"...were busted in rank and had to resign for making disparaging comments about Billy Jeff while he was POTUS. This is the same thing."
I don't think any of these guys were running for political office at the time and since when do we need to be like bill? I believed that the whole point of the rights movement was to be the anti-bill / hilary / demo*rat.
What Hackett did is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It's not about whose the POTUS, it's about respect for the Commander In Chief, whomever it is - even Clinton.
And what I was trying to get at is that this guy should not be given a pass, he's an Officer in the USMC first and foremost. He can be a politician or a dishwasher, but that is all secondary. And there is NO 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech in the military - period.