Air Force Colonel Suspended for Ridiculing Dubya
from the but-what-if-the-president-really-IS-a-joke? dept.
Lt. Colonel Steve Butler was planning to retire from the Air Force in a few weeks. In a case of really bad timing, though, he didn’t wait until then to send a letter to the editor of the local newspaper ripping dubya for being an ineffectual wuss: “He did nothing to warn the American people because he needed this war on terrorism… This guy is a joke.” Oops. Turns out that one of those things you sign away when you join the military is the right to criticize the commander-in-chief. Butler has now been suspended pending investigation into his violation of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which prohibits commissioned officers from using “contemptuous words” against the president and other political leaders. Maximum penalty: dismissal, forfeiture of all pay, and confinement for a year.
