The Place of Dead Roads

From Leonard Clark, Stationed just outside Baghdad, Iraq, From a mutual friend of Leonard…:

I’ve just learned today that Leonard Clark was arrested for campaigning for the Senate! Well, it looks as if they could not muzzle him according to military law (the attorney said he had a right to speak his opinion), so they found another excuse! Apparently they can arrest him for campaigning for office. There’s just one thing wrong with that—Leonard Clark had not actually campaigned in the sense that we recognize campaigning (raising funds, soliciting campaign workers, etc.) All he has said is that he opposes the reasons for being in Iraq because he is there to see the truth and that he hopes he makes it back so he can run against Kyl. This is NOT in my view an actual campaign at this point. His papers have not even yet been filed! So how can he be accused of campaigning and arrested under this outrageous pretext? This is so shameful we should all be furious enough to write to as many government officials as we feel can help and copy as much media as possible!

I do not yet have any details on his arrest, only a reliable source that it happened. As I learn more, I will keep you posted. In the meantime, please continue to keep him in your prayers to protect him not only from the insurgents, but sadly from the very people in our military who are maliciously and unjustly attacking him for exercising his freedom of speech!

See also this diary at DailyKos.

[Update] Another diary over at DailyKos. Includes this counter-example of an active duty serviceman running for political office. You guessed it: as a Republican:

You might be interested to know, that during the last Pennsylvania state senate race Republican candidate John Pippy was permitted to campaign for political office even though his National Guard unit was activated and he was called up to duty. He got an exemption from Rumsfeld to be allowed to be put on the ballot. What is really upsetting is the SOB won...