This story is a bit stale, but I have a few points to highlight I haven’t seen elsewhere.

To recap, a week and a half ago DailyKos (probably the most popular left-wing blog) was hosting its YearlyKos conference in Chicago.

One of the panels was called “The Military and Progressives: Are They Really That Different,” moderated by John Soltz, an Iraq War veteran and founder of VoteVets, a veterans group opposed to the war. The discussion accordingly was focused on US failures in Iraq and the need to withdraw ASAP.

During Q&A a uniformed Army Sergeant gets up to argue that “the surge” is working, and that Iraqi civilian casualties are in decline. At this point Soltz completely flips out. He says the soldier is breaking the law by making political comments while in uniform, says he’s going to contact his superiors to get him a dishonorable discharge, and even threatens to “come down there,” to shut him up.

Here’s the video from the DailyKos website. Fast forward to 41:00 for the begining of the dispute.

Notably DailyKos has edited out everything the Sergeant says - we hear only Soltz dressing him down.

Fortunately PajamasMedia was there filming the event and have posted a video in which you can hear both sides.

Its obvious from the uncensored video that the Sergeant wasn’t saying anything political. He’s not terribly articulate, but he’s really just saying the surge is working. He’s not saying invading Iraq was a good idea, or Bush is great, he’s just conveying facts as he sees them. Soldiers are commenting on the situation in Iraq in interviews on TV everyday. Soltz was interjecting with a discussion of facts, not politics.

And when did the left wing suddenly get so concerned about people not using a military uniform for political purposes? It is true that the political speech of soliders is limited by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. DoD Directive 1334.01 3.1.2 prohibits wearing a uniform,

During or in connection with furthering political activities, private employment or commercial interests, when an inference of official sponsorship for the activity or interest may be drawn.

This is why Generals called to testify in Congress are so careful what they say, sounding stilted as investigators try to goad them into endorsing one political plan or another. Same thing with military interviews or press conferences. And its a good rule - we don’t want guys using their military uniforms grabbing political power from elected civilians.

Most of us don’t, anyway. John Kerry clearly violated the rule when he testified in front of Congress in uniform in 1971. He wasn’t presenting factual information, he was aggressively attacking the elected, civilian leadership of our country. And he wasn’t just making a political statement, he was launching a political career. In less than a year he was running for congress.

Kerry’s Presidential campaign was more overtly military than anything we’ve had in this country since US Grant. He arrived for the DNC convention on a replica navy boat, and started his first speech of the gathering with a salute. He started his grab for power by abusing his military uniform, and he almost made it all the way to the top promoting his alleged marshall virtues.

The left loves this stuff. Just look at how their younglings dress. Castro tee shirts, Mao tee shirts. Images of lifetime dictators who siezed power in military coups and spent almost their entire public lives dressed in military garb. Che is pehaps the purest, and thus most popular, of the type. He never had a post-revolution plan, he just kept on killing. Is there a more popular image among American leftists than Che’s face peering up from under a military beret?

But the left doesn’t like all things military. Defending America - bad; promoting democracy abroad - bad; helping tsunami victims - no comment; giving poorer Americans a chance to pay for a college education through their own hard work - bad. Exterminating 50 Million Chinese in a Marxist revolution - good; taking power in Venezuela then tossing out their fragile constitution - good; expanding the government by force at the expense of individual liberties - can’t get enough.

The shouting down of the sergeant has gotten a fair amount of media attention. I’ve seen no commentary on Wesley Clark’s opening comments (starting at in 8:05 above video).

He starts off by saying “I joked during my Presidential campaign that I wasn’t just a Democrat, I grew up under socialism…In the military all our kids went to the same schools, we all got the same healthcare, shopped at the same stores, got paid the same, its the perfect communist society, you could say (laughs).” He goes on to talk about how living a military life informed his progressive politics. Everybody works together, everyone is treated the same - this is his vision for America.

I’d add that this perfect society he chose to live part of his life in is also completely authoritarian. Its a place where there is no right to a trial by jury. Not following orders can be a capital crime. Corporal punishment for minor infractions is standard. You can’t dress the way you like, or wear your hair as you please. Its illegal to be gay. There is no freedom of the press, or of speech. As we learn later in this same video, any political expression at all is against the law.

Sounds a lot like China, or Cuba, or any number of other leftist paradises. Clark is right, in some was a country dominated by marshall law, and a country run by “progressives” have a lot in common.