Caroline Lagerfelt

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.

If MAGAs are willing to take a financial beating out of foolish fealty to a feckless felon, I’ll take one to save freedom and democracy!

Everywhere you look, there are opinions on Tuesday’s midterm election. On the left, it’s gleeful jubilation and on the right it’s elegiac dirges. So, here’s my take on it. I believe the One Big Beautiful Butt-kicking happened because most Americans are angry about the four Cs: Costs, Cruelty, Chaos, and Corruption. And rather than focusing on the issues that matter most to ordinary Americans, Trump – with the acquiescence of this Republican sycophants – started a new war in collaboration with Benjamin Netanyahu, tossed around tariffs and drove up prices for consumers, turned federal law enforcement into his personal Gestapo, embraced America’s enemies and maligned America’s friends, and enriched himself and his oligarch allies while working class Americans saw their financial situations worsen. Millions of Americans who supported Trump in 2024 felt that he abandoned them and the promises he made, and to paraphrase Howard Beale’s famous line in the 1976 movie Network, they were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. I rarely agree with Ted Cruz, but his post-election assessment of the midterms was spot on: “2026 was not simply a blue wave; it was a blue tsunami. It was an ass kicking. It was not simply a bad 2006 midterm election. It was a Watergate-level repudiation.” I’ve seen some on the right trying to downplay the outcome by claiming that Republican voters just weren’t motivated and stayed home rather than going out and voting. Cruz dismissed that notion saying, “the problem wasn’t turnout. Instead, our voters – Republicans, Libertarians, Independents – showed up and voted, and rejected our candidates, voting Democrat instead.” Republican Mayor of Oklahoma City David Holt summed it up well: “A political party that is morally and intellectually bankrupt deserves the rebuke of the American people. It’s now time to make America good again.” So, Republicans have some soul searching to do as they decide how to revamp their imagio in the wake of the repudiation of Trump and the extreme MAGA agenda. I wish them good luck with that. Democrats deserve to celebrate. I wouldn’t have bet 50 cents on the outcome of Tuesday night. It exceeded the wildest expectations of even the most optimistic progressives. But the celebration needs to end soon because now the hard part begins. I hope Democrats aren’t deluding themselves into thinking that the millions of people who voted for Trump in the past and voted blue on Tuesday fell in love with the Democratic Party and are now wedded to it. The majority of Americans still loathe both parties; they just loathe the Republican Party under the domination of Trump more. If Democrats want to keep these swing voters in the blue camp, Democrats have to demonstrate that they understand what matters to the majority of Americans and will do something about it. Democrats have to prove that they are capable of doing two things at once and keeping both in balance. First, there has to be accountability for the excesses and abuses of the past two years. And that can’t be the blind retribution and cruelty that Trump has employed; it must be focused and deliberate. I believe the failure to hold Nixon accountable after Watergate and Obama’s “look forward, not back” policy that gave impunity to Bush and Cheney for their post-9/11 abuses gave rise to the notion that Trump embraced that those at the top can do whatever they want with no consequences. Accountability needs to be fast, firm, and fair, so Democrats need to get on with it as soon as the 120th Congress is sworn in. At the same time, Democrats have to deliver on the issues that matter to the majority of Americans. That means using the power to conduct oversight hearings and the power of the purse to take actions that will bring down costs. It means taking action to address wealth and income inequality. It means making affordable healthcare available to all Americans. It means making amends with our allies and tightening the screws on America’s enemies. It means revising our wasteful fiscal approach and addressing our 40.5 trillion dollar national debt. It means tax policies that are fair to all and not tilted in favor of billionaires and big corporations. It means shoring up Social Security. It means getting the government out of places where it doesn’t belong, like locker rooms and bathrooms. So, for now, celebrate, but put it to bed soon and get on with the tasks that are in hand. Do it well – and that’s a tall, tall order – and I suspect you’ll be celebrating again in 2028. Do it poorly and you’ll be as sad then as Laura Loomer and Franklin Graham are now.