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| Donald Trump |
Military.com has this report about a U.S. Marine who, while in uniform, sang the National Anthem at a political rally for Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. It notes past incidents:
The Marine Corps has previously pursued disciplinary action against Marines who violated directives governing political activity. In 2007, officials investigated Marine veteran Adam Kokesh when he appeared at an anti-Iraq War rally wearing the Marine camouflage utilities uniform.
And more recently, Marine Sgt. Gary Stein was demoted to lance corporal and received an other-than-honorable discharge in 2012 after starting an online Tea Party group and a Facebook post in which he disparaged President Barack Obama and said he "would not follow all orders from him." In Stein's case, he also broke a military law prohibiting troops from disparaging their commander-in-chief.
[FAMILIAR DISCLAIMER: This post is made solely in my personal capacity and should not be imputed to anyone or anything else.] Military.com may have it wrong in the final sentence of that article. Military.com writes: "In Stein's case, he also broke a military law prohibiting troops from disparaging their commander-in-chief." The reporter was likely thinking of Article 88, Contempt toward officials. But as many of this blog's readers have no doubt already shouted at their computer screens, Article 88 applies only to commissioned officers; Stein was an enlisted member. While it may well violate Article 134 for an enlisted member to make contemptuous public remarks about the Commander in Chief, the article's reference to "a military law" appears to contemplate something more specific than a novel application of the General Article.
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