Stop Loss
Stop Loss is a song by Army Specialist and Iraq war veteran Marc Hall. He’s in some major trouble for this song. He’s been in jail since December 11th for singing and recording this song. Original music should be protected by the First Amendment but isn’t for people in the Army.
“[Stop Loss is] a song that expresses his anger over the Army’s stop-loss policy.
Stop-loss is a policy that allows the Army to keep soldiers active beyond the end of their signed contracts. According to the Pentagon, more than 120,000 soldiers have been affected by stop-loss since 2001, and currently 13,000 soldiers are serving under stop-loss orders.
Hall, (aka hip hop artist Marc Watercus), who is in the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, was placed in Liberty County Jail for the song in which he angrily denounces the continuing policy that has barred him from exiting the military. [It's about the draft, (hidden in plain site) in other words.]
Military service members do not completely give up their rights to free speech, particularly not when they are doing so artistically while off duty, as was the case with Hall. He is charged under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which covers “all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline” and “all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.” The military is claiming that he “communicated a threat” with his song. Hall mailed a copy of the song to the Pentagon after the Army unilaterally extended his contract for a second Iraq deployment.
Read more here at Truthout. Don’t be fooled for a second thinking that we don’t have a draft in the U.S. — but it’s only for those in the Army, caught in the net of the active military currently serving. The song is also seemingly a threat, or is it just a statement of fact?
Download or listen to the song here. (It’s explicit.)
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