Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The email I am writing about is the one to ban FOX or at least some of their “News”” people. To start with let me say that I do not watch that channel and I know that the crap they put out is very definitely not proAmerican.

So now we are addressing the issue of censorship and the conservatives in the service have done a pretty good job of eliminating anything that looks like what was called “Adult Literature”.

Right or wrong this is clearly censorship and we are seeing more and more of it becoming the norm not the exception and it should not happen. Even if the message is not the greatest or true to the facts, good logical decisions cannot be made in a vacuum or without the opportunity to at least hear the other side of an argument. We know that censorship is possible if the right people push the issue, trouble is that you are fighting the ones that already won round one, the conservatives. 

One method might be to put TV’s everywhere and make sure that they are tuned to your message,or fact check everything that is put out as quickly as possible.  Report that FOX said this and have a counter argument to that line of propaganda. The military has a program and personnel that are training in this very type of warfare, and that is what this is, warfare. Use your assets wisely and monitor what is being said by command. You know that there are members of the military that will believe anything they are told, especially if it is radical or far fetched. 

Discipline is one of the things that seems to have gotten lax in the military of today. I say this as a person that started my military journey in 1964 and then restarted my active journey in 1980 and ended my service in 1995. I have since worked at a military base and the upkeep of the base, the attitude of the troops and the personal interactions are all very casual from what they used to be. Maybe that is a good thing but commanders were interested in their people and soldiers had respect for their leaders, that does not hold true in the military today as commanders allow dining facilities to be closed on weekend, troops are put in barracks that are on the far side of the installation from where they work and no transportation is provided and they don’t all own cars.

The new dorms are equipped with security locks that require codes or cards to open and yet somehow members of the opposite sex end up in the same room and if the female decides to make a charge against the male he is guilty until proven otherwise, another issue of one sided views. If problems occur in those situations then both parties need to be investigated equally for the sake of justice and let the evidence prove or disprove the allegations.

The sale of guns and alcohol in the regular PX is somewhat of an issue. One of the reasons is that the basis for getting rid of certain reading materials was because the PX is for families, so said those pushing for censorship, they were really built for the troops. Now we have guns, family friendly, booze, family friendly, I think not. Makes as much sense as the ad for “Don’t Drink and then Drive” and yet we sell beer in almost every gas station in the country.

The society of today seems to feel that if we make a rule based on our fuzzy logic that it will make sense to one and all, problem solved. Tell people they cannot smoke before age 18, tell them they cannot drink before 21, tell them that they should not have sex until married. All have the same potential as waving a flag at a bull, it will make them mad and they will do precicely the opposite of your order. All are methods of censure and none have the desired effect because that is human nature. 

Educate people on the Constitution and the rights given under it. Once they know what is or is not true you still have the ones that will warp it to suit the moment or their own agenda. The ones that learn the truth and are willing to use logic to see through the smoke screen of broken dreams and predicted night mares.

To re-enforce the military issue, make classes on UCMJ part of your monthly training. What are the rules and what are the punishments for breaking the rules? How are courts marshalls conducted and what are the punishments for being found guilty especially of treason or insurrection. As the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces is it logical to think that the statutes in the UCMJ should apply equally on levels.