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Wow.

The protester is on thin ice both legally and as a former Marine wearing part of the uniform while protesting. If the ball, hook and bird is removed he’s on more defensible ground, but I can’t support the idea of wearing parts of the uniform while protesting. I was against Kokesh and crew doing it when they protested against the war, and I can’t just switch because I think the protester has his heart in the right place.

The Sergeant Major is way out of line on several levels. Looks like the law sees it that way, since he was booked. As a senior Marine, you have to question his judgement.

When he gets out of his vehicle off base, in uniform and essentially counter protests, he’s breaking the same rules he’s trying to enforce, if that was his intention. In his case, while on active duty and while in uniform, the rules regarding political activity aren’t even somewhat murky, like they are for discharged vets or civilians.

As to race, who knows? I can’t see what’s in an individual heart from that video, besides barely controlled anger. Maybe he is pissed off at the wearing of part of the uniform while protesting and that’s were it begins and ends. He may be blindly supporting Obama because of race, but the guy protesting may be against Obama because of race. I can’t tell from the video and the story.

I’m aware of the overwhelming support Obama gets from blacks, but I’m not going to ascribe that motive to the SgtMaj here unless he declares it. I’m not willing to ignore the racial component that’s likely to exist, but I’m not going to automatically apply it, either.

It’s pretty depressing to see two Marines, former or not, locking horns because of the ineptitude of Obama. Like that old vet said at the D-Day ceremony, “it’s not that we don’t respect the CIC, it’s just that he makes it so hard to do so.”