Rep. Maggie Goodlander: Seditious or just shameful?

 

Rep. Maggie Goodlander: Seditious or just shameful?

State. Rep Mike Moffett, Governor Kelly Ayotte, and Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander at 250th Marine Corps Birthday Ceremony at N.H. State House on Nov. 10, 2025

 

There are many angles from which to view the “Scandalous Saga of the Seditious Six,” the recent Video-Gate story of six Democrat congresspeople who went public to admonish serving military personnel that they don’t need to follow orders they deem illegal.

Such sagas have value in that they necessarily raise awareness about history, law, civics, precedents, military service doctrines, and motives.

As a Marine Corps veteran and the current Chair of the House Committee on State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs, I was unsurprisingly contacted by a reporter when the story broke. He sent me a link to the video and asked for a comment, which I provided as follows:

“A very disturbing video,” added State Rep. Michael Moffett (R-Loudon), a Marine veteran who served in the Middle East. “At Marine Corps Mess Nights, we always faithfully toasted our commander-in-chief, whether we liked them or not, be it Clinton, Bush, or Obama. This (attitude) is a huge threat to military discipline and the good order required. Very dangerous and disappointing to see partisanship introduced to our military culture in this way.”

The “Scandalous Saga of the Seditious Six” is of particular interest to Granite Staters in that one of the six is our CD2 Congressperson, Maggie Goodlander. Ironically, I had just spent some quality time with her on the Marine Corps Birthday, November 10^th. We Marines appreciated her getting up early that day to be at the State House flag-raising to offer comments. Later that day Beth and I shared a table with the Congresswoman and others at the Marine Corps Ball in Franklin, where she again offered very nice comments to the large crowd while I read Governor Ayotte’s proclamation. I later sent the Congresswoman a copy of my Afghanistan book.

It’s hard not to like Representative Goodlander. So, the “Scandalous Saga of the Seditious Six” was both a surprise and a disappointment.

The other five video participants were Senators Mark Kelly and Ellissa Slotkin as well as Representatives Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan. All are Democrats, which made their action appear to be nakedly partisan. Surely, they could have found at least one Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger type to provide a patina of bipartisanship to their stunt.

An early reaction was to wonder whose idea this was. Apparently, it emanated from Slotkin, who is not even a veteran. Indeed, only 26 Democrats in all of Congress are veterans.

(In 1971, 78 out of 100 U.S. Senators were veterans along with 313 out of 435 U.S. Representatives.)

Goodlander threw gasoline on the subsequent political fire by doubling down and providing a second video which attempted to rationalize and justify the first.

The initial video unfortunately didn’t point to any specific issue or incident, which would have been instructive. Speaking in broad, ambiguous terms was perhaps an attempt to “poke the bear” to get a reaction. If that was the intent, it succeeded, as President Trump responded that he saw the behavior as seditious, which could involve a death penalty. Dems happily replied by (inaccurately) claiming that the President called for the murder of the Seditious Six.

The President is familiar with this “bear poking” dynamic. He often utters provocative comments likely designed to cause apoplexy amongst his many political opponents who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome who take the bait and end up looking foolish with their hysterical responses. Then Trumpsters effectively shine lights on their unhinged behavior.

"Touché, mes amis!”

Yes, specific examples concerning relevant orders would have been helpful. Short of that, speculation subsequently centered on administration policies related to domestic National Guard deployments or international interdictions of suspected nautical Venezuelan drug runners.

Goodlander is standing on especially shaky ground here, as she’s married to Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s National Security Advisor. Recall that the Biden Administration ordered bombing missions in Iraq, Syria, or Yemen—without Congressional sanction. Those actions likely resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and could certainly be construed by some as “illegal orders” worthy of being disobeyed, if we follow the logic from Video-Gate.

But the Seditious Six were silent on these bombings, thus confirming that Video-Gate was prompted by partisanship, not patriotism.

Stone, meet Glass House!

An example of an illegal order would be a senior telling a subordinate to kill an unarmed civilian detainee. But most military orders result from leaders seeking to accomplish missions assigned by elected officials. Members of any effective military unit do not have the luxury of discussing or debating the morality or probity of most missions or orders.

To be sure, that approach has been tried before—with disastrous consequences.

For example, during World War I, Russia’s Imperial Army was infiltrated by Bolsheviks and other disruptors who succeeded in implementing Order #1, which called for the election of soldier “committees” to review policies and orders. Discipline and morale collapsed. That army disintegrated. Communists took over the country and sued for a separate peace with Germany in 1918 and then established a Soviet Union which would inflict almost a century of horrors all over the world.

Truth.

So, if a result of the Dems’ Video-Gate is a new appreciation of important history, then that’s good. And if another result is an enhanced awareness of craven partisan political motives that undermine the good order and discipline in our military, then that is also good.

So, are the Scandalous Six actually seditious?

I want to think not.

Are they shameful?

Yes.

 

Lafayette, we are Here!

 

Lafayette, we are Here!

By Rep. Mike Moffett

“Lafayette, we are here.”

So said American army Colonel Charles Stanton in Paris on July 4, 1917, standing at the tomb of Gilbert du Motier—better known as the Marquis de Lafayette.

The Americans were in Paris as part of an advance World War I vanguard of Yankee doughboys. Over a million U.S. soldiers and Marines would soon be in France to turn the tide and bring victory to an allied coalition that was utterly spent and exhausted.

“We’ll be over. We’re coming over. And we won’t come back ‘til it’s over, over there!”

The people of France were thrilled so see the influx of all the motivated young Americans who gave them hope and eventually victory.

Stanton and company were at Lafayette’s grave that day to acknowledge a debt to a Frenchman who conversely had given a similarly exhausted American effort hope and eventually victory during our Revolution almost 250 years ago.

A wealthy young French nobleman, Lafayette was a romantic idealist captivated by the new American nation. His father had been killed in battle against the British and Lafayette requisitioned a ship to make his way to America.

In his current best-selling Revolutionary War tome, The Fate of the Day, Rick Atkinson describes the subsequent voyage thusly:

Night fell. The darkened boat beat on. His destiny lay west, over the horizon, where eventually his name would adorn some six hundred towns, counties, schools, mountains and other American landmarks. He had chosen to risk everything—for glory, for adventure, for an idea. Why not?

Lafayette made it to America and at the age of 20 became a Major General in our Continental Army. Wounded at Brandywine he quickly recovered and remained a favorite of George Washington until the triumphant end of the war, after the epic Yorktown victory in 1781.

After returning to France, Lafayette buffeted by the horrors of the French Revolution after 1789. He was imprisoned and would have been executed, but for the intercession of his American supporters. He eventually returned to favor.

In 1824 he accepted an invitation from President James Monroe to return to America, for a triumphant tour of every state to help celebrate the coming 50^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. By that time, every other American Revolution flag officer was dead, the last one being New Hampshire’s John Stark, who died in 1922 at the age of 94.

In June of 1825 Lafayette’s tour brought him to Concord, N.H. Accompanied by his son, Georges Washington, he was welcomed by passionate Granite State throngs similar to those that lined roads all over the country cheering his carriage’s journey from state to state.

Lafayette gave a wondrous speech at our new Representatives Hall—the very space in which our legislature still meets today. He went on to finish his tour and return to France, where he died in 1834.

On Sunday, June 22^nd, the American Friends of Lafayette will be joined at our State House by renowned Lafayette reenactor Ben Goldman, who will arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, just as the Marquis did in two centuries ago. He’ll be welcomed by our governor and legislative leaders before giving a reprise of Lafayette’s 1825 speech at the very spot in Representatives Hall where the original remarks occurred. This time the speech will be delivered in front of a huge painting of George Washington, whom Lafayette adored.

While I was not there in 1825, I will be in my Seat #23 in Representatives Hall Section 2 on Sunday to be part of a remarkable event that will connect us to our republic’s origins in a most profound way. And I already know what I’ll be thinking, as I sit and listen.

“Lafayette, I am here.”

#####

State Representative Mike Moffett (R-Loudon) is a former professor and retired Marine Corps infantry officer. He chairs the House Committee on State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs.