ABC - Soldier in Trouble for Praising Ron Paul on National TV

[123tim]

ABC - Soldier in Trouble for Praising Ron Paul on National TV:


Rep. Ron Paul likes to silence the GOP rivals who criticize his foreign policy as “dangerous” by reminding them that he receives more financial support from military personal than all the other candidates combined.

But the Army is now investigating whether a 28-year old reservist breached military protocol when he praised Paul’s foreign policy positions on national television during a Paul rally Tuesday night.

continued....

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/soldier-in-trouble-for-praising-ron-paul-on-national-tv/

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Fuck this shit. It would never have happened if it was Obama, Mittens, or even Frothy. Someone find out how we can send support to him.

[RileyE104]

The Department of Defense policy does not prevent soldiers from advocating for a political candidate, but active duty troops wearing a uniform are expected to avoid activities that “imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.” Thorsen is not active duty.

So what's the problem?

[pacelli]

The military-industrial-complex obviously has a great deal more control over the media than any of us realize, I think. Well maybe some of us do. I mean hell, how many times do I have to see a goddamned Boeing commercial right after Ron Paul gets done with an interview?

[QuickZ06]

I was wondering if he was gonna get in trouble over wearing his uniform at the political event. How do you guys feel about this, should our military be allowed to attended political events while in uniform?

[Valli6]

So was this an act of civil disobedience?
What if they all started showing up at his rallies in uniform - by the dozens or the hundreds?

[TomtheTinker]

If I remember didn't Romney have an event with multiple service members standing behind him.

[oyarde]

It has been so long since I have read the UCMJ , but , I think being at an event would probably be OK as long as you are not saying anything ? .... and if this guy is on Reserve status does that matter ? I participated in lots of things when I was in the Reserve without a thought , but never in uniform....

[bkreigh]

I was wondering if he was gonna get in trouble over wearing his uniform at the political event. How do you guys feel about this, should our military be allowed to attended political events while in uniform?

Every election cycle memos come out to folks saying what they can and cant do. When i saw him on TV the first thing i said to my wife was "this guy is going to get in trouble." They can not stop you from getting out and voting. You just cant do it in uniform. Why somebody would want to do that is beyond me anyway.

They last GOP Convention i remember they point out 3 or 4 guys in uniform. It looked like they were caught of guard and you could tell they didnt want to be mentioned due to the looks on their faces. Im not sure if they were there for a color guard thing or whatever but it didnt look good.

In short, if you are currently in the military dont do any political activities in uniform.

Im sure after this incident there will be memos getting handed out to all of again. If i remember ill post it here.

[bkreigh]

So what's the problem?

He did say he was active duty. I remeber the chick saying something along the lines of "you are active duty?" and he acknowledged it. Either way it doesnt matter if your a reservist or active duty. If you have the uniform on they see you as speaking for the that service. Never once did he say "These are my views and do not represent the views of the Army."

Quite frankly he didnt use his head and screwed up.

[CaptainAmerica]

Obama put the u.s. in an illegal war and whats he get?a pat on the back.

[flightlesskiwi]

I was wondering if he was gonna get in trouble over wearing his uniform at the political event. How do you guys feel about this, should our military be allowed to attended political events while in uniform?

no, they shouldn't.

the military is politicized enough. why make it even more so?

[Todd]

It has been so long since I have read the UCMJ , but , I think being at an event would probably be OK as long as you are not saying anything ? .... and if this guy is on Reserve status does that matter ? I participated in lots of things when I was in the Reserve without a thought , but never in uniform....

You are correct. You can attend the event as a reservist in uniform. I met with the Governor of Virginia. It's when you get up and make partisan speeches in one that is going to get you in trouble.

[Acala]

I don't think this story can get too big. It is win all the way around for Dr. Paul. I hope it doesn't go badly for the soldier.

[jmdrake]

I just had a crazy thought. This soldier already did two tours in Afghanistan? Maybe after seeing all of the corruption and the U.S. troops guarding opium and the Taliban getting cuts on U.S. military contracts he realizes how futile this war is and he doesn't want to go back. Maybe he's getting the results he wants. Either way I'm honored that he supports my candidate.

[jmdrake]

I don't think this story can get too big. It is win all the way around for Dr. Paul. I hope it doesn't go badly for the soldier.

If bad = not going back to Afghanistan is that really bad?

[RickBelmont]

I think this attack on the Veteran will come right back into the face of the Neocons. The main reason is that it was the Neocons who began to make a stink about his endorsement.

The key would be to link the stir to the neocons, like Eugene Robinson.

[Snowball]

I saw his comments on this live, it was in a hallway with a Fox News interviewer.
The network stopped the broadcast, the screen went bouncy and there was a
scratching noise - this happened immediately during his "controversial" comments.
Fox said technical difficulties.

[libertarian4321]

I didn't see the clip.

If the guy wasn't wearing a uniform, and is a reservist, he can do anything a civilian can do.

Wearing a uniform, though, is not a good idea.

Edit: Okay, I saw the clip. The guy shouldn't have worn his uniform to the event. He could have made the same speech and even identified himself as military, with no repercussions if he was in civilian attire.

[UtahApocalypse]

I think this soldier is a hero. He stood up for freedom and liberty knowing the possible outcome.

[osan]

ABC - Soldier in Trouble for Praising Ron Paul on National TV:



continued....

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/soldier-in-trouble-for-praising-ron-paul-on-national-tv/

As he was speaking, it occurred to me that the young man's military career might be ending right then and there.

[Peace&Freedom]

If this soldier goes down over this, he'll be the first one to have taken a bullet for Paul!

[oyarde]

I read that DOD directive last night . I now realize for a time , a couple of days a month , I probably did violate some of the rules . I am still waiting to feel guilty , but it has not happened yet :)

[XNavyNuke]

Edit: Okay, I saw the clip. The guy shouldn't have worn his uniform to the event. He could have made the same speech and even identified himself as military, with no repercussions if he was in civilian attire.

Low level enlisted. Screwed up, intentionally or not, you take you lumps. Non-judicial punishment, reduction in rate, a fine, and leave it at that. If the penalty is anything more than that would be a travesty.

XNN

[angrydragon]

The censorship video is number 5 most viewed today on youtube, few days before it was 30 or 40 something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TSxm2V8aVQ