Adams: America-loving military will stand up to 'Stand Down'

The Military Times reported this week that a Pentagon initiative is well underway in which every member of the U.S. armed forces must sit through a mandatory presentation warning them about embracing “extremism” while in uniform.

The training is going on at the same time that news website PJ Media reported this week it obtained a copy of the “Extremism Stand Down” materials used by the U.S. Navy, including the training materials used by commanders and the PowerPoint slides the commanders are required to show to sailors.

In the PJ Media story, attorney J. Christian Adams writes that the PowerPoint presentation he personally reviewed is “packed with progressive ideology and misstatements of the Constitution.” The training material warns, for example, that the Navy will fail to reach its potential if “racism, injustice, indignity, and disrespect” are allowed to grow. What is missing from that statement, Adams writes, is a single example of such behavior by sailors.

“Those are left to the imagination,” he warns.

In an interview with One New Now, Adams predicts the far-left indoctrination will fall flat.

“The military loves America,” Adams says, “and efforts to make America look like a racist, structurally biased country are not going to work.”

That reality is not stopping the Left from attempting its indoctrination campaign, he adds, since the U.S. armed forces is one of the last holdouts that has not been infected with America-hating leftists.

Defining ‘extremism’ in 2021

The mandatory training, which was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (pictured below), is being described as a “Stand Down” order, since military units are setting aside regular work to sit through the training.

According to the Times, the Pentagon has set a deadline of April 1 for every unit to “talk about what extremism is and why it’s incompatible with military service…”

In the current political climate, however, what is “extremism” is now being defined by an administration whose political enemies are Donald Trump supporters, defiant gun owners, Fox News and its audience, “America First” nationalists, and conservative groups that oppose The Equality Act and the For the People Act.

Going back to the Obama administration, evangelical chaplains were punished by the Pentagon for holding biblical views about marriage and, at the same time, the Mississippi-based American Family Association learned U.S. Army troops were warned in a PowerPoint presentation not to associate with the ministry, or risk punishment, because it had been declared a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its views on homosexuality.  

After the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol Hill, right-wing groups such Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys have also become plump targets for the FBI and federal prosecutors, even though both groups are filled with military veterans, law enforcement officers, and self-described American patriots who are now being described by the federal government as potential terrorists.

According to The Associated Press, the riot led the Pentagon to take action on "extremist" activity, in fact, because the "insurrection" -- the AP's description -- alarmed the Pentagon when many current and former military veterans were named among those being charged. 

According to a March 2 story by The Military Times, the Pentagon’s view of extremist ideology has been “murky” in the past but Secretary Austin is now putting a “much finer point” on the issue with a list of prohibited activities:

Fundraising, demonstrating, rallying, recruiting, training, organizing, leading members, distributing material (including posting online), or knowingly wearing gang colors or clothing, having tattoos or body markings associated with such gangs or organizations; or otherwise engaging in activities in furtherance of objectives of such gangs or organizations that are detrimental to good order, discipline, or mission accomplishment or are incompatible with military service

The story goes on to quote a similar warning from the training guide for commanders to repeat:

Actively espousing ideologies that encourage discrimination, hate, and harassment against others will not be tolerated within our (unit/command/etc). I expect the core principles of dignity and mutual respect to guide the actions of the personnel in this unit/organization at all times, to include our conversations here today.

Times: Commanders not impressed

Mirroring the prediction from Adams, the Times reported this week that eye-rolling commanders are dutifully clicking through the “Extremism Stand Down” but the troops under their command are complaining to the Times that the "extremism" warning is being ignored or downplayed.   

An airman in North Carolina, for example, complained that a commander cut the program down to 30 minutes because it was too time-consuming.

A petty officer 1^st class complained to the Times that a commander ignored the discussion questions and hurriedly clicked through the presentation. The petty officer also complained that her commander mocked the Pentagon’s list of possible punishments. That attitude means sailors assumed they won’t have to “change their words or actions” while in the U.S. Navy, the petty officer said.

A civilian who works at the Washington Navy Yard complained to the Times that one participant kept interrupting the training to question if the guidelines conflict with the First Amendment.

In his PJ Media story, Adams echoed that observation over one sentence in the presentation that states: "Speech that incites violence or criminal activity that threatens to undermine our government and Constitution is not protected by the First Amendment."

"Actually, it is," Adams writes in response. "Secretary of Defense Austin is flat wrong. Speech cannot incite criminal activity. The closest one can get to this idea is a criminal conspiracy. But even a conspiracy requires an act and speech standing alone cannot be criminal. Worse still, speech that 'threatens to undermine our government' is completely protected by the First Amendment."

What the mandatory presentation ultimately reveals, Adams tells One News Now, is how “radicalized” the Biden administration really is.