You’re wrong and you should know better
There is nothing I hate more than anyone disrespecting flag of the United States of America, or the uniform of it’s armed services. From the hipster that wears the OD fatigues with patches as an “ironic” way of showing their disdain for the military to the idiots that act the fool while in uniform nothing makes my blood boil faster. I can accept open disagreements with how the military should be employed, I can even accept ignorance of what the military actually does, but I simply can not accept any disrespect. I can not accept any politician using the troops as a prop for political gain, nor can I accept any troops using their uniform, rank or position to affect the political climate with anything not directly affecting the business of their service.
We’ve seen it happen before. Maybe it started with Jon Kerry tossing his medals, then going before congress and lying about the “testimony” he got from “veterans” during the Winter soldier fiasco. Maybe it was exacerbated by Danny Choi, who constantly uses his uniform to play dress up and get attention. Maybe that douchebag Marine Sergeant that kept posting anti-Obama stuff all over Facebook (despite lawful and direct orders not to) has a hand in the continuing climate too. I know for a fact that the narcissistic valor thieves can’t wait to get their slice of the action.
So with all that said I think it’s pretty clear I loathe such people. Imagine how I felt when I came across this little gem.
You think someone who joined the Air Force in say 1959, wanted to end up in Vietnam? How about they guys that joined in the late 90’s and ended up in Iraq. It sucks, and you can never tell where you’ll end up. That’s part of the job. You probably didn’t join for “area beautification” or getting stuck on a Sergeant Major’s detail when your LT sends your platoon into an ambush in the field. I didn’t join to put tubes in men’s urethra’s. There’s a whole lot of fine print when you join. One thing that should be abundantly clear is that you swore to “Obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed over me according to the uniform code of military justice.” Until the President gives an illegal order (say “I want you to kill all first born sons”) you are legally, orally and ethically bound to FOLLOW THOSE ORDERS. Regardless of how we feel about the missions we’re handed down, we’ve got to suck it up and do them. When you raise your right hand you lose your “rights” as an American Citizen and fall under a whole new set of rights and privileges. One of those regulations states very clearly that you may not use that uniform for any political speech.
The troops are not and can not be a part of the political process. The military has untold power at its fingertips. and if unchecked could run rampant. If a General were to get the idea that he could be a Caesar, and that the Mississippi was the Rubicon, what’s to stop him? Only the solemn knowledge that his troops would never follow his orders, and most would actually put him in the brig if he tried to march on Washington (Rome). There is a very fine, and dangerous line that separates us from every two bit banana republic, or half assed Junta. The fact that our military is completely subservient to the Will of the People through their duly elected Representatives is really the ONLY check against some crackpot general from just kicking in the doors of the White House and “fixing” Washington. The populace might actually cheer such a thing, but it would be totally wrong in every way imaginable.
I think Iraq was a mistake. A costly one. But when I got the call I did my damnedest to ensure that my small piece of that mission was successful. I think Syria is a mistake. I think we shouldn’t get involved, but if we do the Soldiers Sailors Airmen and Marines had better be Johnny on the spot or they’re going to get their buddies killed. These two clowns are beneath my contempt. It doesn’t matter if I happen to agree with what they’re saying they are absolutely wrong, and they should be found busted down in rank and perhaps even drummed out. But then, I take disrespecting the uniform more seriously than some people do.
UPDATE:
I wasn’t even finished writing this post when this ass clown popped up on my facebook feed.
[Editor’s note: Doc was joking, of course he doesn’t want the military purged, I’m guessing]
Update 2: I hadn’t even finished that update when this clown shows up.
Update 3: Sooo. . . apparently some on the OTHER side of this issue have gotten in on the act.
Can’t see the rank on this guy, but judging from the tats and the KIA bracelet as well as the wording of the sign I would say this guy is legit (as opposed to the somewhat questionable clowns above). So. . . this is probably about to go full retard PDQ.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Antiwar crowd, Dumbass Bullshit, Foreign Policy, General Whackos
These assclowns need to go see their Commander and hand over their stripes ASA fookin’ P! Makes my blood boil to see chevrons on these dipshits. Show your faces you pussies, if you’re gonna protest, be a man about it!
DITTO, SFC D, you said it all in a nutshell!
If any of these men were my son, I would personally rip the stripes off his uniform and beat his ass until he dropped. I can’t even get over the stupidity of people any more and it breaks my heart.
Before I saw these other idiots, some current and former Chief Petty Officers posted the first moron’s picture and basically let him have both barrels about how wrong he was to be using his uniform to make a political statement.
They hide their faces because THEY KNOW they’re wrong about what they’re doing. They know they can be prosecuted for what they’re putting up on social media. And that violated every bit of honor and integrity that they believe they have. They simply don’t understand the true nature of the terms. Now they’ll become the poster boys for every anti-war organization out there.
I am floored by these people.
Fine. Give them their discharges and send them on their way. When the Pueblo was hijacked, we were all told that it might lead to a declared war and our time in service would accordingly be extended ‘for the duration’. That’s what you signed up for, whether you liked it or not.
Send them on their way. Let someone else do the job.
First guy is a Navy E-7, but I won’t refer to him as “Chief”.
Concur overall, but I have two techincal quibbles with your post.
We swear an oath to “Obey the LAWFUL orders…..” etc. That part was added post-WWII to follow on the findings at Nuremburg where German soldiers used the defense that they were “just following orders”. At least when I joined there was an entire class devoted to the subject and the difference between lawful and unlawful orders and our responsibilities.
Second, there is only one “right” a citizen loses when they enlist and that is the right to trial by jury in all cases. In most cases NJP takes effect and denies the accused the right to trial by council, and the reasons are understood and acceptable. But for Courts-Martial, there IS a jury if the defendant so desires.
I understand why these clowns did what they did, but the way to do it is in civilian clothes, and without hiding their faces. THAT would be permissible under both the 1st amendment AND the UCMJ.
respects,
Let’s cut through the crap cake, it’s nothing more than being a coward. Plain & simple. There is trouble on the horizon and serviceman are scared. That’s it.
I just wonder if maybe all the above pictures are the same person.
It is against USMCJ to make any kind of political statement or belief while wearing a uniform of any of the armed services. If you want to make your political views known, make them in your civies, and DO NOT HIDE YOUR FACE.
Well said Jonn. Suffice to say you speak for 99.9 9/10th percent of those reading your Blog.
What do you expect from a military that leads from the bottom up? The traditional military is dead. In its place are political correctness, tolerance of differences, including sexual perversions such as fags and lesbians being ‘married’ in the West Point and USNA chapels, and fear of the wrong kind. Men who are grabbed by the shirt by their superiors have their careers ruined. Women who never did squat except be of the correct gender, race, or both are placed in command positions. It’s institutional insanity and suicide by foolishness. So, why not pick and choose where you’re willing to serve? What the hell. Anything goes nowadays, it seems.
I agree with the sentiment, I am 100% against getting involved in Syria for a number of reasons, none of which involved being scared or any hippie bullshit. ( Can’t afford it, not fond of supporting al Qaeda linked rebels being the main reasons)
HOWEVER…the uniform is not a flipping prop, and as was already said by others, these NCOs should know better. Now these pics will be paraded by turds like IVAW and “Our Lives Our Rights”.
Make all the statements you want, stand up for what you believe in, and stand strong…just do it the RIGHT way!
Oh, and I’m inclined to think the Marine is legit. Only ONE PH??? SGT rank, that’s it? No jump wings? BSM? SS? Plus he has a NAM w/ V device, posers are way too high speed for that.
What truly amazes me are the people that actually SUPPORT these jack wagons. It doesn’t matter that you might actually agree with the fact that war with Syria is a bad idea, you’re somehow “not awake” if you think that these idiots are totally in the wrong.
I swear sometimes you just want to throw your hands up and give up.
You know I don’t like the way the uniform is being used, but I do agree with the sentiment.
Look at all the shit that has come down the pipe in the last six years? Now they are being asked to go in and fight along side the same assholes who were trying to kill us in Iraq? This is coming from the same president who couldn’t muster up enough courage to say anything when massive protests where going on in Iran and can’t figure out who killed his ambassador in Libya? On top of all this he has cut the pay raise from 1.8% to 1%. Oh and John “you know I was in vietnam” Kerry is endorsing it so it has to be right…
First guy looks like a YNC. Could be a CT of some flavor, the crosspiece could be a lightening bolt vice another quill. You’re right, AW1ED, no Chief, indeed!
Speaking strictly as a civilian, I have to say that this situation reminds me very strongly of the story of William Tell as I read it when I was in elementary school. Tell, on a rare trip into town, is informed that he has to salute the mayor’s cap, which is hung on a pole. He laughs, and says “I’ll bow down to God and a man of noble birth, but not to a cap wiggling on a pole!”
I understand and accept that there are laws about what a person can say politically while in the uniform of the United States military. I believe those restrictions are reasonable and serve sound public policy.
I acknowledge that the current President of the United States has announced his desire to misuse the people in those uniforms.
I also remember how a young man nearly got his career ended for playing a darkly comic song, “Hadji Girl” in a video that made its way to U-Tube.
The last thing I want to see is somebody bounced unwillingly out of the service because he disapproves of the phenomenally bad judgment exhibited by our current President.
My thanks to you here, and I hope you succeed in keeping people who don’t actually want to be discharged out of trouble.
This is a job for the civilian contingent. I personally agree with this guy:
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2013/08/31/sen-graham-pres-obama-has-mishandled-syria-badly-he-could-chickens-have-come-home-roost-l
greetings fellow anti-syrian war protestors! I am legit not only did I demonstrate againts vietnam war I have just come back from demonstrating against this war. telling republican congressperson to vote NO! I thinks these military war protestors are great! we don’t live in nazi amerikkka! these anti-war military patriots are telling jane fonda to get off of the anti-aircraft gun. they want to sit down on it and shoot down the negro muslim/communist from kenya in the “WHITE” house! here is song you can sing at your republican congressperson’s office. “ALL WE ARE SAYING IF GIVE PEACE A CHANCE!”
Editor’s Note: No one on this blog is advocating for the death of anyone, especially the President. These are the words of a spaced-out, pot-smoking hippie who thinks that he knows the nature of veterans obviously without being one. I mean, the fuckstick can’t even spell.
#18 Dafuq did I just read?
I was going to write a response but that was some stupid shit….
#18 Teapot dixie cup. Microwave. *finger snap* Spodie odie.
[…] Photos of service members have apparently popped up on Reddit, seemingly in protest of Syrian intervention. (Since they are not identified, it’s impossible to verify they are indeed serving in the military.) […]
Do their “medals” check out? Interesting that the Army “E-5” appears to be a slick sleeve. No unit patches, nothing to i.d. these clowns. Anyone can get a uniform online or from the local surplus shop. I doubt that these assclowns are military. I suspect stolen valor…
[…] Photoz uv zervicememberz be apparint poppe' up on Reddit, seeming n' protes' uv Syrian intervinshun. (Since day be not idintifie', it’z impossible ta verify day be indee' servn' n' da military.) […]
[…] Photos of servicemembers have apparently popped up on Reddit, seemingly in protest of Syrian intervention. (Since they are not identified, it’s impossible to verify they are indeed serving in the military.) […]
@18. Hey, WingWang, lay off the rice wine.
@18: “Gentlemen, which brings me to my next point. Don’t smoke crack.”
Certainly do understand the sentiment, but most of us here have been in exactly (or very nearly) the same position once or twice in our military careers. And most of us here did it the right way.
Yes, there were times that biting my tongue was nearly impossible to do, but I did it because the simple reality was that to collect the paycheck I needed to obey the rules no matter how difficult.
It was a very happy day when I was able to join a protest days after retiring. These clowns need to leave it to we who are retired to carry the message for them. We get it and can make the case legally.
Or quit posing.
@18, Golf Foxtrot Yankee…. you are an idiot.
As to the original discussion. If you are in the Military you DO NOT Protest, and especially not in your fucking Uniform you disrespectful fucks.
Hell if I can take any confidence in our CiC at the moment, but leave it to those of us no longer in Uniform!! Military Personnel do not pick and choose what fights our country gets into.
The first one-the “Navy E-7”-seems to be pretty clearly a fake. Just looking at his uniform (and those with more expertise on Navy uniforms feel free to correct me) there are a number of issues. First it appears that he has a Purple Heart with a device of some sort and it is out of order, also he has both KLMs-but no SWASM that I can see-which would infer that he has over 22 years of service (so he can presumably retire if he doesn’t like the decisions being made).
There are other “things that make you go hmm” clues about his uniform: he has a KSM (I don’t know how common it is for sailors to get one, but I’d guess it is pretty rare), an AFEM with two campaign stars (Panama and Somalia?)and no campaign medal from the current conflicts (maybe a GWOTEM partially hidden). Anyway, his stuff is mostly in order, but I still call bullsh*t.
Comrades in Arms:
[Edited by Jonn because I’m a dick and don’t support “lone wolf attacks” or a “return to segregation” despite what some may think]
[…] Photos of servicemembers have apparently popped up on Reddit, seemingly in protest of Syrian intervention. (Since they are not identified, it’s impossible to verify they are indeed serving in the military.) […]
68W58: think that’s the “Battle E” ribbon vice the PH on the 2nd row, amigo. And I think the SWASM might be inboard on the 4th row, almost hidden by the lapel. If so, those are in the correct places.
AFEMs could be for the Balkans and a cruise in the Gulf or eastern Med after the SWASM period but before Sep 2001. He seems to be sporting a NATO medal and AFSM as well but no ACM, so I’m guessing he qualifed for those three (AFEM/AFSM/NATO Mdl) for a tour in the Adriatic supporting the Balkans.
JPJ: best I can tell, he agrees with the guys in the photos and thinks we should too. Beyond that, I think we’ll need an interpreter for the “stoner-ESL” dialect of English.
@30: There is something awfully damn funny about a guy residing in a government-funded retirement home “openly advocating bloody armed revolt against our government.”
Hondo, I was assuming he was kicked in the head by a mule as a child and someone accidentally let him near a computer. Protesting republicans…I think they are hitting the wrong offices on this one.
Hondo-I’ve blown it up to 200% in chrome and gone over to US Medals to compare with their rack builder. That is the “E” ribbon as you said, but he has a KSM not an AFSM and I’d like to know how common it is for sailors to get one. I can’t tell if he has a SWASM hidden by his lapel, but if he does he ought to go to the house (assuming no breaks in service) if he doesn’t like the policy and then he can say what he wants-but using the uniform for political purposes is way out of bounds regardless. I still think fake.
If these Facebook Commandos are legit, they should have the stones to march into the CO.’s office on Tuesday and ask for discharge papers. If they don’t they may get an interview with the local NCIS or CID agents. For christ sakes, they posted on fuckn Facebook. How hard do they think is to drill down to their true identities. What they did is in now way protected speech. I call it conduct contrary to good military order. It is incitement of others to disobey orders. They might just find their next duty station is Portsmouth, or Leavenworth. This shit scares the hell out of Command, and they won’t take it lightly. They call it mutiny. Get a rope!
the vietnam war draftees could show their faces they were drafted! remember the sit down strike by black soliders at the airfield who refused to go shoot their black brothers during detroit riot. that is why government went to all volunteer army as draftees would be reluctent to die to protect the interests of exxon-moble and haliburton instead of america. PEACE!
“and a return to racial segregation…”
This has no place on this blog and I must condemn such racist attitudes in the strongest possible way. Advocate all you want for insurrection and civil war. When you advocate treating someone different because they have a different skin color I believe you have a diseased mind.
@18,
besides the fact that you’re a fucking retard, it’s important that, should you wish to post on boards like this, that you take some remedial English classes.
I can readily see that English is NOT your primary language, so please do us all a favour and learn proper English. Then go fuck yourself. Then die.
I was nodding OK with you until this…
“Maybe Obama’s forthcoming purge of the military might actually be a good thing.”
Wow. I hope you’re not serious… about the “forthcoming purge” or about how it might be a “good thing.” Because if that’s what Obama has up his sleeve, then the US ought to follow the path of the former Soviet Union and dissolve into something else.
@ 39
AZYGOS:
You have stated an opinion which is socially popular and “politically correct”, AND you have done so anonymously.
You merely prove my point.
By the way, it is perpetuating a lie (a Communist strategy) to continue accusing people of being racially prejudiced because of the color of someone’s skin.
Like Martin Luther King, Jr. (not his real name) famously declared, it should be and is about “the content of their character”.
_____________________________
@34
POOHBAH, LORD HIGH EVERYTHING ELSE:
I’m well aware of the personal conflict in espousing my unpopular and controversial personal opinions while residing in the Armed Forces Retirement Home, receiving medical care and compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and receiving a monthly pension from Social Security.
Laugh and mock, if you wish, but I don’t have all the answers to everything.
I just do the best I can with what resources I have, which ain’t much.
I was born and raised in the United States of America, but the Country we live in today is unrecognizable.
In 1967, I became a convert in The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints, and since then, even my chosen faith has become almost unrecognizable.
So, with everything I hold precious effectively betrayed or destroyed, what else is left?
By the way, why are YOU commenting anonymously?
You and the whole world know who I am and where I live.
Thank you.
John Robert Mallernee
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Gulfport, Mississippi 39507
I’m with AW1 Tim in #7 above – broadly.
I dunno if this particular thing is simply a good idea implemented badly, or just a scam though?
I suspect the latter.
The first ASSCLOWN is a Navy E-7 Gunners Mate. Based on my analysis he never amounted to much since Sept 11. Note he has the Kuwait Ribbon. That was 20 friggin years ago. And he is still an E-7. That means I passed him up 4 times at promotion board. Yes … I was that MCPO who was a serial voting member. Another thing, as a GM no Expeditionay Warfare pin suggests he was not a player. Fuck him and the other goons.
Now if these guys are legit, the well trained IT monkeys at the Pentagon will find them by way of computer foresics. I could narrow the guy to perhaps 200 just by his uniform alone. I am certain NAVPERSCOM has pulled this I would recommend. If the POS is active or reserve today, he has trouble come Tuesday morn.
But what the fuck do I know?
The rest of these total waste of nine months of lab or can KMRIA!
@ 18. Blow me. Please! Give me a reason to punch a cock sucker!
Agree with AW1 Tim and Zero: there are lawful means of registering dissent, and they should be exercised. Regardless, we know that deployed servicemembers will be effectively denied their right to vote, so the ultimate means of dissent are denied servicemembers.
This isn’t anything new.
Being over obsessed by stupid Facebook shit is the problem here. Just because they show their distain
Doesn’t mean they won’t due their duties either. Thats a far stretch to go to in order to make your point which is becoming less of a point due to the pentagon allowing service members to disrespect the uniform already. Whether its marching in gay political parades or wearing it in porn the line doesn’t even exist any longer so I can’t sit here and preach about some injustice over a Facebook picture.
Don have a stroke
Something that might be mentioned as a sanity check is that the anonymous photos are based on the logical fallacy of misplaced authority; the presence of a uniform alone is not evidence that the person wearing it is automatically more informed than some random person pulled off the street.
The photo series is a standard manipulative technique, at least it seems to me, related to those kinds of celebrity endorsements seen in the realm of advertising all the time. If Lady Gaga chooses Coke over Pepsi, for example, it’s supposed to matter when in fact her opinion should count for no more than the opinion of my dog and his pal Skippy.
Unless the Navy E-7 in the photo has some special insight into the situation in Syria, his viewpoint is irrelevant except to the extent that he doesn’t want to go to Syria, which is also mostly irrelevant because it’s a view probably shared by just about everyone else in uniform except for the truly delusional. Whether he wants to go or not is beside the point.
@18 is not a vietnamwarprotestor. He’s a functionally illiterate jerk with a brain the size of the proverbial pea. He was not around during the Vietnam war, and unless I get proof to the contrary, his parents weren’t around then, either. Ignore him. He just thinks he’s being clever.
@18, 38: Dude what the hell are you smoking. They stopped using draftees because of the rampant crime. When officers needed an armed guard to do a health and welfare on the Barracks you’ve got issues.
I’ve said again and again, the military has to be servants first.