It’s another big, public fail for Donald Trump’s efforts to punish Democratic members of Congress for reminding U.S. servicemembers, in a video, they are obligated to follow the law and to disobey any illegal orders. Felonious Trump was so triggered by their remarks, he raged that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

So far, it’s not punishable at all. Which is how it should be.

On Tuesday, Trump lackey Jeanine Pirro suffered a humiliating 0-6 loss trying to punish the six Democrats who spoke out in the video. She was unable to pass the very low bar of getting a grand jury to indict a single one of them.

On Thursday, federal judge Richard J. Leon temporarily blocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to retaliate against Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Naval officer, for participating in the video. Kelly had sued Hegseth and the Department of Defense for trying to discipline him and reduce his retirement rank and pension.

In his blistering decision granting Kelly’s preliminary injunction, Leon wrote, “Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, ‘You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”

“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers,” Leon admonished, “Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired servicemembers have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years. If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights!”

This is only a temporary block until the matter is fully adjudicated. But judging by how it’s gone this far, the outlook does not appear favorable for Whiskey Pete or his draft-dodging boss.