Time reported: An active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, in apparent protest of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which he described as a “genocide.” This became the main article
Yes, that difference has been discussed several times over the years ever since I raised that issue in 2003. And those words are also part of the oath a naturalized citizen must perform/vow as the final act in the process of gaining citizenship. Note, such an oath isn't required of all US citizens, which is part of the problem when it comes to performing the duties of a citizen. IMO, I would hope that if such were mandatory that our present predicament would never have arisen as citizens would have noted ASAP in 1945 that Truman was violation the Constitution by violating the UN Charter. I once asked PavewayIV at MoA if he still took his oath seriously, which he replied in the affirmative. A few others chimed in but too many remained silent, IMO. And Trump isn't any cure as he violated the Constitution too in many ways. The continuity of lawlessness is (provide your own negative adjective)--mine's incredible.
I served in operational units through about 1985. Other than being post Vietnam, and somewhat tight funded we knew what we were about. I’m was low morale in mid 70’s.
Remaining service was HQ and then technical in weapon systems. Saw a lot of “naked emperor” in acquisition units.
All the money since GWOT contributed to some moral decline.
As Napoleon noted the moral is to the material as three is to one.
My wife has online subscriptions to NY Times and WA Post. The NYT article doesn't say much. Maybe they will expand it later.
WA Post had two articles and the latest article describes how the event has spread:
"Bushnell’s fatal protest turned him into an instant folk hero among some anti-war and pro-Palestinian activists. Within Arab circles, especially, the symbolism of a self-immolation is potent: a Tunisian fruit vendor who burned himself to death in 2011 set off pro-democracy rebellions that toppled dictators and upended the Middle East.
Across social media, some pro-Palestinian activists shared snippets of the video of Bushnell rationalizing his decision aloud in the seconds before lighting himself on fire. The captions portrayed the airman as a martyr.
Within hours, the posts collectively had racked up hundreds of thousands of “likes” and strings of comments punctuated with heartbreak emojis and #FreePalestine. The prominent Palestinian-American organizer Linda Sarsour, a leader of the 2017 Women’s March, posted a photo of Bushnell on Instagram with a caption that promised he would be remembered as “a man who risked his own life to shock a nation in to action.”.
It is 2:31 PM EST on 2/26/24 and a few minutes ago Arron Bushnell was the most active twitter post and the Air Force was the third most active. About 20 minutes later Arron Bushnell was still at the top and now the third spot is "Rest In Peace." The last spot is "Rest in Power" and is mostly on Aaron.
Thanks Don. It's been emotional here too. Just finished watching the chat between Crook and the Judge which will become part of another Crooke Monday, although I might alter the title somewhat. I saw at the Judge's website that he has some discussion about Aaron's action, but I haven't viewed it yet. It will likely become part of the Crooke Monday article.
I am already sick at heart about the way the Legacy Media is spinning this act of conscience. Thanks for writing this article. It is important for his family, especially, that Aaron is remembered as a man of deep integrity with the courage to sacrifice himself in order to fight a great evil.
Thanks for your reply. BigLie Media needs to somehow repel its deep complicity in US and Zionist Imperialism and the Genocide it brings. It appears that those of us at Alt-Media have caused BigLie Media to respond as they would have remained silent as with the earlier case in Georgia.
thanks for highlighting this karl.. i was out most all of yesterday, but traveling in the car, i did hear about it on cbc radio in the news... it was mentioned a few times in fact... on cbc news internet page today - no mention of aaron bushnell, but yet another story on navalny... cbc is pure crap..
I posted this to my VK and at Pepe Escobar's VK, too. It's up to us little people to make this viral. I'm sure b has posted it to his X and it will start flying there, although more is always helpful. Thanks for that bit of cbc info. It would be good fro you to post that info at MoA!
I can think of a couple more effective things he could have done, but I can't post them here for legal reasons. Not that it matters, he probably would have ended up the same way if he did them - unless he had excellent tradecraft knowledge.
Okay, I realize this is a somewhat minor point, but the Nth degree metaphore relates to an incomplete approximation. Since Mr. Aaron Bushnell outdid himself, literally, to honor his oath and his belief in the constitution, by showing utmost resolve in his defense of morals and virtue, I suggest you just cut this verbial addition to your headline. It will remain forcefully enough.
Your critique's noted. The article and its headline has already reached 1600 inboxes of substack subscribers and 1800 pages of my VK friends, a small number who will amplify themselves via restacking and sharing it globally since about 2/3s of my readers are global. And all too many in the military have no clue as to the moral/honor/legal aspects related to their oath of service, something I figured out in my 3rd year of six--I stood down.
I just finished making a comparison of his act with that of John Brown, and Ray McGovern compared it to Jesus in the Temple tossing the moneychangers out that resulted in his crucifixion. But you're entitled to your opinion, and I won't try to dissuade you.
No Karl, if you wish to address this from a religious perspective then his act was one of ultimate despair which is the opposite of faith. Jesus was murdered, he did not kill himself. Suicide and despair can be argued to be the unforgivable sins against the Holy Spirit
I am retired USAF officer. The officers oath differs from the enlisted oath.
Both oaths pledge “support and defend”.
The officer has no explicit duty to “obey”. while the enlisted oaths include “obey”. Doty to obey does not over awe “support and defend”.
That distinct enlarges the officers’ duty toward the constitution.
Rarely seen!
Yes, that difference has been discussed several times over the years ever since I raised that issue in 2003. And those words are also part of the oath a naturalized citizen must perform/vow as the final act in the process of gaining citizenship. Note, such an oath isn't required of all US citizens, which is part of the problem when it comes to performing the duties of a citizen. IMO, I would hope that if such were mandatory that our present predicament would never have arisen as citizens would have noted ASAP in 1945 that Truman was violation the Constitution by violating the UN Charter. I once asked PavewayIV at MoA if he still took his oath seriously, which he replied in the affirmative. A few others chimed in but too many remained silent, IMO. And Trump isn't any cure as he violated the Constitution too in many ways. The continuity of lawlessness is (provide your own negative adjective)--mine's incredible.
I served in operational units through about 1985. Other than being post Vietnam, and somewhat tight funded we knew what we were about. I’m was low morale in mid 70’s.
Remaining service was HQ and then technical in weapon systems. Saw a lot of “naked emperor” in acquisition units.
All the money since GWOT contributed to some moral decline.
As Napoleon noted the moral is to the material as three is to one.
US could be in trouble…
Judging from Don's comment, there's no restraining this news and action, and that will do what it will do.
My wife has online subscriptions to NY Times and WA Post. The NYT article doesn't say much. Maybe they will expand it later.
WA Post had two articles and the latest article describes how the event has spread:
"Bushnell’s fatal protest turned him into an instant folk hero among some anti-war and pro-Palestinian activists. Within Arab circles, especially, the symbolism of a self-immolation is potent: a Tunisian fruit vendor who burned himself to death in 2011 set off pro-democracy rebellions that toppled dictators and upended the Middle East.
Across social media, some pro-Palestinian activists shared snippets of the video of Bushnell rationalizing his decision aloud in the seconds before lighting himself on fire. The captions portrayed the airman as a martyr.
Within hours, the posts collectively had racked up hundreds of thousands of “likes” and strings of comments punctuated with heartbreak emojis and #FreePalestine. The prominent Palestinian-American organizer Linda Sarsour, a leader of the 2017 Women’s March, posted a photo of Bushnell on Instagram with a caption that promised he would be remembered as “a man who risked his own life to shock a nation in to action.”.
It is 2:31 PM EST on 2/26/24 and a few minutes ago Arron Bushnell was the most active twitter post and the Air Force was the third most active. About 20 minutes later Arron Bushnell was still at the top and now the third spot is "Rest In Peace." The last spot is "Rest in Power" and is mostly on Aaron.
I am crying.....
Thanks Don. It's been emotional here too. Just finished watching the chat between Crook and the Judge which will become part of another Crooke Monday, although I might alter the title somewhat. I saw at the Judge's website that he has some discussion about Aaron's action, but I haven't viewed it yet. It will likely become part of the Crooke Monday article.
I am already sick at heart about the way the Legacy Media is spinning this act of conscience. Thanks for writing this article. It is important for his family, especially, that Aaron is remembered as a man of deep integrity with the courage to sacrifice himself in order to fight a great evil.
Thanks for your reply. BigLie Media needs to somehow repel its deep complicity in US and Zionist Imperialism and the Genocide it brings. It appears that those of us at Alt-Media have caused BigLie Media to respond as they would have remained silent as with the earlier case in Georgia.
thanks for highlighting this karl.. i was out most all of yesterday, but traveling in the car, i did hear about it on cbc radio in the news... it was mentioned a few times in fact... on cbc news internet page today - no mention of aaron bushnell, but yet another story on navalny... cbc is pure crap..
I posted this to my VK and at Pepe Escobar's VK, too. It's up to us little people to make this viral. I'm sure b has posted it to his X and it will start flying there, although more is always helpful. Thanks for that bit of cbc info. It would be good fro you to post that info at MoA!
I was a US Army enlisted man in the Cold War .Morale is very hard to maintain if you don't understand why you're there.
It seems that command is unable to learn from the past.
I can think of a couple more effective things he could have done, but I can't post them here for legal reasons. Not that it matters, he probably would have ended up the same way if he did them - unless he had excellent tradecraft knowledge.
Okay, I realize this is a somewhat minor point, but the Nth degree metaphore relates to an incomplete approximation. Since Mr. Aaron Bushnell outdid himself, literally, to honor his oath and his belief in the constitution, by showing utmost resolve in his defense of morals and virtue, I suggest you just cut this verbial addition to your headline. It will remain forcefully enough.
Your critique's noted. The article and its headline has already reached 1600 inboxes of substack subscribers and 1800 pages of my VK friends, a small number who will amplify themselves via restacking and sharing it globally since about 2/3s of my readers are global. And all too many in the military have no clue as to the moral/honor/legal aspects related to their oath of service, something I figured out in my 3rd year of six--I stood down.
I respectfully disagree. His was not an heroic act but an act of giving up. I’m sure his family agrees. May his tormented soul rest in peace
I just finished making a comparison of his act with that of John Brown, and Ray McGovern compared it to Jesus in the Temple tossing the moneychangers out that resulted in his crucifixion. But you're entitled to your opinion, and I won't try to dissuade you.
No Karl, if you wish to address this from a religious perspective then his act was one of ultimate despair which is the opposite of faith. Jesus was murdered, he did not kill himself. Suicide and despair can be argued to be the unforgivable sins against the Holy Spirit
I saw neither suicide nor despair, but self-sacrifice for others and infinite determination.