When duty becomes dissent: Frank ‘Gus’ Biggio

There are days in American politics when disbelief gives way to exhaustion, and when what once would have been unthinkable now barely surprises. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s announcement that U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly is being investigated for sedition is one of those days. The supposed offense? Kelly, along with several members of Congress, reminded members of the U.S. military of their sworn duty : to support and defend the Constitution, not any individual or political party.

That such a plain, constitutional statement could be twisted into an act of “sedition” says less about the lawmakers than it does about the administration wielding the accusation. It is another sad milestone in the long degradation of our civic norms under President Donald Trump, and combines his characteris