By Nate West
Assistant News Editor
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution gave Americans freedom of speech. Tell that to U.S. Marine Sgt. Gary Stein.
Stein is currently looking to avoid an other than honorable discharge by a military board for Facebook jabs he took at the expense of our commander-in-chief.
Stein’s whole predicament started last month when, according to ABC News, he posted a status that said, “Screw Obama. I will not follow all orders from him.”
He wasn’t finished though. Not even close.
Two pictures followed his status. One featured President Obama’s head photo-shopped on the movie poster for “Jackass” and the second picture showcased Obama’s head on the poster for “The Incredibles,” with the creative title change to “The Horribles.”
While I do not agree with Stein’s boneheaded actions, he shouldn’t be faced with an other than honorable discharge. The first Amendment is the most important amendment because it preserves American freedom. Stein was simply exercising that constitutional right, and he shouldn’t be punished for doing so.
An other than honorable discharge comes when “… a significant departure from the conduct expected of members of the Military Services, or when the reason for separation is based upon one or more acts or omissions that constitutes significant departure from the conduct expected by members of the Military Services,” according to usmilitary.about.com
Stein did not depart from military conduct. He may have acted unprofessionally, and the media may have blown his actions out of proportion. But posting your beliefs on Facebook, however controversial they may be, is not a “significant departure of conduct.”
Stein did offer an apology of sorts. Attached with it, however, was justification for those of all military service personnel, including himself. A separate post on his Facebook said, “I have said over and over that the words that I used were tasteless and I could have articulated my point more clearly. I am man enough to admit my mistakes, which I did from the beginning. I have never been given an order to stop posting. I firmly believe that Military members do enjoy the same rights guaranteed by the Constitution to every American. Furthermore I firmly believe my comments, no matter the tastefulness, are protected by the Constitution.”
Almost every day, I see someone with a Facebook status saying things much worse than what Stein wrote. Stein is being made an example. Even I’m being a little hypocritical as I, in the past, have used coarse and crude language on more than one social networking platform.
I’m not defending Stein’s actions. What he did was ignorant, and he deserves some punishment, but not discharge. He’s volunteered to put his life on the line to defend our freedom — the very freedom he was exercising by posting his views to Facebook. He’s earned the right to express his opinions without being scrutinized on a national level.
I’m tired of outrageous personal social media posts being an issue. People are going to post offensive material to Facebook. It’s unavoidable. I can hope that eventually change will come and we’ll see the end of people posting without thinking. As Paulo Coelho once said “‘Google before you tweet’ is the new ‘think before you speak.’”
People need to put some serious thought into what they post before they decide to put it online forever.
westnl11@bonaventure.edu
