General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSen. Mark Kelly: "Nothing more un-American"
Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKellyOver 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 doesnt like, they will come after them the same way. Its outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.
If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our countrys history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesnt get it. I will fight this with everything Ive got not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump dont 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
LetMyPeopleVote
(174,961 posts)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
— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T17:49:00.527Z
apple.news/AtPlYxgM_Q1S...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/in-prior-remarks-hegseth-and-bondi-also-said-troops-must-disobey-illegal-orders
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 courts 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.
Im going to go out on a limb and say that the Trump administration wont launch sedition investigations into the incumbent presidents 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 arent you also pursuing cases against the presidents defense secretary and attorney general?
calimary
(89,041 posts)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.
MustLoveBeagles
(14,765 posts)The Roux Comes First
(2,154 posts)Cowardly little disease-carriers. Hatred and fear are their dearest possessions.
SheltieLover
(76,802 posts)And he will win!
newdeal2
(4,778 posts)Every bit of pushback helps and I think this is a losing case for the White House.
sheshe2
(95,890 posts)Bravo.
democrank
(12,136 posts)I have immense respect for the principled Senator Kelly.
LetMyPeopleVote
(174,961 posts)






DemocracyForever
(26 posts)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)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.
Link to tweet
Again, in five generations, no trump has served in the military
DemocracyForever
(26 posts)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)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)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)Cuz Mark Kelly did exactly that. He showed America what it takes to be great.
Evolve Dammit
(21,499 posts)Jarqui
(10,823 posts)ffr
(23,325 posts)If you supported this regime, FUCK YOU.
AverageOldGuy
(3,351 posts)Pete Hegseth is an ignorant, cowardly, unqualified, alcoholic, skirtchasing, phony "christian" piece of shit.
Does that about cover it?
Zelda_Orchid
(36 posts)BidenRocks
(2,773 posts)MarcoZandrini
(152 posts)I too served-for 25 years on active duty in the US Navy. I got his 6!
Cha
(316,772 posts)Hero!
Skittles
(169,557 posts)canetoad
(20,221 posts)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)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.
brer cat
(27,356 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(17,716 posts)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)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)fucking raygun, + oompah. build your arch so w/ can treat it like trash.
DemocracyForever
(26 posts)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)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)The Pentagon chief is moving forward with plans to demote the senators military rank. The secretary may not be prepared, however, for what happens next.
âIâm never going to back downâ: Mark Kelly pushes back against Hegsethâs intensifying crusade - MS NOW
— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2026-01-06T15:20:46.352Z
apple.news/A8Ld_5ONZSbu...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/mark-kelly-demotion-pete-hegseth-010626
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 members chain of command. If successful, it can result in demotion of a service members rank and a reduction in their retirement pay.
For those who might have lost sight of the transgression that prompted the secretarys 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.)....
Kellys pushback: If Trumps Pentagon expects Kelly to back down in the face of absurd bullying, thats apparently not going to happen. Heres the thing, Rachel: Im never going to back down from these guys, the senator said Monday on MS NOW. Im going to continue to speak out. Im 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 Hegseths 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 Kellys behalf to halt the Administrations unprecedented and dangerous overreach, Kellys lawyer wrote in a letter to Secretary of the Navy John Phelan in December.
Marvin Jones
(27 posts)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)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)This is the WH sending a message to the military that theyd better fall in line or else. Extortion.
young_at_heart
(3,996 posts)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!