Marine’s anti-Obama Facebook page draws flak from many quarters
April 17th, 2010 - 12:57 am ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt
San Diego, Apr 16 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A Marine criticized the US President Barack Obama’s health care policies on his Facebook page, and this move drew a lot of flak from many quarters. It also gave birth to a ‘free speech debate’ in the military. For some time, the Marine took the page down, but after meeting with lawyers on Wednesday, he decided to launch the page again.
The Camp Pendleton Marine – Sgt. Gary Stein revealed that his superior officers asked him to review the Pentagon’s orders on all political activities. The MSNBC has also invited him to discuss his views on the matter. And the American Civil Liberties Union has also spoken on behalf of Sgt. Gary Stein, and has sent a letter to the Marine Corps, in which they have requested them to protect Stein’s rights.
“There’s this illusion that when we sign our contract and voluntarily commit, that we lose our right to speak out,” Gary Stein said to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Meanwhile the Camp Pendleton spokeswoman Maj. Gabrielle Chapin made it clear that the Marine Corps are not planning to file any sort of charges against Gary. “Marines take care of Marines. Sergeant Stein’s supervisor was concerned that his activities could give the appearance or impression that the Marine Corps is endorsing the group and its messages” Chapin said.
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Tags: american civil liberties, american civil liberties union, barack obama, camp pendleton, chapin, civil liberties union, diego union tribune, free speech debate, gabrielle, gary stein, health care policies, illusion, marine corps, marine sgt, marines, msnbc, san diego union, san diego union tribune, sergeant, spokeswoman