House panel clashes over extremism in armed forces, with no input from puzzled troops
https://justthenews.com/nation/extremism/house-panel-clashes-over-extremism-armed-forces-no-military-witnesses-weighing
A congressional hearing on extremism inside the military was marked on Wednesday by partisan disagreement over whether the hearing was merited, with members of Congress alternately deriding the session and one another.
The afternoon hearing before the House Armed Services Committee focused on how to define hate speech, the scope of extremism within the ranks, and whether and how it should be addressed. And, while panelists agreed that hate groups must be banned from the military, they clashed over the true purpose of the March 24 session.
"This hearing is a joke," said Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who noted: "This is about converting the military from an apolitical institution to an institution controlled by the political left."
Committee Chairman Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat, scoffed in response, casting Gaetz as a rabble-rouser.
"Mr. Gaetz is the best example of the demagogue problem that we have today," Smith said.
The hearing was conducted while the Pentagon continued its service-wide mandatory stand-downs to address extremism in the ranks. More than a dozen service members privately told Just the News that they have not encountered endemic extremism that officials seem to believe exists — but none from the military were invited to testify on Wednesday before the committee.