Let’s take a short walk back through time to a few years ago when the Biden administration was leading a DEI witch-hunt to purge political opponents from the military in the name of fighting ‘extremism’.
Here’s an example of how wide a net they cast.
The Countering Extremist Activity Working Group final definition of “extremism activities” includes, “advocating widespread unlawful discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
This definition of extremism includes advocating for “discrimination” against “gender identity” which means that anyone opposed to teenage girls being forced to shower with men is now accused of being an extremist and that supporting virtually any conservative group effectively makes a member of the military into an “active participant” in “extremist activities”.
The purge goes even further, reaching out to punish anyone who engages “in electronic and cyber activities regarding extremist activities, or groups that support extremist activities – including posting, liking, sharing, re-tweeting, or otherwise distributing content”. A service member who “likes” a Facebook post from a conservative group is now an “active participant” in “extremist activities”.
The Countering Extremist Activity Working Group’s inclusion of ”sex (including pregnancy)” would potentially open the door to branding any member of the military who personally opposes abortion, donates to an anti-abortion group, or just a traditional church, or even likes a Facebook post by a pro-life group as an “active participant” in “extremism”.
After opening the door to purging anyone who opposes abortion of forcing women to shower with men, the Left is suddenly worried about free speech in the military.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military leaders have denounced any posts critical of the conservative activist, due in part to far-right influencers who have flagged service members they believe are making negative comments about Kirk. That has led to the start of a suspension process, according to a Defense Department official. Several troops also have been fired or punished for social media posts that don’t necessarily attack the slain activist, according to a congressional aide and a person close to the Pentagon.
What does “don’t necessarily attack” even mean? They either do or they don’t. These weasel words are already revealing.
The overtly political tinge has stunned civilian employees and service members, who pledge an oath to the Constitution and not a political leader. Some worry they will face politically motivated punishments for posts that are seen as disloyal to President Donald Trump, according to more than a half dozen troops and defense officials.
“Dangerous territory and very headhunter-like,” said a defense official, who like others was granted anonymity to avoid potential recrimination. “People are getting swept up for anything that is ‘woke.’”
If only they had upheld this sudden love for freedom of speech back when their side was doing the purging.
What are the comments in question? Politico doesn’t seem all that interested in telling us, but here’s one example.
Marine Corps officials are investigating whether a recruiter made an insulting social media post about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed on Wednesday while giving a speech in Utah.
An image posted on the unofficial Marine subreddit page appears to show the recruiter sharing a meme on Instagram that includes a picture of Kirk with the caption, “Another racist man popped.”
“Politically motivated punishments.”
