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Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts for criticizing President Barack Obama

Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

IndepCentristMA said:
Okay... so what order did he not obey? None...
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But in doing what he did he violated the UCMJ, which carries even more legal weight than an order.

This isn't a 1 time occurrence with the Obama Administration, either...
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I have served through the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. There is nothing about this unique to Obama.

Before that you had the firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal… because he spoke open and honestly to a Rolling Stone reporter… who then did him a major disservice by publicizing things most people keep off the record… Still he didn’t go against any policy… he just was open and honest with a brazen personality…
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And before that GEN Shinseki was shown the door when he, to the chagrin of Bush and Rumsfeld, told Congress that the Iraq War would take hundreds of thousands of troops and a decade to accomplish. So what is your point? That Presidents fire people who don’t toe the line? Well you’re right. But if you think our current President has a monopoly on that you haven’t been paying attention.
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

IndepCentristMA said:
Okay... so what order did he not obey? None...

This didn't occur as the result of a lack of obedience... it was because someone took a screenshot of his facebook page... that's utterly ridiculous...

This isn't a 1 time occurrence with the Obama Administration, either...

I'm sure you've all heard about the extravagant GSA meeting, and all the wasted money from the conference... and how those people resigned before being fired... the reason that came to light wasn't the huge expenditures (only $800K... which is rather menial by Government waste standards... and about what a conference for 300 employees would cost… If you figure, flight, hotel, and accommodations for 4 days…) it's because they were openly criticizing Obama's green initiatives policy...

The more controversial videos showed GSA members mocking Obama in planning for the conference, especially in regards to the green initiatives policy… but somehow they've suddenly disappeared… as the narrative is bashing them for the rap video… and the waste of money...

Before that you had the firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal… because he spoke open and honestly to a Rolling Stone reporter… who then did him a major disservice by publicizing things most people keep off the record… Still he didn’t go against any policy… he just was open and honest with a brazen personality…

Obama relieves McChrystal of command - US news - Military - msnbc.com
The Runaway General | Politics News | Rolling Stone


There are several other cases along the same lines… but somehow, all the information on them is cleaned up from the internet, and hard to access… ill keep looking for other ones like these, where the people didn’t necessarily do anything wrong… but are forced to resign because someone forwarded up the chain that the people were criticizing the president (something which became a national pass-time for liberals under Bush)…
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those people at gsa were fools
but your take is they did not deserve to be fired for wasting the taxpayer's money
in your conspiratorial opinion, those federal employees who wasted money on worthless extravagance were fired only because they expressed opposition to his green initiative
without any proof of that claim i can only contend you likely own a large supply of tin foil
McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as "shortsighted," saying it would lead to a state of "Chaos-istan." The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the **** up, and keep a lower profile.
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After arriving in Afghanistan last June, the general conducted his own policy review, ordered up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The now-infamous report was leaked to the press, and its conclusion was dire: If we didn't send another 40,000 troops – swelling the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan by nearly half – we were in danger of "mission failure." The White House was furious. McChrystal, they felt, was trying to bully Obama, opening him up to charges of being weak on national security unless he did what the general wanted. It was Obama versus the Pentagon, and the Pentagon was determined to kick the president's ass.
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The general's staff is a handpicked collection ... and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority
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[emphasis added by bubba]
But part of the problem is personal: In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk **** about many of Obama's top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a "clown" who remains "stuck in 1985."
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McChrystal reserves special skepticism for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. "The Boss says he's like a wounded animal," says a member of the general's team. "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He's a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN, and you can't just have someone yanking on ****."
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The Runaway General | Politics News | Rolling Stone
those comments were both imprudent and impudent
the president could tolerate - hell, he should welcome such hard won opinion in private. but in public, the voice must be singular. it must be the president's. and mccrystal was not savvy enough to understand that
the point being, mccrystal's firing, like truman's in korea, was absolutely the correct thing to do - because those general's public remarks served to undermine their president. that gave those president's no other option



People who make mistakes are forced to resign often to be the scapegoat by the administration… but when the people are being targeted for speaking their honest opinion about the President’s flawed leadership… it’s not they that should be removed, it’s the President…
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no. the time to articulate one's ardent dissent is behind closed doors, when policy is being shaped. while the decisions are being made. once those policies, those decisions have been crafted, then everyone in that room MUST walk out the door in lockstep, supporting the policies formed when everyone was free to voice their thoughts and concerns
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Well... like it or not, if you serve in the military, Obama is the Commander in Chief, and you can't run him down publicly and not expect backlash.
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Comment_Guy said:
Well... like it or not, if you serve in the military, Obama is the Commander in Chief, and you can't run him down publicly and not expect backlash.
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Actually you can. You just have to do it within the set of rules. I bitched about Bush and Reagan all the time when I served despite them being my commander in chief.
 
Re: Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts for criticizing President Barack Ob

Wake said:
I guess there's a balance of sorts, though it's understandable how some soldiers get pissed off with the higher-ups. You would not believe some of the things my brother-in-law has to deal with. Apparently his friend video-taped the actions of some sargeants and other military higher-ups peeing on corpses/etc. If he were to reveal the evidence he'd be fired, so he just has to shut up and say nothing about such actions, or be demoted or worse. There are soldiers out there who video-record and keep, ahem, the very nasty and secret parts of war that the general populace don't know about.
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Erm, this is already all over the internet...

roguenuke said:
(And yes, I know that comes off as somewhat naive, but I also know that there is always someone who is eventually going to listen to you, particularly if you ensure that you have evidence of what you are reporting and evidence of who you informed. You tell enough people in the chain of command, particularly the upper chain, someone will jump on it, even if it is mainly for their own promotion/benefit.)
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LOL yes just like if you report violations of police officers to their commanders, you're sure to get justice... :doh
 
Re: Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts for criticizing President Barack Ob

Khayembii Communique said:
A different one than this (NSFW link obviously)?
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As stated earlier, they've kept their tape hidden. It's going to remain that way.
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Wake said:
Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts - Yahoo! News What are your thoughts on this? Do you think they went too far in punishment?
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Poor widdle Barry got his feelings hurt, the mean ole Sargent criticized him and Barry must have cried. Jeeeezzzz man up Barry it's only some criticism, what are ya gonna do if the American people criticize you in November by booting you all the way back to Chicago?
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Prof. Peabody said:
Poor widdle Barry got his feelings hurt, the mean ole Sargent criticized him and Barry must have cried. Jeeeezzzz man up Barry it's only some criticism, what are ya gonna do if the American people criticize you in November by booting you all the way back to Chicago?
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Obama had nothing to do [personally] with this Marine getting discharged. How about you read the article as it clearly quotes a former Army military prosecutor saying "To that 1 percent who don't know their rights to free speech are limited once they take the oath, this is a loud and clear message."

Thus meaning that once you sign up, you have signed a contract that limits your free speech, you willingly limit your free speech. This Marine, by insulting the President, essentially decided to not abide by that contract and thus was discharged.
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Mr. Invisible said:
Obama had nothing to do [personally] with this Marine getting discharged. How about you read the article as it clearly quotes a former Army military prosecutor saying "To that 1 percent who don't know their rights to free speech are limited once they take the oath, this is a loud and clear message."

Thus meaning that once you sign up, you have signed a contract that limits your free speech, you willingly limit your free speech. This Marine, by insulting the President, essentially decided to not abide by that contract and thus was discharged.
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I'm sure you believe that, however if it's true why didn't Obama step in and save the guys career?
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Prof. Peabody said:
I'm sure you believe that, however if it's true why didn't Obama step in and save the guys career?
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Because you would have thrown a hissy fit about him overruling the military. Since he was not going to win either way with you, why get involved in something he shouldn't get involved in anyway?
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Redress said:
Because you would have thrown a hissy fit about him overruling the military. Since he was not going to win either way with you, why get involved in something he shouldn't get involved in anyway?
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It's interesting how you know in advance what I would or wouldn't do. Can you please give the the winning numbers for Friday's Mega Millions Lotto.
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Mr. Invisible said:
Obama had nothing to do [personally] with this Marine getting discharged.
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Can you link to evidence to back up that assertion?
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Prof. Peabody said:
Can you link to evidence to back up that assertion?
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and after proving that negative would you then please teach us how to divide by zero
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Prof. Peabody said:
Can you link to evidence to back up that assertion?
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There is absoultely ZERO evidence that Obama personally had something to do with this Marine getting discharged. Would you like to provide evidence to the contrary?
 
Re: Marines discharge Sergeant for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama

Prof. Peabody said:
I'm sure you believe that, however if it's true why didn't Obama step in and save the guys career?
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The guy broke military rules. And he did it even after being given fair warning to stop. He deserved what he got. Obama shouldn't have stepped in to save the career of someone who has shown that he will not follow rules/orders when they are merely against his beliefs, whether lawful or not.
 
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