(General) Michael Flynn Must Be Court-Martialed

"Stupidity is a talent for misconception." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

HISTORY FACT

Edgar Allan Poe was court-martialed at West Point for “gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders,” and was dismissed on March 6, 1831.

PRESENT DAY FACT

On November 2, 2016, Michael T. Flynn, slated to be president-elect Donald J. Trump's "National Security Adviser," tweeted this:

At first I thought it was a joke from a fake account. But, no, it truly came from Flynn. (I know he's "General" Flynn, but I feel he relinquished his right to receive respect after what he did.)

The accusations in his tweet -- which he presented as fact, not opinion -- were not only false and libelous about Hillary Clinton, he linked his tweet to a fake news source involving a manufactured paranoid conspiracy theory now known as "Pizzagate," circulating White Nationalist websites and Trump supporter groups. It involves Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., targeted by conspiracy theorists alleging the restaurant is/was involved in a child sex ring run by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta! (Seriously, when it comes to right-wing nuts, you can't make this crap up.)

Now you would think any reasonable, intelligent person would see the words "child sex ring" with "Hillary Clinton," and immediately recognize it as ridiculous propaganda, or dismiss it as a hoax, or a lie. But in Flynn's case, he not only believed it to be true (based on a fake news source), but he tweeted it as true.

I am of the opinion that Flynn's tweet constitutes a violation of the Hatch Act. 

As a result of this virally-shared nonsense, in which Flynn participated, a Trump supporter traveled to the pizzeria, armed with an assault rifle, to "self-investigate" the theory.

According to the Washington Post:

"Police said 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C., walked in the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a firearm in the direction of a restaurant employee. The employee was able to flee and notify police. Police said Welch proceeded to discharge the rifle inside the restaurant; they think that all other occupants had fled when Welch began shooting.

Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police said there were no reported injuries."

According to the BBC news website:

"The bizarre and unfounded theory has been spread online by right-wing blogs such as Infowars, which is run by Donald Trump supporter, Alex Jones."

Mr Jones, a conspiracy theorist and talk radio host, said Mr. Trump called him the day after the election to thank him and his followers.

The theory was also pushed online by Michael Flynn, Jr., son of General Michael Flynn, Mr Trump's choice for national security adviser."

After seeing his son's tweet, I would have hoped that Flynn, a grown man with a lengthy military record, would have some level of intelligence and education, at least enough to know that:

1. Not everything on the Internet is true
2. Responsible people verify information before sharing
3. If it comes from Alex Jones, it's most certainly false and outlandish
4. The ludicrousness of the conspiracy theory was a red flag 

But digging deeper into Flynn's history dashed my hopes. Alas, I gave him too much credit. According to the Wikipedia page about this former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency:

"On April 30, 2014, Flynn announced his retirement effective later in 2014, about a year earlier than he had been scheduled to leave his position. He was reportedly effectively forced out of the DIA after clashing with superiors over his allegedly chaotic management style and vision for the agency. In a private email which was leaked online, Colin Powell said that he had heard in the DIA (apparently from later DIA director Vincent R. Stewart) that Flynn got fired because he was "Abusive with staff, didn’t listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc." According to the NY Times, Flynn exhibited a loose relationship with facts, leading his subordinates to refer to Flynn's repeated dubious assertions as "Flynn facts."

Donald Trump's absence of good judgment has already been apparent by the hour, not only with his choice of cabinet members, but also based on his behavior on Twitter. But Flynn's tweet rises to a level of irresponsibility and recklessness that cannot be ignored, excused, or forgiven.

Picture from 11/18/16 article on Slate.com

He is an embarrassment to our military and our nation. President Obama must not allow this event to go by without ensuring that Flynn faces consequences for his actions.

What Flynn did was infinitely worse than Edgar Allan Poe, who was court-martialed for "gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders." 

If Flynn gets a free pass and isn’t punished for this massive negligence and reckless endangerment, then it’s time to re-think the power we’ve handed over to our government.

In my opinion, Flynn has no place being Trump’s (or anyone's) National Security Adviser. He is temperamentally unfit for the position. Our military’s current Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama, must pursue this until Flynn is stripped of his title and awards via a military court martial.


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