He knew the rules. He clearly violated them, & dishonored himself in the process. Very stupid & very sad.
I agree that the Marine was mistaken about what he was allowed to say and what he wasn’t allowed to say. I don’t think he dishonored himself.
1. He can’t conduct his personal opinions on a government computer.
2. He can’t speak contemptuously of his commander-in-chief (or any commander, actually). Let him say, “Screw Captain Jones!”, his company commander, and see what that gets him.
3. He can’t give the impression he is speaking as a Marine or on behalf of the Marines, any disclaimers notwithstanding. (I think his website was something about Marine tea party, or Marine protest.)
None of the above is dishonorable, in my opinion. In fact, it doesn’t rise to the level of court martial, if you ask me. I think it was non-judicial, letter of reprimand to the official file kind of stuff. And that would have ended his career in that he would have failed promotion, and it would have been far more quiet and dignified of the Marine Corps to have handled it in this manner.
Hey, didn't I hear someone at Nuremberg say the very same thing?
Absolutely. Like it or not, he violated not only the rules, but showed insubordination. I may agree with this guy politically,and he is free and should morally disobey any order he feels is unlawful or immorral. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t have to face the consequences of doing so.
Screeding on facebook wsa not bright at all. I don’t see how any military tribunal could rule anything but this in this case. Unless they wanted to throw him in the brig instead.