Jon Duffy
@joncduffy.bsky.social
I care a lot about democracy. And dogs.
Veteran | PhD Student | Dog Dad
Baltimore fan in Southern California
Veteran | PhD Student | Dog Dad
Baltimore fan in Southern California
When scrutiny of state force is treated as betrayal, American democracy is in serious trouble.
Minneapolis marks a line in the sand.
My op-ed in @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Minneapolis marks a line in the sand.
My op-ed in @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Why Minneapolis marks a line in the sand for U.S. citizens
Federal operations across the city are normalizing the use of force as routine, and stripping away the transparency and oversight of ICE agents.
www.latimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 5:53 PM
When scrutiny of state force is treated as betrayal, American democracy is in serious trouble.
Minneapolis marks a line in the sand.
My op-ed in @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Minneapolis marks a line in the sand.
My op-ed in @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
When legality is left unresolved, the burden doesn’t disappear — it gets pushed downward onto those ordered to act.
My new piece for @latimes.com on why “refuse illegal orders” is not a substitute for leadership or accountability.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
My new piece for @latimes.com on why “refuse illegal orders” is not a substitute for leadership or accountability.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Those who execute military orders carry all the risk
As Mark Kelly and Pete Hegseth square off in soundbites, service members with limited authority are left to resolve the ambiguity created far above them.
www.latimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:50 PM
When legality is left unresolved, the burden doesn’t disappear — it gets pushed downward onto those ordered to act.
My new piece for @latimes.com on why “refuse illegal orders” is not a substitute for leadership or accountability.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
My new piece for @latimes.com on why “refuse illegal orders” is not a substitute for leadership or accountability.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
My new @latimes op-ed: “Trump just removed the last restraints on presidential power.”
U.S. military action in Venezuela this weekend bypassed Congress entirely. This piece is about war without consent and why this moment matters.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
U.S. military action in Venezuela this weekend bypassed Congress entirely. This piece is about war without consent and why this moment matters.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Trump just removed the last restraints on presidential power
Who now decides when the United States goes to war, and under what authority?
www.latimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 4:14 AM
My new @latimes op-ed: “Trump just removed the last restraints on presidential power.”
U.S. military action in Venezuela this weekend bypassed Congress entirely. This piece is about war without consent and why this moment matters.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
U.S. military action in Venezuela this weekend bypassed Congress entirely. This piece is about war without consent and why this moment matters.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Reposted by Jon Duffy
I wrote this for @latimes.com after reading reporting I couldn’t shake about a three-year-old appearing alone in immigration court — and what that says about power, responsibility, and character.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: How does a 3-year-old hire an immigration attorney?
Lucy couldn't understand the words being spoken around her or the dangers she fled. Yet under the system we've built, she's the one required to answer to a judge.
www.latimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I wrote this for @latimes.com after reading reporting I couldn’t shake about a three-year-old appearing alone in immigration court — and what that says about power, responsibility, and character.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Reposted by Jon Duffy
Sen. Mark Kelly is the tip of the iceberg. DoD has many speech investigations underway that have led troops to scrub their own social media and watch what they say: www.businessinsider.com/military-tro...
Inside the Pentagon's political speech crackdown that's driving troops to scrub their social media
The Pentagon is policing troops' speech in ways experts call an "abuse." Some service members are self-censoring and scrambling to scrub social media.
www.businessinsider.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Sen. Mark Kelly is the tip of the iceberg. DoD has many speech investigations underway that have led troops to scrub their own social media and watch what they say: www.businessinsider.com/military-tro...
Reposted by Jon Duffy
Reporting now confirms that U.S. forces fired second missiles at survivors of our own strikes. This is no “gray area.” It’s illegal — and it morally injures the very people we ask to serve.
My op-ed in the LA Times on why killing survivors is neither legal nor moral: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
My op-ed in the LA Times on why killing survivors is neither legal nor moral: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Killing survivors is not a legal or moral gray area
There is a rule every professional military knows it cannot break: You do not attack people who can no longer fight, such as survivors of the recent boat strikes in Latin America.
www.latimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reporting now confirms that U.S. forces fired second missiles at survivors of our own strikes. This is no “gray area.” It’s illegal — and it morally injures the very people we ask to serve.
My op-ed in the LA Times on why killing survivors is neither legal nor moral: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
My op-ed in the LA Times on why killing survivors is neither legal nor moral: www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Reposted by Jon Duffy
The Defense Department’s Law of War Manual specifies: “Orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.” These are actions that you would expect from the Islamic State or the Russian army — not from the armed forces of a democracy. wapo.st/49LrEvh
Opinion | Pete Hegseth, not Mark Kelly, should be facing justice
There’s a reason lawmakers worry about the military being told to ignore the law.
wapo.st
December 1, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The Defense Department’s Law of War Manual specifies: “Orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.” These are actions that you would expect from the Islamic State or the Russian army — not from the armed forces of a democracy. wapo.st/49LrEvh
Reposted by Jon Duffy
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Reposted by Jon Duffy
Pleased to share my new essay in @foreignaffairs.com on the broader implications of the Trump administration’s killing spree at sea.
www.foreignaffairs.com/central-amer...
www.foreignaffairs.com/central-amer...
America Unbound in the Caribbean
The real costs of Washington’s use of force.
www.foreignaffairs.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Pleased to share my new essay in @foreignaffairs.com on the broader implications of the Trump administration’s killing spree at sea.
www.foreignaffairs.com/central-amer...
www.foreignaffairs.com/central-amer...
We’re killing people at sea without trial or oversight. A secret memo now promises immunity.
This is what happens when a system built to obey forgets how to take a moral stand.
My LA Times op-ed: “Do our military leaders have the backbone to disobey illegal orders?”
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
This is what happens when a system built to obey forgets how to take a moral stand.
My LA Times op-ed: “Do our military leaders have the backbone to disobey illegal orders?”
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Do our military leaders have the backbone to disobey illegal orders?
A recently uncovered memo promises U.S. soldiers immunity for the killing of more than 80 people in boat strikes throughout the Caribbean, effectively conceding it crossed a line.
www.latimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
We’re killing people at sea without trial or oversight. A secret memo now promises immunity.
This is what happens when a system built to obey forgets how to take a moral stand.
My LA Times op-ed: “Do our military leaders have the backbone to disobey illegal orders?”
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
This is what happens when a system built to obey forgets how to take a moral stand.
My LA Times op-ed: “Do our military leaders have the backbone to disobey illegal orders?”
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Unless they’re being gunned down in their classroom…
September 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Unless they’re being gunned down in their classroom…
The strike in the Caribbean wasn’t about drugs. It was about power unbound from principle.
In Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social), I explain why this is a warning to all who serve: remember your oath.
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
In Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social), I explain why this is a warning to all who serve: remember your oath.
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
A killing at sea marks America’s descent into lawless power
The peremptory strike on a speedboat is a warning to all who serve. Remember your oath.
www.defenseone.com
September 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
The strike in the Caribbean wasn’t about drugs. It was about power unbound from principle.
In Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social), I explain why this is a warning to all who serve: remember your oath.
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
In Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social), I explain why this is a warning to all who serve: remember your oath.
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
Fairness and trust keep the Navy strong—not performative outrage. We’re failing that test, and it’s costing good people and hurting the mission. I wrote about it in Defense One: www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
What is Hegseth so scared of?
The Navy needs leaders like Buzz Donnelly.
www.defenseone.com
July 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Fairness and trust keep the Navy strong—not performative outrage. We’re failing that test, and it’s costing good people and hurting the mission. I wrote about it in Defense One: www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
I wrote for Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social) on why banning books at the Naval Academy is a betrayal of everything we’re supposed to stand for: www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
I went to the Naval Academy to defend freedom, not to dismantle it
Stripping the library of books undermines our Navy—and mimics regimes we spent decades confronting.
www.defenseone.com
April 22, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I wrote for Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social) on why banning books at the Naval Academy is a betrayal of everything we’re supposed to stand for: www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...
Merry Christmas, BlueSky friends 🎄
December 25, 2024 at 3:32 PM
Merry Christmas, BlueSky friends 🎄
