Bowe Bergdahl avoids jail time

[bigtree]

The Rude Pundit‏ @rudepundit 1m1 minute ago
This is compassionate and sane. Whatever mistake he made, Bergdahl spent 5 years in hellish conditions. Enough.

Bowe Bergdahl receives dishonorable discharge, avoids jail time

report: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/03/politics/bowe-bergdahl-sentenced/index.html

...I'm really happy with this decision. He made a mistake and paid for it with years of captivity and torture. Hope he can begin to really heal. Welcome home.

[Hoyt]

1. I'm glad to see the Military Justice System did the right thing. Today's "wars" aren't like WWII.

[The Polack MSgt]

3. ?

I'm sure you believe that any and all sanity in the DoD is an aberration.

Since you are on record as believing that the majority of us are white supremacist gun humping trumpsters and all.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9666539

[Hoyt]

6. Fortunately, military judges are educated and not likely gun-fanciers, etc.

[The Polack MSgt]

7. You should take this on the road.

You would make a mint on the comedy club circuit...

Seriously well done - a smear directed the enlisted, the NCOs and gun owners in 10 words.

Masterfully done

[Demsrule86]

11. I have family serving so I don't believe that. However, more than a few voted for Trump

who will take their benefits if he can get away with it.

[The Polack MSgt]

16. The DOD is a big organization

And it draws it's numbers from the same America we all live in.

There are plenty of racists and other scumbags that join.

No veteran or currently serving member would claim otherwise. I certainly don't

My issue with the other poster is his repeated open disdain for our profession and the assumption that our poorest examples are the norm.

[Demsrule86]

17. I understand. I am a navy brat born at Great Lakes...Mom and Dad were in the Navy...brother

and sister are Marines...a niece in the Air Force and two nephews in the Navy. I am proud of all of them. I did not read the post so I cannot speak to that. But know that many of us here do appreciate our men and women in uniform. I sure do. I understand what it is to have your Dad deployed and to worry about the safety of my loved ones in uniform. I did not serve myself so I don't say I understand what you are going though...but I appreciate what you do.

[comradebillyboy]

2. Thanks to Trump's improper command influence

Bergdhal walks away a free man.

[Madam45for2923]

21. Yep! Donald such a dumbass buffoon.

[shanny]

4. Good.

[Skittles]

5. I agree with Rude Pundit

he has paid his dues

[Orsino]

8. I never liked the wartime framing of the charge being levied during a fake war. n/t

[Hekate]

14. Might choose a different term than "fake war," when soldiers are fighting and dying just the same

The Congress has not done its job, but men and women have been dying in combat since 9-11.

"Fake" Anything is a Trumpian term. Please let's not adopt it.

[Orsino]

15. Nope. It's a fake war that kills real people.

A gutless Congress gave warmaking powers directly unto a bad president, our better president failed to end those fake wars, and now they are in the hands of an even worse president.

[Hekate]

19. I'll let DU veterans take it from here...

I'm just a civilian who came of age during the Vietnam War era.

[StevieM]

23. I see what you are saying about the word "fake" but I don't agree. It is unfortunate that Trump has

co-opted that word. But we still need it.

Fake history is a good phrase to describe a lot of what the GOP likes to work with in order to cultivate their goals.

[Demsrule86]

9. I don't think he should be dishonorably discharged but it is better than I expected.

[Hekate]

10. For the record, Gen. McCaffrey was on Katy Tur just now and sounded remarkably sympathetic

It was not just the words, but his expression and tone of voice. He said, among other things, that Bergdahl was a "poor guy who never should have been in the military in the first place," that justice had been done, and (of Trump's comments) that any uniformed military officer who had made those statements "would have been fired."

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. And he is correct.

Iirc, didn't this kid get kicked out of another branch? The Coast Guard?

[Hekate]

18. As McCaffrey noted: yes, the Coast Guard washed him out quite promptly. He should not have been...

...in uniform -- iirc, there were discussions about that in print about the time of his release, and a general feeling that he was unsuitable for mental health reasons, a rather vague and capacious statement. But the Army has quotas to meet...

[VermontKevin]

20. Yes. The Coast Guard released him. He never should have been allowed to join the

Army.

I agree with the sentence except in one instance: I think he should keep his medical benefits. He has psychological problems and needs treatment.

[Hekate]

22. I'm absolutely with you on the medical treatment

[demmiblue]

13. Excellent decision. n/t