The Pentagon fired the Publisher Max D. Lederer, Jr., Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte from the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. The publication, which is technically owned by the Department of Defense, dismissed the three on the grounds of insubordination.
Slavin, who had been with Stars and Stripes for over 20 years, had appeared in a CBS News interview stating that “censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line in the Pentagon’s efforts to exert control over the newspaper.” He went on to say “I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”
The Trump Administration is making it a habit, a policy, of going after any journalist, from any outlet, who presents information that goes against the Administration’s policies, its message, its public relations campaigns…or simply something it doesn’t like, especially proving that something put out by the Administration is a lie.
Donald Trump has gone after CBS News, ABC News, and the BBC by filing lawsuits. CBS and ABC capitulated by settling the suits, figuring it was better to bestow upon Trump millions of dollars than spend those millions on ongoing litigation costs. It also softened the stance that Trump had taken in insisting his FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pull the companies’ broadcast licenses. Of course, that is not supposed to be how the system works, but in this day and age, under this regime, that doesn’t matter.
The BBC, on the other hand, chose to fight back and now has Trump by the balls with its demand for documents. Legally Trump is obligated to provide such documents but, of course, the Rules of Law have never matter to Trump and his legal team so that doesn’t matter either.
The “insubordination” is, simply put, the act of refusing to capitulate to tell the story dictated to them by Pete Hegseth and the rest of the Administration. This is on the heels of the revelation that Hegseth refused to admit to the press and the public that the conditions on the USS Lincoln and other ships are horrible and continually deteriorating. He also refused to admit the “why” of it all. WHY are the conditions of non-working toilets, shortages of supplies and food, so very bad? Because Iran, with its military totally decapitated and annihilated, somehow, some way, destroyed US military installations in the region…installations responsible for providing replenishment of supplies.
Apparently, Stars and Stripes wasn’t supposed to let the troops serving under those horrible conditions know why they were being subjected to it all. APPARENTLY Secretary Hegseth, in his tight-fitting, skinny suit and his slicked back hair, is of the belief that everyone should just cow-tow to his rah-rah nonsense rather than tell the truth.
But that is right in line with everything else presented by this Administration. Each Cabinet member, every one of Trump’s supporting staff, stand in front of the press, look right into the cameras, and just blatantly lie each and every day – even knowing that the statements are easily fact-checked. It doesn’t matter.
Lederer was actually fired after he announced his retirement. In a departing memo to his staff he said that “his understanding of the value and the mission of Stars and Stripes differed in ‘fundamental ways‘ from the Pentagon.”
That’s right…the value and mission of Stars and Stripes as stated on its website is: “The sole mission of Stars and Stripes is to provide first-hand reporting from bases around the world and unbiased, credible news to America’s military.”
Apparently providing “unbiased, credible news” to America’s military is now considered “insubordination.”
