2Lt Spenser Rapone, Commie Ring Knocker??

[Box]

I dont expect anything to come of this...

...certainly dont expect to see troops being reissued an army values card over something as insignificant as this.

[ddoering]

I see an EO complaint then a rapid rise thru the ranks as political officer.

[The Reaper]

Fragging for LT Niedermeyer?

TR

[tonyz]

Complete article and copy of superintendent Clasen's letter embedded in article at link below. As usual, the comments are interesting.

West Point Chief Pushes Back On Criticism Amid ‘Commie Cadet’ Investigations
By JARED KELLER on October 12, 2017
T&P

U.S. Military Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. has an important message for active-duty service members and veterans outraged over the viral photos of a communist West Point graduate that circulated in September: Yes, we’re taking this seriously.

In an Oct. 11 letter to the members of the USMA community, Caslen stated that 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone — the Afghanistan combat infantry veteran and West Point grad captured with a Che Guevara shirt under his dress uniform and a “Communism Will Win” sign under his cover — is currently subject to two ongoing investigations by both West Point and his commanders with the 10th Mountain Division for what Army Times characterized as “subversive political views.”

“It is my duty to thoroughly investigate concerns pertaining to the effectiveness of our systems and processes to maintain the outstanding quality of USMA graduates that the Nation expects,” Caslen wrote. “I am committed to fulfilling that duty to both our graduates and the American people. It is imperative that this be done right.”

<snip>

http://taskandpurpose.com/communist-...t-grad-letter/

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by tonyz

Complete article and copy of superintendent Clasen's letter embedded in article at link below. As usual, the comments are interesting.

West Point Chief Pushes Back On Criticism Amid ‘Commie Cadet’ Investigations
By JARED KELLER on October 12, 2017
T&P

U.S. Military Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. has an important message for active-duty service members and veterans outraged over the viral photos of a communist West Point graduate that circulated in September: Yes, we’re taking this seriously.

In an Oct. 11 letter to the members of the USMA community, Caslen stated that 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone — the Afghanistan combat infantry veteran and West Point grad captured with a Che Guevara shirt under his dress uniform and a “Communism Will Win” sign under his cover — is currently subject to two ongoing investigations by both West Point and his commanders with the 10th Mountain Division for what Army Times characterized as “subversive political views.”

“It is my duty to thoroughly investigate concerns pertaining to the effectiveness of our systems and processes to maintain the outstanding quality of USMA graduates that the Nation expects,” Caslen wrote.

“I am committed to fulfilling that duty to both our graduates and the American people.

It is imperative that this be done right.”

<snip>

http://taskandpurpose.com/communist-...t-grad-letter/

It's going to be buried, with no comment..

Probably no need to wake up the crazy navy swamp critter from Arizona, he likes to cover up ring-knocker faux-pas..

[bblhead672]

“I personally witnessed a series of fundamental changes at West Point that have eroded it to the point where I question whether the institution should even remain open,” Heffington wrote. “The recent coverage of 2LT Spenser Rapone — an avowed Communist and sworn enemy of the United States — dramatically highlighted this disturbing trend.”

Its disheartening to see that there are a great number of people in the leadership of the political class, the military, academia and the media who do not believe that Communists are enemies of the United States. Along with most of the entertainment industry and huge portion of the citizenry.

Maybe I'm just too old and outdated for these modern United States of America.

[Box]

maybe U.S. Military Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr is just looking for some good, solid evidence that can help prove these allegations

Besides... if a wartime violation of Articles 85 and 99 can get a guy busted to E1 with a dishonorable discharge, then posting embarrassing photos on social media should at least land West Point graduate spenser rapone in some pretty hot water. I am guessing he may even find himself pulling staff duty on a holiday weekend.

[tonyz]

November 27, 2017
The Rapone Case and the Bill of Rights
By Frank Ryan

The case of Second Lt. Spenser Rapone, West Point graduate and U.S. Army officer, has raised a number of issues relative to our military, our Bill of Rights, and our common defense.

Lt. Rapone is the West Point graduate who displayed, while in uniform, expressions of support for communism and socialism. He allegedly was critical of national command authority as well.

The Army has begun an investigation into how this young officer’s perspectives and anti-authority leanings were not uncovered prior to his graduation despite concerns from some of his academic officers at West Point.

When I personally condemned his actions and recommended disciplinary action, I received a number of widely varying comments on social media about the young officer’s actions and the discipline suggested. The vast majority condemned him and called for various forms of punishment. Most agreed with my perspective that he should be dismissed from the military and forced to repay the cost of his West Point education.

A number of other people suggested that taking any action against this person was unconstitutional because it violated his freedom of speech. When myself and fellow veterans noted that military personnel, while in uniform, have limits on our freedom of speech, the debate went viral.

There are three documents that are relevant to this discussion. One is the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, one is the oath of office as a commissioned officer in the U.S. military, and the other is the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

First, as a cadet Rapone would have taken an oath of office upon joining the U.S. military and again when he was commissioned at graduation from West Point.

That oath of office states: “I, _____, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."

Once an officer is commissioned, the UCMJ is the standard under which all in the military submit.

In the case of Lt. Rapone the following are some of the provisions of the UCMJ that he would be suspected of violating. Please note that I am not an attorney; however, I am a retired Marine Reserve Colonel and former commanding officer and would have recommended such an investigation of violating the following articles of the UCMJ by any one in a similar situation to Lt. Rapone.

Article 83 – fraudulent enlistment, appointment, or separation
Article 84 – unlawful enlistment, appointment or separation
Article 88 – contempt towards officials
Article 89 – disrespect toward senior commissioned officer
Article 94 – mutiny or sedition
Article 107 – false statements
Article 117 – provoking speeches or gestures
Article 133 - conduct unbecoming an officer a gentleman
Article 134 – General article
Finally, with the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution states in the First Amendment that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”

The Bill of Rights says that Congress shall make no law relating to these rights. It does not mean that an employer or the military cannot regulate such freedoms, while you are in that organization’s employ as well as place other restrictions on your conduct that reflect poorly on the organization you work for.

What this young officer allegedly did was serious. It undermined the entire fabric of military discipline. It undermined command-and-control and potentially put soldiers at risk.

All officers and enlisted personnel’s Bill of Rights are limited once we take that oath of enlistment or office. The misguided perception in our society that you can say whatever you want whenever you want is perhaps even more troubling.

A society that lacks discipline in the very forces that it relies upon to defend it in times of national crisis is in grave danger. Misunderstanding your Bill of Rights wreaks havoc on young persons’ lives when they use it inappropriately.

I am stunned that this officer could have made it through a screening process to get the West Point, four years at West Point, and the security clearance review for a secret clearance and his anti-U.S. beliefs not have been uncovered.

This failure is symptomatic of a societal failure at understanding our Bill of Rights, our responsibilities when we take an oath of allegiance and office, and a systemic failure of the control mechanisms designed to protect us.

This seemingly trivial event at a West Point graduation warrants a full-scale congressional investigation of how it happened. Is the next September 11 crisis just ahead of us because of the failures of the very systems designed to protect us from an enemy within?

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/artic...#ixzz4zl6jnlir
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

[Box]

I wonder if the SWC instructor that shotgun blasted "The Letter" gets the same punishment as Rapone gets?

[JJ_BPK]

By By

No mention of an Article xx or Court Martial??

Ex-Ranger: ‘Communism Will Win’ Soldier Discharged from Army

Spenser Rapone — the Army soldier who became notorious after a picture of him in his West Point uniform holding a “Communism Will Win” sign went viral — was discharged from the Army this month, according to social media postings.

Rory Fanning, a former Army Ranger and conscientious objector, tweeted on Tuesday that he was sitting down and interviewing Rapone for an event called: “Socialism 2018: A War Resister in the Ranks,” scheduled for July 5.

A description of the event said:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...from-the-army/

[tonyz]

Another source also citing OTH discharge - excerpts below - complete article at link.

Update: Communist Ranger and West Pointer receives an Other Than Honorable discharge
SOFREP
BY JACK MURPHY 06.07.2018

“By Rapone’s own admission, he followed a communist philosophy advocated by Rudi Dutschke.

Dutschke advocated a strategy he called the, “long march through the institutions of power.” This entails burrowing inside the institutions of society, including the military, and subverting them from within and ultimately setting the conditions for a communist revolution.”

“The idea of an avowed communist subverting important military units and functions from within has the potential to be catastrophic.”

https://sofrep.com/104349/update-com...ble-discharge/

[tonyz]

Rapone listed as a speaker at upcoming Socialism conference in Chicago July 5-8

https://socialismconference.org

ETA:

About Conference - from web site:

Socialism 2018 is a four-day conference bringing together hundreds of socialists and radical activists from around the country to take part in discussions about Marxism, working-class history, and the debates and strategies for organizing today.

Every year, the Socialism conferences aims to be a place where activists can share lessons from their struggles—from the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign for Palestine to the fight for LGBT liberation, from the Fight for 15 to the struggle to stop the destruction of the planet, the fight against racism, and more.

With over 150 meetings, the weekend will feature left-wing authors and thinkers discussing the debates on the left today, as well as meetings on the hidden history of working-class and socialist struggles.

So join us in Chicago July 5–8, 2018!

[Golf1echo]

Department of State, Venezuelan post...one way ticket...

[tonyz]

From the Socialism Conference website...the brainwashing is fairly extensive.

Rapone as described...

Spenser Rapone
Spenser Rapone is a former Army Ranger and Infantry Officer recently separated from the military for speaking out against its imperialist violence. He enlisted as an infantryman out of high school in 2010, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. After returning from his combat tour, he applied and was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 2012, graduating and receiving his commission in May 2016. Deciding he could no longer stomach the immorality of US imperialism, he spoke out against the reprehensible actions of the military in September 2017. He ultimately resigned his commission, and was separated from the Army in June 2018 with an Other Than Honorable discharge.

What does it mean to resist as an active duty soldier in the 21st century? Socialist revolutions share a vibrant historical legacy with disaffected soldiers who have laid down their arms and refused to serve the interests of the rich and powerful. From the National Guardsman of the Paris Commune, to Vietnam veterans who marched to end the war, to the disaffected veterans of the so-called Global War on Terrorism today, a spark is always present that can burn the war machine down. Dissident veterans and former Army Rangers Rory Fanning and Spenser Rapone discuss their paths to resistance, and what socialism means to them.

[tonyz]

Here is the playbook...bringing together practically EVERY subversive element in the world...look at the extent of coverage and brainwashing.

https://socialismconference.org/sched/

Thursday, July 5

9:00am
Struggling for More Than Independence: Africa in 1968 TBA
Matt Swagler
1968-2018: Sports and Resistance, Then and Now TBA
John Carlos • Elizabeth Terzakis • Wyomia Tyus • Dave Zirin
Black Liberation and 1968 TBA
Donna Murch
Cuba in 1968 TBA
Samuel Farber
How the '50s Became the '60s: The Making of a New Left TBA
Alan Maass
Prelude to Revolution: May '68 in France TBA
Sherry Wolf
Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Revolt TBA
Geoff Bailey
The Prague Spring TBA
Erin Cass • Charlotte Heltai
"It Can't Happen Here": Dystopian Fiction and Alternate Histories in the Trump Era TBA
Megan Behrent
Artists Against War TBA
Annie Zirin
Athletes in Revolt: Black Lives Matter in Sports Today TBA
Demetrius Noble
Caped Crusaders, Masked Vigilantes, and Billion Dollar Franchises: The Political Economy of Superheroes TBA
John McDonald
Jim Brown: Last Man Standing TBA
Barbara Smith • Dave Zirin
Class Struggle and the Color Line TBA
Paul Heideman
Decolonizing Socialism: Getting Racially Organized so We can Get Free TBA
Demita Frazier
From Reconstruction to Jim Crow TBA
Anna Winston
From Slavery to the #MeToo Era: Black Women's Struggle Against Sexual Violence TBA
Akua Ofori
King's Last Year TBA
Ronnie Flores
Nothing to Lose But Our Chains: The Abolitionist Movement TBA
Michael Ehrenreich • Lauren Marie
Prisoner Rebellions: From Attica to Today TBA
Heather Ann Thompson
Slavery and Capitalism TBA
Brian Jones
Stamped from the Beginning: The Long and Enduring History of Racist Ideas in America TBA
Ibram X. Kendi
The Making of Black Revolutionaries: Malcom X and Assata Shakur TBA
Sarah Z. Mamo
What Do Socialists Say About White Privilege? TBA
brian bean • Khury Petersen-Smith
Anarchism, Marxism, and Authoritarianism TBA
Amanda Achin • Jonah ben Avraham
Marxists, Elections, and the State TBA
Eric Ruder
Not for Profit? The Nonprofit Industrial Complex TBA
Emily Shaw • Erica West
Officer, Officer, Overseer: The Socialist Case Against the Police TBA
brian bean
Organize Your Own? White People and the Fight Against Racism TBA
Eric Kerl
With Friends Like These: The Democrats and Social Movements TBA
Dave Peters
Capitalism and Disability: The Theoretical Contribution of Marta Russell TBA
Keith Rosenthal
Gender and Disability TBA
Hannah Fleury
No More “Stairs and Stares”: The Power of the Disability Rights Movement TBA
Lorrie Beth Slonsky
Before the Next Hurricane Hits: Socialist Solutions to Capitalist Climate Disaster TBA
Mark Hannan • Zach Zill
Capitalism vs. Agriculture TBA
Fred Magdoff
Make Them Pay: The Social Cost of the Extractive Industries TBA
Tyler Barton
Reform or Revolution: Can Technology Solve the Climate Crisis? TBA
Lindsay Caesar • Sasha Scott
Black Lives Matter At School TBA
Jesse Hagopian
Capitalism Goes to College: A People's History of Higher Education in the U.S. TBA
Stacey Sexton • Fermin Valle
Marxism and Education TBA
Wayne Au
Student Struggles Today TBA
Emmaline Bennett • Jack Kelley • Alex Schmaus
Against All Hope: Resistance During the Holocaust TBA
Jon Van Camp
What Will It Take to Defeat the Far Right? TBA
Everett Pelzman
Zetkin, Trotsky, and the United Front against Fascism TBA
Gillian Russom
Capitalism and the Gender Binary TBA
Lichi D'Amelio
History and Politics of Trans Liberation TBA
Katie Feyh • Fainan Lakha
Socialism and Queer Liberation TBA
Dana Cloud
Beyond Pipelines: The Way Forward for Indigenous Liberation TBA
Nick Estes
Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment TBA
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Marxism and Native Liberation TBA
Ragina Johnson
The Rise of Red Power and the American Indian Movement TBA
Brian Ward
All Fall Down: The Infrastructure Crisis in the United States TBA
Neil Loehlein
Housing Struggles and the Working Class TBA
Amelia Adams • Tim Adams
A World Without Borders? Marxism, Nations, and Migration TBA
Denise Romero
All Eleven Million: The Fight for Immigrant Rights TBA
Carlos Enriquez • Kristen Kelly • Juan Miranda
Trump's War on Immigrants TBA
Lucy Herschel • Lea Ramirez
From Manifest Destiny to the War on Terror: The Forging of American Empire TBA
Alpana Mehta
Syria and the Left TBA
Ashley Smith
How to Build an ISO Branch TBA
Dayna Long • Alex Macmillan • Scarlett Moore
How to Write for Socialist Worker TBA
Elizabeth Schulte
Introduction to the International Socialist Organization TBA
Leia Petty
The Origins of the International Socialist Organization TBA
Ahmed Shawki
"Run comrade, the old world is behind you." Lessons from 1968 (Jacobin sponsored meeting) TBA
Laura Bartkowiak • Jonah Birch • Paul Heideman
Ain't No Trick: US Labor's Struggle to Survive (Jacobin sponsored meeting) TBA
Julian Guerrero • Sean Petty • Alex Press • Joe Richard
Who's Afraid of Bernie Sanders? (Jacobin sponsored meeting) TBA
Jason Farbman • Meagan Day • Yoni Lolijov
Teachers on the Move: Lessons from West Virginia and Beyond (Jacobin and S18 co-sponsored meeting) TBA
Eric Blanc • Emily Comer
The Future of the Socialist Left (Jacobin and S18 co-sponsored meeting) TBA
Jason Farbman • Ella Mahony • Jen Roesch
"Right to Work": What It Is, Where It Came From and How to Defeat It TBA
Alex Buckingham
Being a Socialist at Work TBA
Larry Bradshaw
Organizing the Unorganized TBA
Joe Evica • Kip Hedges • Helen Zhao
Radicals in the Barrio: How Mexican Labor Radicalism Shaped U.S. History TBA
Justin Akers Chacón
Rank-and-File Teachers Speak: How We Organized the Rebellion TBA
Jesse Sharkey • Larry Cagle • Emily Comer • Rena Evans • James Miller • Dylan Wegela