As the Military and Progressives panel at the YearlyKos came to an end, a young man in uniform stood up to argue that the surge was working, at which point the following happened as reported by Ezra Klein of Tapped at the American Prospect:
AN ODD CLOSE. As the Military and Progressives panel came to an end, a young man in uniform stood up to argue that the surge was working, and cutting down on Iraqi casualties. The moderator largely freaked out. When other members of the panel tried to answer his question, he demanded they "stand down." He demanded the questioner give his name, the name of his commander, and the name of his unit. And then he closed the panel, no answer offered or allowed, and stalked off the stage.
Wes Clark took the mic and tried to explain what had just occurred: The argument appears to be that you're not allowed to participate in politics while wearing a uniform, or at least that you shouldn't, and that the questioner was engaging in a sort of moral blackmail, not to mention a violation of the rules, by doing so. Knowing fairly little about the army, I can't speak to any of that. But it was an uncomfortable few moments, and seemed fairly contrary to the spirit of the panel to roar down the member of the military who tried to speak with a contrary voice.
So there we have it...a member of the US Military, in uniform (which is open for another discussion as to whether it was appropriate and legal under UCMJ) being shouted sown and the panel closed because he presented an opposing view. So much for being the party of tolerance.
Over at LGF they are discussing this a whole lot more and one reader even posted the actual DoD Policy that the Kossack was attempting to enforce (DoD Directive 1334.01).
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