Yes, he really said that when, as an ex-Marine who had been honorably discharged, a Major wrote an EMAIL telling him he couldn't participate in anti-war protests. Talk about jar-heads!
So what's the Marine Corps' response?
Well, they decided to rescind his honorable discharge, and offered him a less-than-honorable discharge if he'd just shut the fuck up. So what does he tell'em?
"Go fuck yourself" again.
Some folks got stones the size of fuggin' beach balls.
I dunno what kinda love we can give Adam Kokesh, but I'm sure that the only way they'll shut up this PFC ("Proud Fuckin' Civilian") is if they put him in jail. Meanwhile, the Marines ought to be ashamed for trying to shut up a civilian honorably seperated from the Marines by revoking his honorable discharge. That kinda political bullshit acting as political operatives for the Bushevik regime is not what the military is supposed to be about. Our military is supposed to be about killing our nation's enemies dead, not about suppressing free speech within the borders of our country. There's a name for the kind of country where the military is used to suppress free speech within the borders of the country. It's called "military dictatorship". It's not what our nation is supposed to be about. For shame, General Moore!
-- Badtux the Stones-appreciatin' Penguin
Unbelievable. The military now decides what a private citizen can say, huh?
ReplyDeleteThis guy has major cajones. I wish him the best.
Mixter
I agre with your sentiment, but I'd like to clarify some issues.
ReplyDeleteMr. Kodesh was, at the time of the protest, a member of the Marine Reserves. As such, he is prohibited from wearing his uniform outside of normal military functions (or going to and from them). This is taught to every recruit in boot camp. The charge isn't (or shouldn't be) anything about what he did, but simply that he wore his uniform outside of approved functions.
You don't give up your right to free speech in the military, but you do voluntarily, by your enlistment oath, agree to follow such regulations. If he would have patrolled without his uniform, there wouldn't be much they could do about it. That's why I expect the "making disloyal statements" charge to disappear - he wasn't in uniform.
However, the Marines didn't follow the appropriate procedures, either (at least, according to the news story). They should have sent a formal written request to cease and desist. If the wearing of the uniform continued, then he would have to be brought back on active duty before charges could be filed.
As a member of the IRR, often called "inactive" reserve, he was not assigned to a reserve unit. So the induction order would have to come from the Office of Personnel. It doesn't look like any of this happened. That means it will likely go away in time.
He's right to not accept anything less than an honorable discharge and I'm glad that he both protested and is fighting the bogus legal action. But he needs to get a layer that is familiar with military law.
Xpatriated Texan
Well, there's a question as to whether he was actually wearing his uniform. A "uniform" that had no insignia or decorations indicating that he was a member of the U.S. military is a "uniform" that most duck hunters wear ever duck season -- in short, a "uniform" that I can get by going to Ace Military Surplus and buying some khakis.
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of the "uniform" regulation is so that people do not confuse the personal views of military personnel with the views of the U.S. Military as a whole. That is, if military personnel show up at a political rally in clearly recognizable uniform either to participate or observe, it would be taken as a statement on the part of the U.S. military as an institution. There was absolutely no such possibility of confusion regarding the anti-war activities of Mr. Kodesh and his friends.
_BT
There's a difference between separation and discharge. I got my Honorable Discharge three years after my separation from active duty, at the end of my military obligation. If he was discharged, he's not in the military any more and can do what he wants. The Crotch is trying to scare him.
ReplyDeleteHe's a Marine. He'll hang tough. Semper Fi.
The Marines have too many problems to count in this mess. They didn't do anything about the Reservist officer attending attending Jean Schmidt's political rallies, so going after this member of the inactive Reserve won't stand up to scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteI received three discharges when I was in, one after each of my active duty enlistments, and one from the Reserves after six years of service.
Now they might do something about his final Reserve discharge, but they can't alter his active duty discharge, and even playing with his final Reserve discharge is going to be tough, because he wasn't on duty.
Half the construction workers in the area wear Air Force BDUs because they are cheap and available from the thrift store.
I'll refer to my own post on the matter.
ReplyDeleteI wish the guy the best, but the Corps will have little or no problem making the charges stick. What they might have done to anyone else is as irrelevant as whether or not he wore his insignia. It's called a "uniform" because it must be worn "in uniform fashion". In fact, taking the insignia off is a separate offense.
I wish we had a thousand more like him, but I don't think he will be getting off.
XT