The Federalist’s Gabriel Powell writes, “Berkeley Simmons’s husband has requested a religious accommodation to the U.S. military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. She’s worried about what comes next for her family—and the Marine Corps. ‘It’s like a big old cloud that’s just heavily draped around so many people’s necks. Are they going to approve the exemptions or not? …What are we going to do? What happens when there’s no money?’ she wonders.

The Corps does offer a definite answer—a Marine who has requested an exemption can still choose to receive a vaccine. Simmons points out the palpable irony of the situation: Marines who ‘took an oath to protect and defend our country from enemies foreign and domestic and fight for the freedoms of the Constitution’ are now being denied one of its most cherished rights, ‘religious liberty.’

Was this the goal all along? A military that abandons science for fanaticism has a serious vulnerability. Even Gen. George Washington recognized natural immunity and did not inoculate soldiers who had already recovered from small pox. This is shameful.https://t.co/ePNcXQCLb1

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 23, 2021

To date, the U.S. Marine Corps has not granted a single religious accommodation to its COVID-19 requirement, despite its policy to do so unless there is a ‘compelling government interest.’ According to several Marines going through the process, it does not intend to do so, and will kick them out once the vaccination deadline passes, stripping them of veterans’ benefits.

In June 2021, Rep. Thomas Massie R-Kentucky, introduced HR 3860, a bill that would prohibit any vaccine mandate in the military, after receiving calls from constituents in the military who were facing adverse conditions based on their vaccination status. Massie’s bill would prohibit a vaccination mandate in the military and prevent any adverse actions from being taken against military members who chose not to receive the vaccine.”

Read the entire column.

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The Pentagon is mandating that every member of the U.S. military get vaccinated. This is a terrible idea for a number of reasons. Here is one.

With morale already low due to Biden’s debacle in Afghanistan, implementing a military vaccine mandate is a very bad idea.

Soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors need to be reassured the folks at the top of command care about them.

Respect their religious and health objections.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 30, 2021

HR 3860 would prohibit any requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19. It would also prevent coercion to get the vaccine. Here are the current cosponsors:https://t.co/E2IdPI7rjY

Full text of the bill is included in the attached images: pic.twitter.com/34vwG0bIuI

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 30, 2021

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I recently led a phone call with a dozen members of the military and seven reporters. Here’s a summary of what they had to say:https://t.co/chvzTLX0Jw

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 29, 2021

“We get a lot of pressure from our commanders … and they tell you these sob stories to heavily persuade you, and it’s borderline harassment,” one Air Force member added, explaining how he may need to ‘restart’ if the vaccine becomes mandatory.

“It makes you wonder, well I joined to change my life and they’re all about inclusion and diversity but I have to restart just because of the shot,” he said.

“That’s basically putting us in the same category as rapists and killers which I think that’s insane,” he said of the possibility of getting a dishonorable discharge, noting that it makes one “basically a felon at that point.”

“They’re basically saying we’re felons, which I think is crazy,” he added.

Read more at Breitbart.

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Your grandkids will still be paying for the U.S. war in Afghanistan

The final price tag for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could exceed $6 trillion—thanks to the power of interest—with American taxpayers still paying the tab when the 50th anniversary of 9/11 arrives.https://t.co/AP6LnD3iBw

— Eric Boehm (@EricBoehm87) August 18, 2021

Reason’s Eric Boehm explains why we will still be paying for America’s longest war for a very long time.

“We may finally be nearing the end of America’s long military misadventure in Afghanistan—but we are a long way from being done paying for it,” Boehm writes.

He continues, “The post-9/11 wars begun by President George W. Bush and carried on by three subsequent administrations were largely financed by adding the cost to America’s national debt. That means that the official cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—about $2.26 trillion, though the Pentagon’s accounting is famously fuzzy—doesn’t tell the whole story.”

“The costs of these wars continue long after we withdraw, since they are debt-financed and we will be paying interest on that debt for years—even decades—to come,’ Heidi Peltier, project director for the Costs of War Project at Boston University, tells Reason.
Peltier’s research shows that the interest costs of the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had already topped $1 trillion,” Boehm notes.

Boehm continues (emphasis added), “By the end of the current decade, interest on the war debt will likely exceed the final official tally of the wars’ cost. And the final price tag for those operations could eventually exceed $6 trillion—with American taxpayers still paying the tab when the 50th anniversary of 9/11 arrives.”

Read the entire column here.

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Was there ever really an Afghan government?

There was no “Afghan Government.” It was a fiction the entire time backed only by US dollars, US blood, and US military might. The lie of building up a credible ally for 20 years falls in just 3 weeks

Every General, diplomat, and President who pushed this lie is responsible https://t.co/OpB2ZAWuTs

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) August 15, 2021

Breaking Points co-host Saagar Enjeti makes a good point. That we have been lied to about the actual prospects in Afghanistan throughout is certainly believable today, seeing what has happened to the country the moment we leave.

Enjeti is also correct: Our leaders are responsible.

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More people should have listened to Ron Paul years ago

My father retired from Congress a decade ago. But he had a few questions that we should have paid closer attention to.

America would have been better off if our leaders had listened to Ron Paul years ago:

“What if our foreign policy of the past century is deeply flawed and has not served our national security interests?

What if we wake up one day and realize that the terrorist threat is a predictable consequence of our meddling in the affairs of others and has nothing to do with us being free and prosperous?

What if propping up repressive regimes in the Middle East endangers Both the United States and Israel?

More people should have listened to @RonPaul years ago.

Come over to https://t.co/1sAnMwUZeq today and all this week for if you’re tired of Big Tech censorship and want unfiltered news on Afghanistan and what we should learn (hint a the neocons were wrong then and wrong today). https://t.co/W7sJT4J3pU

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 16, 2021

What if occupying countries like Iraq and Afghanistan and bombing Pakistan is directly related to the hatred directed toward us?

What is some day it dawns on us that losing over 5,000 American military personnel in the Middle East since 9/11 is not a fair tradeoff for the loss of nearly 3,000 American citizens (on 9/11).

What if it is finally realized that war and military spending is always destructive to the economy?

What if all wartime spending is paid for through the deceitful process of inflating and borrowing?

What if we finally see that wartime conditions always undermine personal liberty?

What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded? Nothing.

But what happens if my concerns are justified and ignored? Nothing good.”

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Does your US Representative oppose forced COVID-19 vaccinations for military members?

Does your US Representative oppose forced and coerced COVID-19 vaccinations for members of our military?

Here’s the cosponsor list for HR 3860, “a bill to prohibit any requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19.”https://t.co/E2IdPI7rjY

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 10, 2021

Military members reached out and asked to stop this. This cannot stand.

I’ve been contacted by members of our voluntary military who say they will quit if the COVID vaccine is mandated.

I introduced HR 3860 to prohibit any mandatory requirement that a member of the Armed Forces receive a vaccination against COVID-19.

It now has 24 sponsors. https://t.co/lbqYESmBYy

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 3, 2021

Many Republicans continue to line up against this affront to our men and women who serve.

Roll Call reported Monday, “In the House, 30 Republican members have co-sponsored legislation introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., meant to block any requirement that military members get a COVID-19 vaccine. Four members of the House Armed Services Committee — Reps. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.; Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.; Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.; and Mark E. Green, R-Tenn. — are among the bill’s co-sponsors.

Green and 15 other members of Congress sent a letter to Austin last week opposing the requirement to be vaccinated without full authorization from the FDA.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., sent a letter Monday that raises the threat of legal and ‘congressional action’ that would stop Austin from requiring the vaccine.

‘Further, the current reported plan to force vaccinations on military personnel prior to FDA approval will rightfully bring forth a strong Article III challenge on many fronts,’ Higgins wrote.”

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