Powerful people seem to be becoming more and more inclined to have some kind of muscle nearby–partly from fear, partly from keeping up with the General Joneses, but also probably because having some muscle around who works for *you* gives you some options you wouldn’t otherwise have. You can have annoying journalists roughed up, or let them fear that they will be roughed up if they don’t show proper deference. You can silence hecklers, get rid of annoying protesters, or just intimidate someone who’s getting on your nerves without ever appearing on camera any where doing it yourself.

I have a feeling this is related in some way to the militarization of police forces, and to some other very worrying and ugly changes in our society.

Being verbally belligerent is not sufficient reasons to detain someone. And yes, a politician using active duty military personnel as security is part of the issue, in fact the DoD disagrees so much with you a directive was issued.

Really, learn to read.

Law Prof.,

This issue isn’t so much that they were moonlighting, but that they were doing so 1. without permission apparently and 2. in contradiction to a DoD directive concerning partisan political events.

You need to learn to read too.

Mike Leatherwood,

A majority of military personnel do not know what rights are granted via the Constitution….

I’m not sure what to make of that paragraph…is that a defense of these soldiers or condemnation? In any event a mere peasant such as myself would not be granted any benefits for not “knowing the law” so neither should any soldier. If he unwittingly acts in a way contrary to his oath he should be punished accordingly.

James Donald,

The rally was held in a building rented by Joe Miller, so he could throw out anyone he felt like.

Not when he opens that event and rally to the public. Fliers told supporters to bring neighbors, friends, family, anyone who wanted to hear from Miller…i.e. the idea of throwing people out becomes much, much more problematic. If it was a rented space for a private event that was invite only you’d have a leg to stand on, probably two, right now you got nothing…you’re sitting on your ass.

He ordered this journalist to leave, the journalist refused to leave, and his bouncers then physically removed the journalist. That is what bouncers do. That is why we call them bouncers. It is completely legal and proper.

Escorting someone off of the premises is one thing, detaining them for a non-crime is something else entire…it is in fact itself a crime.

“Cops are trained to interact with US citizens”

This quote wins the thread.-

it is a little funny!

‘The arguments above aren’t about liberty, they are about a fear of power and of the military.’

I feel our liberties are being trampled by their abuse of power.

Power is force. It’s usually used to destroy freedom. There’s something strange about a so-called libertarian not having a healthy fear of power. Whether or not you feel the military is a necessary institution, surely you agree that there ought to be constraints on its use? This is my beef with modern conservatives – it’s all about freedom until you dare to criticize cops, soldiers or other State enforcers.

#47- The big difference there is that civilian cops are, for the most part, completely unaccountable while .mil folks are. If, as has been stated, these chumps are AD and not Res/NG, they could have been working for the flying spaghetti monster itself and that would still not be enough to save their asses.

This quote wins the thread.

‘If it’s legal for the active duty soldiers to moonlight – and that’s a big if, but still an if – then I don’t see what their day job has to do with anything.’

they’re working for a senator and initiating force against the press- the most important tool we have to fight tyranny. this ‘part time job’ can have a huge impact on the soldiers’ careers- the senator can help with promotions, job assignments, etc. the senator can help secure positions with military contractors.

soldiers are trained to follow orders. look at all the corruption with blackwater… this is ugly.

‘If they broke the law, throw the book at them.’ we can’t get cops who are videotaped beating people suspended, much less ‘throw the book at them’. these guys are working for a senator- that’s pretty close to being immune to little people laws.

“Active duty” as used in the article is simply a misrepresentation. An Army medical corps captain who moonlights at the local ER would not be referred to in this fashion. He’s Doctor, performing a service to the community IN HIS SPARE TIME and for a fee. An “active duty” legal clerk acting as a bouncer at a civilian bar brings no magic powers to the job, neither does an infantryman (do you realize how many civilian bouncers are former infantry soldier — a lot). Believe me, all their GI issue equipment (except maybe underware is not with them on their civilian moonlighting job.

This is a bad rap.

If they are thugs, as many policemen and security guards certainly are, it’s not because they are in the military. THey were thugs long before Uncle Sam got ahold of them and they’ll be such long after they leave the military and join a police department or whatever.

(a) A private person or a peace officer without a warrant may arrest a person

(1) for a crime committed or attempted in the presence of the person making the arrest;

(2) when the person has committed a felony, although not in the presence of the person making the arrest;

(3) when a felony has in fact been committed, and the person making the arrest has reasonable cause for believing the person to have committed it.

Dan Fagan is a local radio host. He had Tony Hopfinger on his show today. Tony is the journalist who was belligerent and was detained for it. They post podcasts of Dan’s show each evening. So you can hear the actual journalist speak in his own voice about his version of what happened as well as the questions posed to hime by Dan and callers. I beleive he was on in the second hour. Get it while its hot.

http://www.kfqd.com for the podcast

The regulations don’t prevent moonlighting, but they do prevent moonlighting for partisan political events. Its been posted here twice. Why is this hard to comprehend?

Being hired by a campaign does not automatically mean you’re engaged in political activity.

The regulations don’t say not to engage in political activity as voting is clearly a political activity that soldiers can engage in. What they can’t do is work for a partisan political campaign.

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134410p.pdf

4.1.2. A member of the Armed Forces on active duty shall not:

[...]

4.1.2.8. Perform clerical or other duties for a partisan political committee or candidate during a campaign, on an election day, or after an election day during the process of closing out a campaign.

This would seem to prohibit working on any type of security detail for a political candidate. Now they could do a security detail for a concert, or a private event.

It seems pretty straight forward to me.