I always thought that when men and women enlisted in the military, they were sacrificing their lives to protect this country. I also thought that 'freedom of speech' was an amendment in the Constitution. Well, isn't the right to choose a political party part of the American way, as well? Many of us have been caught sitting around and talking politics and sometimes, we'll even bash the President, whether it is Obama or Bush or Clinton or whomever. Sometimes, we'll even post our feelings on Facebook. I've seen a number of posts within the past four years poking fun at our current President. Were any of those people punished? The answer to that is no! Then why should a 9-year Marine be dismissed for his Anti-Obama remarks? What is happening to this country that we can't even speak our minds anymore? I mean, yesterday, I blogged about a women who spoke her mind, but was extremely racist about it. Fine, she deserved to be punished, but someone who is fighting for and defending our country should not be punished for having a sense of humor. That is just plain wrong!
Out in Camp Pendleton, California, a Marine named Sgt. Gary Stein apparently criticized President Obama on his Facebook page and is now being accused of misconduct and according to a military board late Thursday, should be dismissed. The board also recommended that Stein be given another-than-honorable discharge. In other words, Stein would lose his benefits and would not be allowed on any military base. That's absolutely ridiculous! It kind of reminds me of people who made fun of Mussolini or Hitler, which wouldn't happen because those people would be punished and tortured. Well, this is no different! The board's recommendations go to a general who will either accept or deny them. If the general disagrees with the board, the case could go to the secretary of the Navy.
Stein's lawyers argued that the 9-year Marine, whose service was to end in four months, anyhow, was only expressing his personal views and exercising his First Amendment rights. Stein addressed the board members during Thursday's hearing, telling them he loved the Marine Corps and even wanted to re-enlist. During the hearing, the prosecutor stated that Stein went as far as using Photoshop to superimpose images of President Obama's face on a poster for the movie Jackass. Okay, I really don't see the harm in that. Was there really any sort of threat on the President's life here? The prosecutor went on to say that Stein's behavior violates Pentagon policy that limits free speech rights of service members, and said he should be dismissed after ignoring warnings from his superiors about his postings. It sounds to me that the prosecutor is getting a bit touchy here and I'm willing to bet if you go back into his private emails, there is some sort of Obama-bashing come from his end too!
The government's even submitted screen grabs of Stein's postings on one Facebook page he created called Armed Forces Tea Party, which the prosecutor said included the image of President Obama on the Jackass movie poster. Stein also superimposed the President's face on a poster for The Incredibles movie that he changed to The Horribles. I still don't see anything threatening about any of this. Stein has said that his opinions are his own and has even put a disclaimer on his Facebook page stating so. His attorney argued that service members have the right to voice their opinions as long as they do not appear to be presenting their views as being endorsed by the military. They also said that the Pentagon policy is vague and military officials don't even understand it.
The only real problem here is that Stein did declare on Facebook that he would not follow orders from President Obama and later clarified that statement saying he would not follow unlawful orders. I think that's where he is wrong because he may not like the President, but he's enlisted as a serviceman for this country, which right now, is being run by President Obama. So, unfortunately, Stein has to abide by the President's rules.
One former Marine, who happens to be a Senator now, wrote a letter to Stein's commanding officer stating that the sergeant should not be dismissed for an opinion shared by a majority of Marines. Stein went on to say that his statement was about President Obama was a part of an online debate about NATO allowing U.S. Troops to be tried for the Quran burnings in Afghanistan. In that context, he said that he was stating that he would not follow orders from the President if it involved detaining U.S. citizens, disarming them or doing anything else that he believes would violate their constitutional rights.
It sounds to me; Stein is more of a hero than someone who is trying to hurt the President with his words. Why would they try to strip the man of his benefits after he spent 9 years defending this country? It also seems that his words were to protect other American citizens. I'm still trying to figure out what he did wrong? Was making fun of the President wrong? If that's the case, you might as well punish this whole country because we're all making fun of him! When did we become a country full of cry babies? We used to be a World Power, but now I'm feeling like we've become part of the World Comedy Hour! This is ridiculous! What do you guys think? Should Sgt. Stein be discharged from the Marine Corps?
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