Jacqueline Smith's fired-ombudsman column has now outlived the Pentagon's explanation by nearly two weeks. The Free Speech Center republished Smith's warning that the Pentagon fired the person charged by Congress with protecting Stars and Stripes' editorial independence, with the firing notice stating the action was not grievable. [1]

The May 8 brief said Day 12 made the republication the rebuke and the silence the policy. The original Stars and Stripes column remains the cleanest source because it names the Form 3434, the April 28 last day, and the Raskin letter signed by 38 House members. [2]

The story is now politics because Congress built the ombudsman role to sit outside Pentagon preference. MSM has mostly covered the firing and moved on. X keeps the column circulating. What has not circulated is a Pentagon replacement plan, a hearing date, or a legal answer.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York