Duckworth to block military confirmations until Esper proves Vindman will be promoted

[mystery-ak]

Duckworth to block military confirmations until Esper proves Vindman will be promoted
By J. Edward Moreno - 07/02/20 02:16 PM EDT

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) announced Thursday that she is blocking the Senate confirmation of 1,123 senior U.S. Armed Forces promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms that he is not going to block the promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to colonel.

Vindman, a decorated Iraq War veteran who served on the staff of the White House’s National Security Council, was a prominent witness in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump last year.

Trump removed Vindman from his position with the National Security Council after his testimony, but Duckworth is pushing to make sure that the administration does not deny him his expected promotion to colonel.

The Illinois Democrat, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused Trump in a statement Thursday of trying to “politicize the nation’s Armed Forces.” She is asking for Esper to provide written confirmation that Vindman will be promoted to colonel.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/505658-duckworth-to-block-military-confirmations-until-esper-proves-vindman-will-be

[PeteS in CA]

Vindman should be promoted to guard duty on one of the Aleutian Islands. Duckworth should be told, firmly, "No."

[mountaineer]

And she wants to be Gropin' Joe's VP. 

[Cyber Liberty]

Um...no.  Drop dead.  You don't get two extra votes because you have no legs.

[Bigun]

Senator to Block All Military Promotions Over Impeachment Witness Vindman

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said she’s planning to block every single military promotion unless Secretary of Defense Mark Esper promises that he didn’t or will not block the promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against President Donald Trump in the impeachment inquiry...

Excerpt

Promote him??? The MF needs to be court-martialed and drummed out of the Army!

[EdinVA]

Sorry ducky... not gonna happen... you don't have the authority

[jafo2010]

Vindman should have been released from the military.  He is a traitor.

And never in all my years is one guaranteed a promotion in the military.  It is not expected!

[GtHawk]

Perhaps her email and phones should receive lot' and lot's of attention and I wouldn't be in the least bothered of if a lot of Vets happened to make their feelings known at her home and office the same way liberals do at the homes of people they disagree with.

[rangerrebew]

Duckworth vows to block over 1,000 military confirmations until Pentagon proves Vindman will be promoted

Vindman was a key witness in the Dem-led Trump impeachment hearings
By Louis Casiano | Fox News
 

President Trump breaks down record-setting jobs report, 'this is the largest monthly jobs gain in the history of our country'

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on Thursday announced her intention to block Senate confirmations for 1,123 senior U.S. Armed Forces promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms he will not block the "expected and deserved" promotion of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

Vindman, an Iraq War veteran, served on the White House National Security Council and was thrust into the limelight last year when he testified about President Trump's July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that became the heart of a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.

Vindman said he listened to the call and voiced concerns that Trump allegedly tried to pressure Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of one of Ukraine's largest natural gas companies.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/duckworth-vows-to-block-over-1000-military-confirmations-until-pentagon-proves-vindman-will-be-promoted

[rangerrebew]

Vindman was a key witness in the Dem-led Trump impeachment hearings
 

This sentence should read:

Vindman was a key FALSE witness in the Dem-led Trump impeachment hearings

[Mod1]

Threads merged

[sneakypete]

Just imagine how popular this is going to make him and his brother with 1,123 senior officers.

What THOSE officers need to be doing is contacting THEIR Senators and congresscritters and demanding they slap that bitch back into line.

[catfish1957]

Vindman should be promoted to guard duty on one of the Aleutian Islands. Duckworth should be told, firmly, "No."

How about giving him the "Full Bird" and then ship his ass to the Aluetians for the balance of his career.  Let him count bugs and bunnies on a bio assignment.   

Everybody would be happy , except Vindman. 

[sneakypete]

How about giving him the "Full Bird" and then ship his ass to the Aluetians for the balance of his career.  Let him count bugs and bunnies on a bio assignment.   

Everybody would be happy , except Vindman.

@catfish1957
Won't work. He will just retire as a full Colonel,and then hit the talk shows to promote his upcoming book that "exposes all the corruption and lies of the Trump administration."

And he will have a nice,fat,retirement check from the army coming in to support him until the REAL money starts sliding under his door.

[catfish1957]

@catfish1957
Won't work. He will just retire as a full Colonel,and then hit the talk shows to promote his upcoming book that "exposes all the corruption and lies of the Trump administration."

And he will have a nice,fat,retirement check from the army coming in to support him until the REAL money starts sliding under his door.

@sneakypete

Since all my family members applicable are gone....   Question for military retirees.  When I retired from industry, (to be able secure pension and other annuiant benefits), I had to sign a technology secrecy agremment, agreeing that I forfeit benefits, if said secrets were dislosed outside the company.   I wonder how and if this could be implemented to squelch low lifes who refuse to recognize CIC (Vindman) , and or disclose other sensitive military matters.  Does UCMJ even apply to military retirees?

[Bigun]

How about giving him the "Full Bird" and then ship his ass to the Aluetians for the balance of his career.  Let him count bugs and bunnies on a bio assignment.   

Everybody would be happy , except Vindman.

How about we don't give that MF anything except what he richly deserves! A court-martial and drumming out of the Army!

[catfish1957]

How about we don't give that MF anything except what he richly deserves! A court-martial and drumming out of the Army!

No argument there, except the political hot potato that would outrage the sheeple.  Real life stuff, sadly. 

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

Since all my family members applicable are gone....   Question for military retirees.  When I retired from industry, (to be able secure pension and other annuiant benefits), I had to sign a technology secrecy agremment, agreeing that I forfeit benefits, if said secrets were dislosed outside the company.   I wonder how and if this could be implemented to squelch low lifes who refuse to recognize CIC (Vindman) , and or disclose other sensitive military matters.  Does UCMJ even apply to military retirees?

@catfish1957

I guess most people don't know this,but military personnel  are NOT protected by Constitutional Laws. They come under "The Universal Code of Military Justice",which basically gives you the right to try to justify your actions to senior officers before they send you off to prison.

It is practically unheard of for field grade officers in political or intelligence positions to ever see a trial. The brass has the goods on them or they wouldn't have been arrested,and to avoid embarrassing the officer corps,they are usually allowed to immediately retire at their current rank,with the understanding that if they try to fight it,they WILL get hammered in court and lose their retirement pay and all benefits.

These twin weasels are both more political than they are serving officers,so absolutely nothing bad is going to happen to either one of them. They have "rabbi's" like Shulmer and Pelosi looking out for them. All it takes is for the senior Dim on a Senate intelligence or armed forces committee to give orders to let them skate,and the military lets them skate.

That is the way it is,and that is the way it has to be when it comes to the relationship between the US military and our political leaders.

BTW,the one case I do know of where the staff officers relieved their ship's Captain and locked him up and took command was on a US Navy ship during or right after WW-2. A movie was made about this,and I think Humphrey Bogart played the Captain. It was in black and white and I watched most of it as a kid,and was fascinated. Never saw how it ended,though. The power went off,and back in those days,that was the end of it.

[AL]

So right you are sneakypete about the UCMJ.

Like all in the military, Vindman has the commander in chief at the top of the chain of command.  Under the UCMJ, If an officer is discharged from any armed force by administrative action or is dropped from the rolls by order of the President, he has no right to trial under this article.

Something smells with this episode.

[Smokin Joe]

@sneakypete https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/

[catfish1957]

@catfish1957

I guess most people don't know this,but military personnel  are NOT protected by Constitutional Laws. They come under "The Universal Code of Military Justice",which basically gives you the right to try to justify your actions to senior officers before they send you off to prison.

It is practically unheard of for field grade officers in political or intelligence positions to ever see a trial. The brass has the goods on them or they wouldn't have been arrested,and to avoid embarrassing the officer corps,they are usually allowed to immediately retire at their current rank,with the understanding that if they try to fight it,they WILL get hammered in court and lose their retirement pay and all benefits.

These twin weasels are both more political than they are serving officers,so absolutely nothing bad is going to happen to either one of them. They have "rabbi's" like Shulmer and Pelosi looking out for them. All it takes is for the senior Dim on a Senate intelligence or armed forces committee to give orders to let them skate,and the military lets them skate.

That is the way it is,and that is the way it has to be when it comes to the relationship between the US military and our political leaders.

BTW,the one case I do know of where the staff officers relieved their ship's Captain and locked him up and took command was on a US Navy ship during or right after WW-2. A movie was made about this,and I think Humphrey Bogart played the Captain. It was in black and white and I watched most of it as a kid,and was fascinated. Never saw how it ended,though. The power went off,and back in those days,that was the end of it.

I understand UCMJ....

But I didn't get my question answered around does a military retiree have to sign  a technology or security agreement, where retiree (annuitant) forfeits benefits if they disclose .

@sneakypete
.

[EdinVA]

I understand UCMJ....

But I didn't get my question answered around does a military retiree have to sign  a technology or security agreement, where retiree (annuitant) forfeits benefits if they disclose .

@sneakypete
.

Your security clearance prohibits you from disclosing classified information, albeit technology or otherwise, for as long as you breath...

[Bigun]

Your security clearance prohibits you from disclosing classified information, albeit technology or otherwise, for as long as you breath...

That is correct and if you retire from a government agency (not sure about the military) you WILL sign papers attesting to that fact.

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/

@Smokin Joe

THANK YOU! Been wanting to watch that again ever since I was cheated out of the ending,but could never remember the name.

I can't believe I remembered Bogart,and didn't remember Lee Marvin. Lee Marvin is my favorite actor of all time. I even watched a musical (paint your wagons) because he was in it. HORRIBLE voice,but it was still Lee Marvin.

[sneakypete]

I understand UCMJ....

But I didn't get my question answered around does a military retiree have to sign  a technology or security agreement, where retiree (annuitant) forfeits benefits if they disclose .

@sneakypete
.

@catfish1957

No. It's not necessary because no one ever really retires in the civilian sense of the word. You just move from the active duty rolls to the inactive duty rolls. If you commit a bozo no-no after retirement,like leaking classified information without prior approval,you WILL find yourself recalled to active duty to face a court-martial.

If found guilty you are not only sent to a military prison to serve your time (NOT "fun places),but lose your retirement pay and benefits packages.

BTW,I personally knew a senior NCO's that was convicted of conspiring to murder a 0-3  "outsider" that had been assigned to monitor his team on a deployment,and ended up being sentenced to life in the Feral Prison at Ft.Leavenworth,Kansas.  He ended up only serving a few years before being released,but by then he was in his 50's with no career or life experience that didn't involve being a SF team sgt or SGM. I have heart nothing of him since I was told he had "soldiered his way out of Leavenworth".but being a combat soldier was all he knew,so I suspect he became a mercenary soldier somewhere.

Yes,I am writing about "Fast Eddie" if any of you reading this are former SF. I will NOT identify  him any further and ask you to do the same. He deserves his privacy if he is still alive,and if he ever had a family,they deserve their privacy also.

Same for enlisted swine as for commissioned officers. You are never released from duty,and are always subject to recall at the will of the service.