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Gregory Bull / AP
The Marines say Staff Sgt. Gary Stein will be discharged for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook. He has since apologized to the president.
Sgt. Gary Stein, the 26-year-old Marine who learned Wednesday he would be discharged for his online comments criticizing President Barack Obama, wishes he could take it back.
“People ask me, ‘Would you go back and change those words?’ I would most definitely,” Stein told msnbc.com. “I would articulate my point better.”
On March 1, Stein wrote on a closed forum for active-duty meteorologists and oceanographers that he would say "Screw Obama" and not follow all orders from him, according to Courthouse News.
“Obama is the economic enemy,” he wrote in the post. “He is the religious enemy ... He is the ‘fundamentally change’ America enemy … He IS the Domestic Enemy.”
Marine who criticized President Obama on Facebook to be discharged
Five minutes later, another Marine took down his post, but not before someone Stein knew took a screen shot and forwarded the comment to Stein’s superiors.
Stein had already been warned about a Facebook page he had started in 2010, which he named Armed Forces Tea Party.
“They said, ‘All we ask is that you write that the views are not that of the Marine Corps or the Department of Defense,’” Stein said. He said he put up the disclaimer that day.
The Facebook page, which had six moderators, including Stein, included posts about contraception, gays in the military, pundit Keith Olbermann and Obama. One post included a photo of Obama with the word, “Jackass” written underneath. Stein said that was not his post.
Service members are, according to Directive 1344 of the Department of Defense, allowed to express personal opinions on political candidates, but not as representatives of the Armed Forces.
Last month, a three-member military panel recommended that he be booted from the Marine Corps. On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Daniel Yoo accepted their recommendation that Stein be dismissed for violating military law.
Stein said he repeatedly told Marine Corps officials he would shut down the Facebook page and not speak with the press if they allowed him to complete his contract, which ends in three months, but they refused.
“I think they’re trying to use me as an example,” Stein said. “Senior officers don’t want to hear, ‘You were the person who let this Gary Stein situation get out of hand. I think there might have been peer pressure among the senior enlisted.”
Maj. Michael Armistead, a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Pendleton, could not confirm whether this negotiation took place.
Stein, an Arizona native, has been a Marine for nine years and was deployed to Iraq from 2005 to 2006. Although he regrets his post, he still believes his online activity should be protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Still, he said he would caution other service members to think before posting their opinions.
“I’m not telling them to zip it up or shut up; be conscious of what you post,” he said. He said he believes the Marine Corps should clearly rewrite the rules for social media in the wake of his dismissal.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Stein sounded tired. A former weather forecaster, he lost his security clearance and started working as a scheduler on a rifle range at Camp Pendleton. He said his wife’s grandmother died Tuesday night and he was diagnosed Monday with a throat disease. He said the Marine Corps is waiting to discharge him so that he can go through treatment.
“It’s been a rough day,” Stein said. “I’m disappointed. Not only in the Marine Corps, but in myself.”
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He said he plans to go through treatment and tend to his wife and 4-year-old daughter. He has been a licensed real estate agent for two years; last night he posted a house for sale on his personal Facebook page.
He also wrote on Facebook that he would not accept racist or vulgar posts.
“I will ban you and you will never be on the page again,” he said.
And he said he has also apologized to the president.
“If he was in front of me right now, I would salute him, say, ‘Yes, Mr. President, No, Mr. President,’ and when I walked away, I would still disagree with his policies. But those are two separate things.”
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Gary Stein shouldn't have apologized.
He would simply be a brave, traitorous butt-head with a Bad Conduct Discharge. A hero to...?
It should Read........Marine fights for freedom of speech and is discharged for the use of it.
So, you're not a team player either.
You don't have a damn clue about the US military.
This loser doesn't deserve to wear the uniform of the USMC...he isn't man enough. Tough guy won't "follow orders"? hmmmm good luck ever finding a JOB anywhere- you have dishonored yourself and most bosses prefer employees who DO follow orders. Now, go away.
Look at all the Domestic Enemies!!!! President Obama has done nothing to all your complainers but "be black" You haters are the TRUE domestic ememies!! We have a battle here in the United States that has been going on for a 10 years......RACISM. We finally got a black man in office and whites complain. We let you have all these years in office, it's time for Blacks to have our turn.......we pay taxes just like you do. Whether you like it or not we're here and we're staying. So get the hell off my president and get some business......And I bet you hippocrites be sitting on the front row at church on Sunday....and you're still going to HELL!
Obama is as white as he is black, so who's the racist now? He's just a lame president.
As for dude and his apology, the President can accept it, but the blacks don't. He said what he meant and meant what he said. The only reason he wants to apologe is because he lost his job, but he still feels the same way.
ANOTHER KID thinking the Internet is a secret place that he can hide in and spout off stupidity.
Whom ever turned him in was one of his close friends. NO-ONE else would have known that post in 5 minute.
All I want to know is WHAT DID PRESIDENT OBAMA DO TO HIM PERSONALLY? TO ANY OF YOU? Then I would be able to understand why if it isn't racism. I wanna know? Let's talk about that?
WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU PERSONALLY??????
Hmmmm. Lied about lowering the unemployment ranks. Wants to deplete the military budget a la Clinton. Panders to Unions, while being in bed with Wall Street. Lied about his connections with home-grown terrorist organizations. I could go on, but I'm boring the educated amongst us.
I'm glad they did put him out. He's an example of "FRIENDLY FIRE"
This unpatriotic fool wanted to leave the Marine Corps. Any noncommissioned officer KNOWS that WE CANNOT SAY OR POST UNCHARITABLE COMMENTS RE: THE POTUS ON ANY WEB SITE OR TO ANY MEDIA WHILE we are on active duty and in the military mode.
LTC Rattus, USA, ret.
Welcome to free America Where you don't have freedom of speech. But are brainwashed as a child that you do and when you grow up and become an adult you learn the real truth. As long as he doen't or didn't threaten someone life or lifes sould be able to say anything you want. And the funny thing is he was serving to keep this freedom and now hes being discharded because of it. ONLY IN AMERICA
He threatened the lives of all us service members who rely on unit cohesion and discipline when we go to combat.
Many of you commenting here have expressed a genuine appreciation for the need for discipline in the armed services as well as a genuine love for our country. I commend you and encourage you to "stay motivated" even though you may now be a civilian.
There are some voices commenting here in support of this ex-Marine's indiscipline to the bewilderment of the rest of us and particularly those of us with military experience. Be advised that they do not support democracy, but advocate for an oligarchy where weak, confusing law can be manipulated by wealthy interests thus creating government by a privileged elite. To that ends, confusing this discussion of military order as prescribed by the UCMJ works to their advantage.
At no time in our history has this country needed the benefit of your uniquely earned perspectives on ethics, morality, justice and patriotism more than it does at this moment. Be assertive! Though we must tolerate their abuses of the free speech privilege, have no doubt that your training and experience have specially gifted you the insight and the wisdom to articulate both the "rights and responsibilities" of democracy against the anarchistic lies of these confusionists.
Semper Fi
So amused by the comment that he thought his words were protected under the 1st amendment of the Constitution. As a former military man, I would think someone had already told him, the day you sign across the dotted line, you are no longer governed under the Constitution, you are now assigned to protect the Constitution but fall under a new set of laws called the UCMJ, or "Uniformed Code of Military Justice". Don't ever think a military person has the freedoms of speech, he (or she), does not.
Not being a military person or related to one that is important to know. Given that information I would think that what he did was foolhardy and if I knew that I wouldn't had made my previous post. If he lost that right by joining the military then he should have known better.....
I don't get it? I could see he was just voicing his opinion and it was not that of the entire American forces!!! What ever happened to free speech? BTW people felt no such responsibility criticizing Bush and no one lost their jobs over that. Just because he is a marine doesn't mean he isn't allowed to voice his opinion. I think they went overboard on firing him and it is such a shame since he has a family and he did put his life on the line for our country and our sakes regardless of what he thinks of Obama. I don't think America is so "free" anymore when you can lose your job over voicing your opinion on political leaders.
"Just because he is a marine doesn't mean he isn't allowed to voice his opinion."
Yes, it does.
On 30 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress established 69 Articles of War to govern the conduct of the Continental Army.
Effective upon its ratification in 1789, Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution provided that Congress has the power to regulate the land and naval forces.[3] On 10 April 1806, the United States Congress enacted 101 Articles of War (which applied to both the Army and the Navy), which were not significantly revised until over a century later. The military justice system continued to operate under the Articles of War until 31 May 1951, when the Uniform Code of Military Justice went into effect.
The UCMJ was passed by Congress on 5 May 1950, signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, and became effective on 31 May 1951. The word Uniform in the Code's title refers to the congressional intent to make military justice uniform or consistent among the armed services.
The current version of the UCMJ is printed in latest edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial (2008), incorporating changes made by the President (executive orders) and National Defense Authorization Acts of 2006 and 2007.
Again, we are a free Country, but this guy expressed himself in uniform. You can't do that. It's against the "Constitution" of the military. Like I stated above, when you decide to accept a military career, you have to read the rules before you decide to do that. You can probably google the UCMJ and find a copy online. You might think it funny in some aspects, but you would probably get a better understanding of why he was made an example out of. Because, in the day of social media, it's becoming commonplace to see your enlistment into the military as a "job"... it's not, its a way of life. You don't wake up one morning and say that you've decided that you don't want to go to work, or you want to give a two week notice, ain't gonna happen. When you enlist, the government owns your butt for 4 years (in some cases 3). They aren't allowed to express your recruitment that way, but it's reality. If I remember right, your only guaranteed 1 hour of sleep, every 24 hours. You are only guaranteed one meal a day. And if you get in serious trouble and put in the brig, they can give you nothing but bread and water for the first 3 days. If I remember right, 3 days on bread and water is the max of that punishment. You people who have never experienced the military, have no clue. And as to his previous military duty in a war zone, it doesn't matter. He's nothing but a billet number. The military doesn't know your name, they know your service number, that's all that counts to them. It
People don't understand that the military is a dictatorship within a democracy.
My enlistment paperwork only guaranteed me - three hots, a squat, and 30 days leave. No mention of Constitutional rights. I should know I enlisted every 4 years for 20 years.
Almost forgot and the Neutrality of Switzerland on politics!
Really? Is that why Mr. Stein refused to heed the warnings of his superior officers and continued in this behavior? He knew the rules, he knew the consequences, he made the choice. Don't whine about it now.
"I wish I could take it back!" Too late, gotta suffer the consequences, now.
That's the same way I feel about my vote for Obama in 2008. At least there's a chance to redo that awful error in judgement in 5 months.
Wow, Free Speech,,, get off FB everyone,, one cannot put its own thoughts into words anymore.. What a shame., he should have not been discharged at all... A reprimanding would have been sufficient.. America, we can no longer say what we feel, we can not question the court system. What happened to this nation, free speech, .... FB,, it suggest everyone get off delete your accounts it does more harm than good...
No. Not in the military. If you doubt it, check the Constitution and the UCMJ.
Here again is someone who doesn't understand the military or how our country is protected. The military is part of your "national security" and necessary rules have to govern them. Even though the government has the resources to take over someone's FB account, I doubt they would do that to an ordinary civilian. You CAN question an open court, problem is, in the miltary, there is no "open" court. The courts in the military are in no way connected to the civilian courts. When a soldier (military person) commits a crime, he's usually turned over to his command. Even though his charge may be brought by local authorities, he's likely to pay more for his actions through the military courts than the civil authorities.
People that make comments and have never been in the military, make comments under the "Freedom of Speech" and cheerish it. But, have you ever really thought about the people who have died, just so you can do that? That Constitution you talk about isn't just a piece of paper. It's a document that many men and women, mostly military, have lost their lives to defend so you can make the comments you now make under it's 1st amendment. Yeah, we have that right too, but we can't make blind comments. We have to make them in context that is not related to our military service. If you do that, then you still have the right to speak freely. But, if you choose to speak freely while in uniform, you are not speaking as a person, but as a diplomat of the U.S.
This Marine took an oath swearing to uphold the constitution and the laws of the US states. The president is the Comander in Cheif, one does not say he will not follow orders from the CIC and think there are no repercussions. He embarrased the Marine Corp., disgraced himself the uniform and generally is a smart mouth punk who thinks he has the "right" to do and say any thing he pleases. Does he regret it, sure he does, he lost a lot because of his stubborn refusal. He may dislike the president and his politics, but he joined the military and knew what was expected of him. If he hated President Obama so much he should have gotten out then he could have said and done exactly as he pleased. Too many young people today are too quick to scream about their rights when they have no clue what that really means
When I was in it was "en vogue" to bash Bush on these media sites, to which I was appalled. I find it laughable that many of these same people posting how offended they were that this Marine attacked Obama were the same people bashing president Bush.
At least there is a record saved on some hard drive out in the world wide web of the hypocrisy of these people.
Politics is a beotch.
If a marine got in trouble for bad mouthing Bush and not stopping after being told too, he would also deserve what this marine got. No excuses for bad behavior.
If a marine got in trouble for bad mouthing Bush and not stopping after being told too, he would also deserve what this marine got. No excuses for bad behavior.
Saying that he would not follow orders is a clear violation of military law, as is calling the President the Eniemy. The other parts of the comments werefine because they just showed disagreement with the president. He can disagree wth the presedent all he wants, but he has to listen to him.
This guy should be jailed for that haircut.
The military operates under a different set of "rules of conduct". I do not think that the 1st Amendment is going to save this man. Cannot openly bash other military personnel. Sounds like some people were looking to get rid of him.
His stupidity cost him his military career and the benefits that come with retirement. He's young and, with a lesson learned, he can start over.
So is he KIng Or President, Military or not they see all the bull@!$%# that happens and still under contract or not, We can be criticized by these so called superiors but you cant in anyway speak your mind, are you all brain washed, do you really never step over the line that was drawn for you, fn cattle, very sad, to watch society believe in any manner they should never speak out against the Government, and our two side president, shame on all that felt he got what he deserved, did his remarks stop him from doing his duty as a soldier? when you take your oath, it is the oath to our land and its rights and constitution, not some fn rich guy or individuals parading and toying with our freedom, well what ever you guys call this noose, YOU should be supporting him ,and fighting to getting him back to his duty, then casting him out for opinion that most of you dont agree with, take your blinders off.
You apparently haven't read that Constitution you so vehemently assert preserves your right to defy military authority.
On 30 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress established 69 Articles of War to govern the conduct of the Continental Army.
Effective upon its ratification in 1789, Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution provided that Congress has the power to regulate the land and naval forces.[3] On 10 April 1806, the United States Congress enacted 101 Articles of War (which applied to both the Army and the Navy), which were not significantly revised until over a century later. The military justice system continued to operate under the Articles of War until 31 May 1951, when the Uniform Code of Military Justice went into effect.
The UCMJ was passed by Congress on 5 May 1950, signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, and became effective on 31 May 1951. The word Uniform in the Code's title refers to the congressional intent to make military justice uniform or consistent among the armed services.
The current version of the UCMJ is printed in latest edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial (2008), incorporating changes made by the President (executive orders) and National Defense Authorization Acts of 2006 and 2007.
If you come into the military, you will find that the overwhelming majority of us, your fellow citizens support it not you.
B-973237.... it's people like you that I always hated to work for. People like you that cared nothing about the institution that has protected this country for the last few hundred years. You are so far off base, you make me think your no more than 16 years old. You have no idea of what you are saying. I'm really trying my best to be polite, but you have got to be kidding me on your comments. Anyone can speak out against their government, but very few in the civil world can speak out against the CEO of their company without expecting some kind of backlash. This is what he did. Never mind the governement. Your thinking of the government is solely the part of it that works for the people. This is the part of the government that some people (military) work for, who have to pay consequences for stepping out of line and violating the rules of his workplace. Your comments are so far off base and inaccurate, that I'm ashamed that I'm even addressing your comments.
How long were you in the military B-973237? Never? That's why you don't understand the military at all. The military personnel as it’s been call "mind numbed machine that always obeys orders" for a reason. It starts in basic training, learning to follow orders, for him not to follow an order to stop your facebook postings will cause lack of following orders down the road, maybe in an emergency situation. Young troops look up to older troops see his disrespecting an order and will follow suit.
When you are in a fire-fight and an order is given there isn't time to debate it you must react to it NOW. It must be obeyed. When there is an emergency we are trained to react and follow orders of those above us.
This guy has opinions just as I did; I kept them to myself because you don't talk bad about the CIC. In the civilian world you employee's can just ignore orders and no big deal. In the military, people can die, missions can fail causing people to die. The military as I describe it is a dictatorship within a democracy and the Neutrality of Switzerland on Politics.
I accepted that so you can have your freedoms you enjoy so much.
I knew when I enlisted I would give up certain rights. I accepted that. I knew enough from my training what to say about the President and what not to say about the President and including everyone in my chain of command. Until someone lives it, they just don't understand the sacrifice GI's make, so our country can be free like it is.
As a veteran, I served under Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. Carter and Clinton were by far the worst CICs I worked under. Clinton never served in the military and did everything he could to avoid going in. And Clinton WAS NOT a draft dodger. It sure was hard not to be negative. But I kept my mouth shut like a good GI. I'm willing to serve again NOW even though I don't care much for Obama's politics; I'm willing to keep it my mouth shut and opinions to myself. Why?
I love the United States of American to give up certain freedoms so everyone else can have total freedom afforded by the Constitution of this great nation of ours.
Furthermore, He's only sorry because he lost everything he had. He knew the rules, He knew what he was doing was wrong, He was told to stop several times. He got what was deserved.
One final thought for everyone - Do you really want a GI to get into politics? How do military dictatorship's start?
Be honest. He is sorry because he was fired (discharged) not because of what he said.. There IS a difference.
incest at it's worst!