Watching The View try to shame Stephen A. Smith into recanting was a reminder of how unserious our media has become. Smith called out Sen. Mark Kelly for participating in a video that urged troops to “refuse illegal orders,” and when he stood his ground the panel rushed to the rescue of their political allies instead of engaging the substance. The exchange turned into a spectacle of performative outrage, with hosts more interested in policing speech than defending the men and women who wear the uniform.
Senator Kelly’s video, which plainly told service members they could decline unlawful commands, set off a predictable firestorm and even prompted a Pentagon review into whether his remarks undermined military discipline. That review underscores how dangerously politicized our civil-military relations have become, with every statement from retired officers now treated like a provocation or a legal case. Americans should worry about anyone who gleefully escalates these tensions instead of calming them.
On The View, Stephen A. was unapologetic, insisting that the optics and potential consequences of a former military officer urging disobedience are real and worthy of criticism. Sunny Hostin dismissively branded him “loud and wrong” and tried to pressure him into an apology, revealing more about her reflexive partisan loyalty than about any principle. That attempt to bully a guest into silence backfired spectacularly, because Smith refused to be lectured by someone who wasn’t addressing the real risks on the ground.
This episode is emblematic of liberal media elites who think they can dictate the boundaries of acceptable debate while lecturing the rest of the country about patriotism. They demand contrition from anyone who challenges their preferred narratives, but whenever their allies cross a line they call it nuance or civics. The real insult is to servicemembers, who deserve sober, grown-up discussion about orders and law—not partisan chest-thumping on daytime TV.
Conservatives should be clear: criticizing the political theater around the military is not an attack on the troops, it is a defense of them. Encouraging service members to question orders without context can leave young sailors and soldiers exposed to legal peril and political retribution, which is exactly why Smith’s warning resonated with many who’ve served. The conversation should prioritize clear legal standards and chain-of-command integrity, not theatrical virtue-signaling.
Voices like Dave Rubin’s rightly pointed out how the Hostin spectacle only highlighted the hypocrisy and thin-skinned nature of so much cable commentary. Conservative and independent commentators alike have had enough of the one-sided moralizing from elites who demand obedience to their politics while excusing partisan provocations. Watching that clip made one thing obvious: the left’s media machinery is more interested in optics than in protecting institutions.
If we care about the long-term health of our republic we must insist on honest debate — not performative apologies or guilt-by-association. The Pentagon’s involvement and the broader backlash should remind lawmakers and pundits that words directed at the military have consequences, intended or not. Patriots of every political stripe should demand that media figures stop turning our armed forces into props for partisan theater and start treating them with the seriousness they earned.
