Thursday, March 22, 2012

United States Marine Faces Discharge For Being Critical of Obama


Marine faces dismissal for anti-Obama Facebook posts

Gary Stein is a Camp Pendleton U.S. Marine who has been criticizing President Obama on his Facebook page.

Among his openly critical comments of President Barack Obama are those saying he will not follow the unlawful orders of the commander in chief, and for that he is facing possible dismissal from the Corps.

The Marines have told Sgt. Gary Stein -- a Camp Pendleton Marine who started the Facebook page called Armed Forces Tea Party -- that he is in violation of Pentagon policy barring troops from political activities.

A nine-year member of the Corps, he says he started the page to encourage fellow service members to exercise their free speech rights. He has also criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for his comments on Syria.

The Marine Corps said in a statement that Stein's commanding officer ordered a preliminary inquiry on March 8 after receiving allegations that Stein posted the political statements violating the Pentagon's directives.

"After reviewing the findings of the preliminary inquiry, the commander decided to address the allegations through administrative action," the Corps said.

"I'm completely shocked that this is happening," Stein said. "I've done nothing wrong. I've only stated what our oath states that I will defend the constitution and that I will not follow unlawful orders. If that's a crime, what is America coming to?"

I agree with the Marine on this one. So the question is, should a military member be compelled to obey an unlawful order?

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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