Nine year veteran marine Gary Stein, with only four months remaining in his
tour, is facing serious consequences for his most recent political outbursts
via Facebook. Stein, a self described
conservative, “hell bent on defending the constitution and preserving America’s
greatness”, has had a history of criticism of Obama, with multiple Facebook
postings slandering the president; he has even gone so far as to photoshop
Obama’s face over a poster of “Jackass: The Movie”. The final straw came when Stein posted to a Facebook
group that he would refuse to follow Obama’s orders; only later did he clarify
his statement, explaining that he meant only unlawful orders.
Stein is being charged with violating a Pentagon policy
which limits the political activities of service members, including “contemptuous
words against senior officials”, and in this case, the Commander-In-Chief. Stein’s attorney is in turn arguing that service
members who present their political views may do so as long as they do not
claim endorsement by the military, and therefore, do not violate the Pentagon
policy.
The Marine Corps administrative board, following an
extensive hearing for the sergeant, has recommended that the 26 year old Stein
be given an “other than honorable discharge”; if the recommendation is
accepted, Stein will be demoted, discharged, and will lose all his benefits. I feel that Stein’s punishment is extreme, and that while his criticism of our president is both rude and flawed, he does have every right to make said statements. What do you think of Stein’s situation? Is he within his first amendment rights, or does the military have jurisdiction to exercise their policy in preventing political commentary from its service members?
5 comments:
While political commentary should be allowed by all American citizens to an extent, by joining the army, Stein has agreed to follow certain army policies. So if one of these policies happens to limit "contemptuous words against senior officials" then Stein should have followed that regulation. By posting in an extremely public manner his disregard for the CinC, Stein's actions reflect poorly upon the military, people supposedly under the command of the CinC and is thus worse than writing the same thoughts in his own diary. Not so long ago, mutinous words from a member of an army against the leader of said army could have garnered a much worse consequence. Furthermore, I doubt that Stein was not forewarned at some point about his public dissident views and the possible ramifications. Given that he was warned, I believe that Stein deserved the sentence that he received and that it is fully within the power of the military to deliver such a sentence.
I do agree that Stein should receive some punishment. However, this just seems like a very extreme punishment for expressing his opinions. I agree with Kore that he must have been warned that if continued his views, that he could get into trouble. Stein should have known before hand that when you sign up for the military, you're essentially giving yourself to the military. Even though Stein should be punished, I think that he should have just received a discharge and reduced benefits.
General MacArthur was removed because of his open refusal to obey President Truman. If troops don't follow the orders and respect the "Commander in Chief," what kind of example does this set for the rest of the world in such an unstable time? Frankly, Stein does not have a very high position within the army so his comments are fairly harmless; however, having someone openly disrespecting the direct orders of his higher authority does not bode well for the Obama administration's ethic and ability to unite the country.
i believe his punishment is deserved, but extreme. Everyone has a right to their own opinion but stein went too far. His comments were made public via Facebook and were insulting to the point that it was unacceptable. I feel Stein should be allowed to remain with the military but sacrifice part of his benefits because there is no proof that his comments had any significant influence
I personally think that Stein should be reprimanded for his actions. By joining the military he is a subordinate of the armed forces and is subjecting himself to the will of the commander in chief. However, the first amendment right to free speech is quite and i feel like it will be defended in this case if Stein brought it to the supreme court. With the repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy," I have little doubt that a Supreme Court would probably favor his side of the argument.
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