Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired)

Retired USAF Colonel. Former Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. Retired US Department of Labor judge.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

If you had asked me 25 years ago to predict which of these states would not have elected a black U.S. senator — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, or Mississippi — by the year 2027, I wouldn’t have picked North Carolina, yet here we are.

Yesterday, House Democrats got caught with their pants down as Republicans pulled a fast one that allowed them to pass a Veterans bill by voice vote that significantly reduces disability benefits for Veterans with sleep apnea and tinnitus, a change that the VFW and DAV oppose. Republicans were able to pull off their procedural shenanigans because Democratic members of the House weren’t paying attention and failed to make a timely request for a roll call vote.

That was the second time in 24 hours Democrats demonstrated their bumbling ineptitude. The day before, the vote to shelve a vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth passed by 7 votes as 11 Democrats didn’t show up to cast their votes.

And now we know more about why these Democrats were absent.

Katherine Clark is the Democratic whip. The role of the whip is exactly what it sounds like it is . . . to whip the members into voting in support of whatever the party’s position is on particular matters. So, it was Congresswoman Clark’s duty to whip Democrats to show up for the 5:30 vote to keep the Hegseth impeachment vote on track.

We now know why 8 of the 11 Democratic no-shows were absent when the vote took place at 5:30: they were at an Elect Democratic Women’s celebration hosted by Congresswoman Clark at a DC restaurant that ran from 4:30 to 6:30. Clark co-founded Elect Democratic Women, which is primarily funded by AIPAC, and they were celebrating their success in electing Democratic women who would stand up against the Republicans, which led to 8 Democrats not being at the Capitol to stand up against the Republicans.

In the military, the buck stops with the leadership. If the ship runs aground in the middle of the night while the Captain is asleep in his bunk, the Captain will be relieved of duty because the screwup happened under his leadership. The same should be true with the Democratic leadership in Congress.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Congress has been back at work for 24 hours and Republicans have already twice grabbed the Democrats’ drawers and yanked them over their heads.

[POLITICO @politico]

Surprise House passage of veterans bill sparks 'trickery' accusation https://t.co/DCZjTvlrM6

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Last week it was the high school girl rocking out on Thunderstruck on the marimba.

This week it’s a young soldier forcefully reprimanding the SECDEF for disrespectful conduct at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day.

Lordy . . . I can’t wait for next week’s highlight!

[CNN @CNN]

A US Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a group of his senior advisers after some in the group laughed and talked near the solemn memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony. https://t.co/1mIM7uG0G8

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Raise your hand if you managed to visit Arlington National Cemetery without getting reprimanded by a member of The Old Guard for disrespectful conduct.

🙋🏻‍♂️

[CNN @CNN]

A US Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and a group of his senior advisers after some in the group laughed and talked near the solemn memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony. https://t.co/1mIM7uG0G8

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Disgrace

https://t.co/VHlqyOZVLs

[Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth]

Happy Veterans Day — to our best Americans.

The Hegseth’s are honored to celebrate our veterans this morning at Arlington with @POTUS, @VP & @SecVetAffairs.

Thank God for our warriors, past and present.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

A daily dishonor and disgrace.

And good on the soldier from the Tomb Guards who treated the Hegseth group the same way he would any other group that disrespected the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

wow -- CNN broadcast footage of an Arlington guard yelling at a group with Pete Hegseth to "MAINTAIN SILENCE ... PAY RESPECT!" after someone in his entourage started laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

@jeff_gluck It could have been worse . . . at least the noise came from up high rather than down low.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Let he or she who has not had his or her pubic hair (somebody explain what that is to Gen Zers) removed from public display in a museum cast the first stone.

[Variety @Variety]

Russell Brand’s Pubic Hair Removed From London Museum After Rape Conviction, Curator Says 'I Have No Desire to Hear His Name Again' https://t.co/TgwiYU9eR6

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

@morgfair How many stories did he fall?

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

And for those who aren’t in the legal profession, the expression “legally dubious” is a technical legal term for “pure bullshit.”

[Maggie Haberman @maggieNYT]

"The portion of Mr. Scharf’s letter raising the prospect of criminality cited no precedent." .@charlie_savage @jonathanvswan @migold on White House counsel Will Scharf's letter to Congress about oversight, which experts called a legally dubious claim https://t.co/HDBSzhgGH5

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

@mo_oakville Federal courts . . . and should have been the choice long ago

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

This is the op-ed I wrote that was published in the Wall Street Journal on Veterans Day 2009. I wrote it after then Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would prosecute some Guantanamo detainees in federal courts and some in military commissions. Two things that didn't occur to me at the time the op-ed was published. First, it didn't occur to me that it would get me fired from my job as head of the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division at the Congressional Research Service. Second, it didn't occur to me that 17 Veterans Days later and the detainees would still be at Guantanamo and still awaiting trials.

The head of the Congressional Research Service was livid that I wrote the op-ed. He said that members of Congress could not trust me to provide them objective advice on Guantanamo after I publicly advocated for a position that was contrary to the position of the Obama administration. I reminded him that when he called me on July 31, 2008, to talk with me about the position at CRS, his message went to voicemail because at the time he called I was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee about Guantanamo, so any notion that I was agnostic on Guantanamo had flown the coop long before the op-ed appeared in print.

I was given the opportunity to keep my job if I would issue a public apology, say that I made a mistake by writing the op-ed, and promise that I would never do anything like that again. I declined. I said that I spent 25 years in the military defending the constitutional right of free speech and that if I said that right didn't apply to me then I would be making a false official statement. In typical fashion for the then head of CRS, he didn't have the guts to fire me to my face. Instead, a short time later, his secretary came to my office with a letter informing me that I was fired.

I had already pissed off Republicans when I resigned as Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo over the issue of torture and now I'd pissed off Democrats by criticizing the Obama administration over its handling of Guantanamo trials. When you work in DC and you've pissed off both Republicans and Democrats, it's hard to get a job. I was on unemployment for six months and didn't get a real full-time job until civil rights icon Vernon Jordan invited me to his office, asked me what he could do to help, and picked up his phone and made a call.

With the invaluable assistance of the ACLU (thank you Anthony Romero!), I spent six years fighting the Obama administration in federal court over the constitutional right of free speech for federal employees. Finally, in May 2016, we reached a settlement that cleared my record and provided me with a six-figure check.

Every Veteran who served in the military raised his or her right hand and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. In my view, that pledge doesn't end when the uniform goes up in the attic. Some things are appropriate for negotiation and compromise. The Constitution is not one of them.

I'm proud to be a Veteran. I'm proud that when I look in the mirror every morning the face looking back at me never bent and never broke. It's one thing to opine on what you would have done in a moment that you've never faced. It's another when you were the man in the arena and made the choice.

A survey showed that 53 percent of active duty troops want out because of the politicization of the military. My advice to all who serve is to remember your oath and never bend and never break.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

For the first time in over half a century, less than 50 percent of Americans support the death penalty.

https://t.co/YqvrMaHsnj

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Americans are tired of Republican chaos, cruelty, costs, and corruption, and they’re looking to Democrats to do something about it. It seems that neither party got the message voters sent quite clearly just a week ago!

[Ben Rhodes @brhodes]

Insane that 11 Democrats couldn't even bother to show up for an impeachment vote after the actual voters rejected the Iran War. What is going on?

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Since the One Big Beautiful Butt-kicking last week —

Stephen Miller elevated to White House Chief of Staff

Gym Jordan elected leader of the House Republicans

Republicans band together to protect Pete Hegseth

— Kudos to Republicans for your astute assessment of the message voters sent at the ballot box!

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Last Tuesday’s One Big Beautiful Butt-kicking was the result of voters being fed up with the 4 Cs — Costs, Chaos, Cruelty & Corruption. So Republicans choosing one of the premier 4 Cs facilitators as their leader bodes well for the Democrats in 2028! Excellent move @HouseGOP!

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio to be their leader, elevating a close ally of President Trump as they reel from a crushing defeat in the midterm elections. https://t.co/6Q7CmSsELr

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Voters in North Carolina decided that this was the year to dump the trash.

[Carolina Forward @ForwardCarolina]

Two of the most corrupt, and corrupting, political leaders in modern North Carolina history are both leaving office this year in a humiliating spectacle of greed and overreach.

For more than a decade, Phil Berger and Tim Moore ran the North Carolina state legislature as their personal fiefdom. They weaponized a firehose of corporate dark money from out of state to enforce strict party discipline in the State Senate and State House, respectively.

Many people ask why there isn't more independence among North Carolina state lawmakers. The answer for the last 15 years has been one of these men.

Tim Moore racked up a long and tawdry list of moneymaking grifts and sex scandals. He abused his office for personal financial gain over and over again. When he was finished in Raleigh, he drew his own Congressional district to run in, so he could go to Washington and make another big score. As a Congressman, he became one of the most active stock traders on insider information.

Phil Berger, too, bent the law, broke norms, and profited handsomely from his political power. He placed his children in positions of power, snubbed bipartisanship in favor of single-minded dedication to big corporate donors, and traded an astonishing mid-decade re-gerrymander of North Carolina's Congressional map to buy a Trump endorsement in his unexpectedly competitive primary.

But then, things went wrong.

First, Berger overreached when he tried selling out North Carolina to the casino interests, and he spent $10 million of corporate donors' money to save his seat - and failed. He lost his primary, and the Democrat he tried to cut down - Don Davis - is returning to office next year.

Next, Tim Moore was too arrogant and busy trading stocks to notice that the people of his district don't like him. He lost his Congressional race in NC-14 to Democrat Lakesha Womack, who had almost zero money and a mostly volunteer staff.

Both men were stunned. They thought they were invincible, because 15 years of gerrymandering and cash had blinded them to reality.

These men hurt North Carolina, poisoned our politics, and divided us as a state. The Great State of North Carolina will now begin to heal - because they're gone.

[Moe Davis (U.S. Air Force, Retired) @ColMoeDavis]

Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert were elected to Congress in 2020. Cawthorn lost his reelection bid after serving one 2-year term. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned after serving for 5 years. Boebert will depart in January after serving for 6 years.

As is the case with all federal employees, members of Congress must serve at least 5 years to qualify for any retirement benefits. That means Cawthorn gets nothing.

MTG and Boebert will be eligible for retired pay when they reach the age of 62. In today’s dollars, that equates to $725 a month for MTG and $870 a month for Boebert.

Retired members of Congress can qualify for subsidized healthcare coverage (like all federal employees), but it is not provided free of charge. In order to qualify, the member must have been enrolled in the government healthcare plan for at least 5 consecutive years AND eligible to immediately receive retired pay. Since MTG and Boebert have to wait until they reach the age of 62 to draw retired pay, they do not qualify for the government healthcare plan after leaving office.