TPM: Tea Party Movement Spreads To Military

[cali]

Zachary Roth | April 12, 2010, 6:01PM

The Tea Party movement has gained a foothold in the armed forces.

A new Tea Party group, Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots, has grown quickly since being launched last month by an active duty Marine Corps sergeant. The group, which vows to "stand up on the very soil we defended to preserve common sense conservatism and defend our Constitution that is threatened by a tyrannical government," currently has over 400 members, who have signed up through its Facebook page, though many are not active duty military. And it has close ties to the broader Tea Party movement.

"People in the military need to be heard," the group's prime organizer, Gary Stein -- a Marine Corps sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton in southern California -- told TPMmuckraker in an interview. "Our opinions do count."

Many people in the military "feel like they can't speak out against Obama or Congress," said Stein. "The armed forces should have a little bit more say than we think we do," he said.

Stein said he had served in the Marine Corps for seven years, including service in Iraq. He described himself as a "strong conservative" who had found himself disillusioned with the GOP. Stein formed the new group, he said, after finding like-minded cohorts on his base, then co-ordinating with a friend who's active in a local southern California Tea Party chapter.

The Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots have quickly gained a profile in the larger Tea Party movement. Stein was among Tea Party leaders quoted in a statement sent out by the Tea Party Patriots today, responding to the formation of a Tea Party federation. "In the Armed Forces we wear the same uniform, have the same haircut, and swore the same oath, but have different thoughts," Stein said in the statement. "We have come together as a band of brothers and sisters in uniform to stand for what is right. We share a life that unique only to us, we share a Tea Party that unique to us. We are the Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots and our voice will be heard!"

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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/tea_party_movement_spreads_to_military.php?ref=fpb

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

1. Bet this was the first guy to snitch on a fellow soldier who disliked Bush

They're always are the first crybabies to claim their rights are being taken.

[RagAss]

2. This is Treason.

[NeedleCast]

19. No it's not

[Arkana]

3. This is treason, and any of them who do not follow orders

should and will be court-martialed and sent to Leavenworth.

[arcane1]

4. "disillusioned with the GOP" eight years too fucking late

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. They are full of shit

They don't want to be associated with the "loser" tag the GOP has hanging on it. It would be like saying you are a "Pittsburgh baseball fan" as opposed to being a fan of the Pirates.

[WeDidIt]

5. They're getting awfully close to violations under the UCMJ

My bet is many of them will end up with charges before this is over.

[tinymontgomery]

7. these are the nut cakes that want a military overthrow of the government

they may not say it but they think it. After 23 years in the Navy I never remember it being this politicized. Even the Clinton haters were not that brazen.

[monmouth]

8. And Rush Limbaugh is still on Air Forces Radio.....n/t

[spanone]

9. your voice is your vote, pal...like every fucking body else. nothing more. nothing less.

[misanthrope]

10. Unless you're a corporation and then your voice is your money**nm

**

[UTUSN]

11. K&R #1 (can't believe its ONLY 1) for: COURT MARTIAL. Now. He's not CLOSE to violating UCMJ,

he's DOING it. Active duty personnel may NOT be political. Period.


It's bad enough that AFTER active duty, services organizations (VFW, American Legion) use military SYMBOLS and paraphernalia as propaganda PROPS for political (almost always wingnut) agendas. During the 2000 Coup, I called the Medal of Honor Society to complain that the half dozen bozos with Medals of Honor stood on Shrub's political stage, with their medals around their necks, and service organization caps, USING and being used (their military decorations). They have every right to VOTE and to campaign in civilian clothes, that is all. Of course, the MoH society's response was just a blank silence. Like, tough shit.

Ex-senator Phil "ENRON" GRAMM was an unscrupulous expert at veterans baiting: All members of Congress get requests from veterans to help them get medals and decorations and other little stuff that they could do for themselves with VA forms, or at most, getting a relative or friend OR the VA to fill out the forms. But the wingnut congress critters LUERVE these kinds of requests, because they are ready-made PHOTO OPS. But ENRON-GRAMM would take it to the limit: He wasn't content with getting his picture with the veteran or on the local t.v. station, in making an "official presentation" of the medals:: He would hold the presentation ceremony at the local RETHUG PARTY HEADQUARTERS.

[WeDidIt]

12. The assholes have gone into Backtrack mode BIG TIME

"In a press release sent this morning that misspelled the president's first name, Stein wrote that in recent days his group had been "attacked by many people calling us traitors." And he declared:

Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots in no way supports a military uprising or anything to that subject, further more we recognize Barak (sic) Obama as the Command-in-Chief and we do not support disobeying orders that are lawful with Constitution, and will continue to follow orders given to us....We do understand that there is a time and place for expression and the military work place is not one of them."

Link

Sounds to me like somebody was told by an officer what the penalties for mutiny are.

[malaise]

13. Hahahahahahahha

Someone must have shown them the manual. They are in serious trouble.

[WeDidIt]

14. Yep, I suspect Sergeant Stein will face court martial at the least

Others in the group could as well.

[lanlady]

15. jackass hypocrites

They want limited government, yet they're in the US military -- that gigantic beast that eats up 25 cents out of every tax dollar. They think HCR is socialism, yet they, together with their spouses, ex-spouses, and children enjoy access to the Military Health System (close to 10 million participants) and, when they retire, the VA hospital system, all of it at little to no cost to themselves, right up to the day they die.

Good grief.

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[uppityperson]

16. Brand new, 2 member fb "armed forces tea party patriots" link.....

http://www.facebook.com/len.olson?ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=111227655575539&ref=mf

[HipChick]

17. Anyone can create a fan page...

'
I'm glad some fellow marines took it upon themselves to file a complaint..

[uppityperson]

21. I agree. Was amused at "2 members"

[Grand Taurean]

18. One word for this:

TREASON!

[cynatnite]

20. This is exactly why the military has always been apolitical in our system of govt. n/t