight of the transgression that prompted the secretary’s crusade: Several Democratic military veterans appeared in a video, released in November, in which they urged service members to reject illegal orders. A week later, Hegseth announced an investigation into Kelly, a decorated Navy veteran. (The Arizona Democrat is the only member of the group who retired as a captain and served long enough to receive a military pension.)....

Kelly’s pushback: If Trump’s Pentagon expects Kelly to back down in the face of absurd bullying, that’s apparently not going to happen. “Here’s the thing, Rachel: I’m never going to back down from these guys,” the senator said Monday on MS NOW. “I’m going to continue to speak out. I’m going to continue to do my job and, as much as I can, highlight how wrong these people are and how outrageous this is and how dangerous.”......

Endgame: As part of the existing process, Kelly has 30 days to respond formally to Hegseth’s letter, but just as notably, assuming his demotion happens, the senator will have the option of taking the matter to the courts, to the Board for Correction of Naval Records or to both.

“If the executive branch were to move forward in any forum — criminal, disciplinary, or administrative — we will take all appropriate legal action on Senator Kelly’s behalf to halt the Administration’s unprecedented and dangerous overreach,” Kelly’s lawyer wrote in a letter to Secretary of the Navy John Phelan in December.

Marvin Jones

(27 posts)
32. A Big Mistake
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:12 PM
Tuesday

Cowards assume we will act like they do. Well, those of us who served are not like you, Pete Hairnet, and your boss, the Chief Traitor. We will continue to exercise our rights under the Constitution we swore to defend--"against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

BH liberal

(121 posts)
33. This Vietnam vet is about to...
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:18 PM
Tuesday

file a fraud report with the Department of Defense which will state that a former Fox staffer is posing as our Secretary of Defense and about to take illegal action against a decorated veteran with decades of dedicated service to our country. Will I be disappeared or not?

MontanaMama

(24,615 posts)
35. This is not American...however, it is very tRmpy.
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:40 PM
Tuesday

This is the WH sending a message to the military that they’d better fall in line or else. Extortion.

young_at_heart

(3,996 posts)
36. I am so sorry all this "meaness" is happening to you
Tue Jan 6, 2026, 01:52 PM
Tuesday

So many decent Americans look up to you as a shining example of what we wish we could be. If I have to think at all of those cretins Hegseth or Trump, I immediately get a sickening feeling that turns into physical illness. Please know you are admired and loved by MANY good people who care about your life and your future life and we will help you in any way needed!

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