In his latest attempt to distract attention and focus away from his disastrous reign as governor, Kevin Stitt added another embarrassing lowlight to the impressive list of lowlights he's acquired while serving as governor.
This time around, Stitter officially sacked Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson – the guy in charge of Oklahoma's National Guard – because Thompson refused to play along with Stitt's personal and politically-driven crusade to defy federal vaccine mandates for people serving in the Oklahoma National Guard.
As a replacement, Stitt selected a more willing and eager Yes-Man who will, presumably, roll over and let Stitt do whatever he wants – Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino.
Via The Tulsa World:
Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson said Thursday that he was relieved of his duties as state adjutant general by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Stitt announced Wednesday that he had appointed Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, assistant adjutant general, to replace Thompson as adjutant general and commander of the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard.
Thompson said Stitt called him Wednesday to tell him he was relieved of his duties effective immediately. He learned from social media that his friend Mancino had been tapped as his replacement.
Not wasting any time to please his new boss, Mancino quickly fired off a memo announcing Oklahoma will officially defy federal orders, and not require vaccines for the reluctant 10% of morons serving in the Oklahoma National Guard:
One of the first actions taken by new Adjutant General Thomas H. Mancino was to reverse an Oklahoma National Guard policy on COVID-19 vaccinations.
The new policy says soldiers and airmen and women who do not wish to be vaccinated do not have to be while they are serving in state, said Lt. Col Geoff Legler, a spokesman for the Oklahoma National Guard.
“The clarification will allow our unvaccinated Guardsmen to continue to serve in Oklahoma without any negative repercussion, but it does not provide any protection should they need to attend any military school or training activity run by an active duty component or the Department of Defense.”
Yep, Kevin Stitt is totally fine violating laws that he thinks are illegal. Wouldn't it be funny if we had a video of him criticizing other people for doing the same thing?
To be clear, that's not a fair analogy. OKCPS didn't violate any "illegal order" by firing teachers who didn't follow and comply with district rules and guidelines, whereas Kevin Stitt is violating very legal orders by not requiring vaccine mandates for guardsmen.
Via The Hill:
The Pentagon can require Oklahoma National Guard members to get the COVID-19 vaccine, despite the state’s highest-ranking military official insisting he will not mandate that members be inoculated, the Defense Department’s top spokesman said Monday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “has the authorities he needs to require this vaccine across the force, including the National Guard,” press secretary John Kirby told reporters.
“It is a lawful order for National Guardsmen to receive the COVID vaccine. It is a lawful order,” Kirby later said. “Refusing to do that, absent an approved exemption, puts them in the same potential [for punishment] as active-duty members who refuse the vaccine.”
For what it's worth, my "favorite" players in this stupid saga are still the National Guard service members who won't get the vaccine. These people literally volunteered to work for a government entity that can send them off to fight and die in a foreign war for whatever reason it wants, whenever it wants, but now they're going to throw a fit when that very same government they pledged to serve and support requires them to get a vaccine during a global pandemic. Here's a pic of the logic chart:
Anyway, I guess we'll continue to follow this latest lowlight from our low-life governor. Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.