In J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece The Two Towers, he wrote a scene in which the tree-giant Ent named Treebeard prepared to battle against the evil wizard Saruman for his part in the wanton destruction of Fangorn Forest.
“Wizards ought to know better: they do know better. There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery.”
This quote came to mind as I reflected on the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. For two weeks now, a growing number of congressional Democrats played the part of pawns in a well-funded, highly coordinated campaign designed to drive a wedge between the military, its chain of command, and the American public. It started with a video titled Don’t Give up the Ship by a group of congressional members who planted a fictional notion that President Trump is issuing illegal orders to the military. That campaign was the opening salvo to a war of words soon accompanied by street combat that left one dead and one critically injured so far. Despite my abhorrence at each elected official leaning into this color revolution move against the republic, my greatest condemnation is saved for U.S. Navy Capt. (Ret.) and Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
Returning to Tolkien’s saga, Saruman knew his natural law responsibility to stand guard against evil. Aligning himself with the dark lord was a deliberate choice of betrayal. Just as his allegiance shifted to the evil Sauron, the hearts of many among our lawmaking class are turned to Soros interests in our place and time. Each betrays their oath of office to do so, military veterans among them doubly.
It’s not merely a colloquial exercise to use terms like cultural war or war of words. These things exist, and we are watching them play out before our eyes through a highly coordinated campaign daring military members to openly defy the chain of command. War, at its most basic root, is a competition of ideas. Most people think that wars exist only when armed forces clash. But physical combat is the culmination of a war that could not be won in the space of ideas and doctrines, where disagreement begins. Physical warfare is the final stage of competition when other measures of influence fail to stem the tide.
Those congressional representatives whose video kicked off the campaign to isolate troops from the chain of command admit that no unlawful orders have been issued. Their inference nonetheless was designed to activate the base to adopt, believe, and perpetuate a false narrative. They know well the tendency of people to internalize continually repeated themes, claims, and inferences as fact, and act accordingly. It’s an age-old play that has become a normal part of American political discourse, the Russian hoax of 2016 and 6-foot distance rule during the COVID era being recent examples of myths that anchored on a national scale.
Military officers have a responsibility to study the foundations of war, to read the philosophers like Carl Von Clausewitz, to be well-rounded leaders in the profession of arms. Senator Kelly transferred into the astronaut program for the majority of his naval career, and thus bypassed the traditional line of warfighting leader development. Yet in recent days, the former astronaut attempted to credential himself a military legend in response to criticisms of his participation in the “unlawful orders” disinformation campaign. In reality, it is the astronaut’s uniform that Kelly is most familiar with, not the commodore’s. I have no contention with Kelly choosing to depart the military leadership track for a space flight career. But it leaves him in a weak position to bolster warrior credentials as a defense for attempting to sow dissension in the military as a politician. His rush to brag about improperly ordered uniform medals online is thus most on brand. But his campaign to divide the troops from the chain of command in this public spectacle ventures far beyond ignorance and into Hanoi Jane territory. His actions are further dividing the nation, adding manufactured strain to the military, and emboldening America’s enemies, foreign and domestic.
As Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet rightly noted, cold-blooded murder results from narratives that delegitimize basic functions of government as “illegal,” a “threat to democracy,” and “fascist.” The same type radicalized to murder Charlie Kirk is now radicalized to put American service members in the crosshairs under a misuse of framing related to military honor. But that’s not enough. Some progressives committed to color revolution are upping the ante, demanding to know by name military members who obey orders to target drug runners bringing deadly narcotics to the U.S. shore. Disgraced Army veteran, former JAG officer, and Ukrainian-born Congressman Eugene Vindman (VA-7) now joins the chorus, saying that troops who obey War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s orders to strike narco-terrorists “will be held accountable.” That kind of statement is meant to plant fear in the hearts of every service member, an utter betrayal of our troops by a treacherous veteran with a vindictive record of politically-motivated prosecution when in the Army.
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Under the rules of information war established by the Left, words are violence. In 2011, when Kelly’s wife, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot, left-wing commentators falsely maligned Sarah Palin for causing the event through campaign rhetoric. The left’s reaction to conservatives being targeted and assassinated since proves they either don’t truly believe that words lead to actions, or that they aim to make it so. Given Senator Kelly’s tragic (yet thank God, miraculous) personal experience on this, he cannot feign the slightest ignorance. Following Rahm Emmanuel’s principle of never letting a crisis go to waste, Senator Kelly seems to be spending as much time in front of cameras as most television show hosts of late. Each of his appearances is focused either on attacking political foes or posing as a victim determined to “stand up” to power, rather than use his actual power as a senator to engage on matters of legitimate military supervision. Lacking in his every public reflection is any proof of the insinuated questionable orders or the slightest indication of humility or reflection. Instead, Kelly portrays a dangerously unconstrained ambition in this ongoing public relations stunt.
With the small deployments of unarmed National Guard forces to support civil authorities restoring order to dangerous parts of certain American cities, the “Thank you for your service” chants were replaced by many with the typical “fascist occupiers” insinuation. Mark Kelly’s actions support this narrative that’s eerily reflective of the treatment afforded to Vietnam-era veterans five decades ago. Thus continues the ongoing betrayal of veterans who deployed under the guise of allegedly fighting our nation’s enemies overseas so we wouldn’t be forced to fight them on American soil. That point is made all the more salient given that the D.C. shooter is an Afghan national allowed into the U.S. after the fall of Kabul.
This saga is ongoing, and there is much more to analyze, contemplate, and write on it. But for now, I conclude that it is a double betrayal to hype one’s military veteran status as part of attaining political power, and use that power to undermine trust between Americans and their military members. I respected Mr. Kelly as an astronaut in my younger years. A retired military officer now myself, the senator’s actions leave me wondering what his price was to take such a dishonorable route. He ought to know better. He does know better.
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