Marine Faces Dismissal for Anti-Obama Comments - East Idaho News
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Marine Faces Dismissal for Anti-Obama Comments

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GETTY N 081111 MarineJPG?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1333708500239Creatas/Thinkstock(CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.) — A Marine who used his personal Facebook account and other websites to criticize President Obama is in danger of being drummed out of the service.

Following a hearing Thursday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., a military board recommended that Sgt. Gary Stein should be dismissed on what amounts to an other-than-honorable discharge.  That would mean a loss of his benefits.

The board called Stein’s comments about the president “contemptuous.”  On one site, the Marine sold bumper stickers that read “NOBAMA 2012” as well as calling the president a “coward.”

A nine-year veteran of the Corps with just four months left of his enlistment, Stein had planned to reenlist in July.  His tenure included a deployment in Iraq.

Attorneys for Stein that include both the conservative United States Justice Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the Marine’s First Amendment rights had been violated.

However, prosecutors said Stein’s opinions about the commander-in-chief were “prejudicial to good order and discipline.”

The military board’s recommendation for dismissal next goes to his commanding general, who will make the final decision.

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