"JAG probably told Hegseth that he didn't have a case."

I'm not an insider on this, but I don't think Hegseth can even demote him.

All officer promotions must be approved by congress. Even lower ranking officer promotions. My promotion to O-5 was held up in 2018 because congress was not in session due to a government shutdown.

I find it hard to believe that demotions, especially in circumstances like this, would not require some sort of oversight. Any lawyer can easily point out that Kelly did not violate the UCMJ or US law.

"It absolutely is illegal. Sadly we won't be punished for it."

Is it more illegal than going after Noriega, or Saddam, or Khaddafi?

Would you consider it illegal if a Ukrainian strike team went into Russia and bagged Putin?

"Yes."

Under what statutes?

"Why? Invading Venezuela and kidnapping Maduro and his wife didn't require any sort of oversight."

Fair.

It could be that congress has ceded those authorities to someone else as well.

"If we had a real Supreme Court Hegseth couldn't get away with this but with the court we have today the Constitution is "just a piece of paper."

The Supreme Court is a few echelons down the road. The problem is with congress.

"We had a coalition and congressional and/or NATO approval for those attacks."

I don't think there was a coalition for Panama. And congress was not notified of the attacks on bin Laden and or/other individuals who had been designated as terrorists.

The big difference is that attacks on Islamic terrorists took place under the auspices of the 2001 AUMF, which was authorized by congress and granted the president the authority to conduct operations without notifying congress. I don't think the AUMF applies here since this was, on paper, an LE operation.

"Brave stand you've taken, as usual."

You have no idea what stand I've taken. And it wouldn't matter one way or another.

"More accurately, the problem is with almost half the American people."

I think the polling suggests about 30% of the US population supports the operation to capture Maduro.

And this is the period where the nation is usually experiencing euphoria. The blowback from this has yet to be seen, but from my vantage point this thing has the potential to be the dumpster fire of all dumpster fires.

"Congress had approval for Obama's Bin laden Kill."

You didn't read #37, did you.

And I looked it up. Trump is using AUMF as the justification for why he did not notify congress.

"Your "both sides" posts are crap. Shame on you, you should know better."

Objectivity is crap and I should be ashamed of it?

Should I just let you tell me how to think?

"You clearly answered your own question, so what was the point of asking that?"

Technically, I didn't answer my own question. I went and looked up AUMF after the fact, and it is the justification the Trump admin is using as to why they did not notify congress.

"I keep asking the people I know who support this if they'll still want to take credit for it when civil war/strife breaks out as the power vacuum is filled."

That's a pretty obvious question.

My question would be, what happens when Delcy Rodriguez or Vladimir Padrino requests the Russians or Chinese move a couple of divisions into Venezuela to defend their sovereignty. I wonder if Trump would still claim to be in charge under those circumstances.

And honestly, unless the US has flipped some high-level Venezuelan government officials, I would expect this. Not sure if anyone saw Stephen Miller's speech with Jake Tapper, about how we live in a world that is governed by strength, force, and power.

You don't think the rest of the world heard the same speech I did?

This idiot, BTW, makes Dimitry Peskov sound articulate.

"And yes, I have no doubt Russia and China looked on gleefully while that heavy lidded eyed creeper impotently raged at the camera."

I think it goes beyond that. It sent a message to everyone, include allies, close allies like Poland and South Korea. Not to mention peripheral allies like Saudi Arabia.

Nuclear proliferation in the west has been kept in check under the notion that it was not necessary. That the US would provide that capability.

I wonder what the Germans are thinking right now about Miller's speech?

#72

You forgot to add in something about trans rights, abortion, racism, and income inequality.

Please do better next time.

"The first question should be if they'd prosecute him for telling soldiers to Go Ahead and Follow Illegal Orders."

Kelly was just reiterating what was in the LOAC courses I was required to complete each year while on active duty.

Apparently, those courses were discontinued in the 1st trump admin.