Posted on 06/08/2013 4:53:18 PM PDT by markomalley
The government’s war on the rights of conservatives isn’t just being waged by the IRS; the U.S. Army apparently is also participating. According to this report from Fox News, Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, a 25-year Army veteran and conservative Christian based at Fort Myer in the Washington, D.C. area, has been harassed and persecuted for expressing conservative views and for reading books by Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and David Limbaugh.
Sommers’ difficulties began last April when he was told by his superior officer to remove pro-Republican, anti-Obama bumper stickers that were on his privately owned car. The stickers read: “Political Dissent is NOT Racism,” “NOBAMA,” NOPE2012” and “The Road to Bankruptcy is Paved with Ass-Fault.” The last of these stickers included the image of a donkey.
According to the report filed by Sommers’ superior officer, these stickers “were creating an atmosphere detrimental to morale and were creating unnecessary workplace tension.” “Even the slightest inference of disrespect towards superiors can have a demoralizing effect on the unit,” the officer explained.
When Sommers pressed the issue, the Army backed away from this ludicrous stance. Sommers was not reprimanded.
But then, Sommers, a member of the Army band, came under fire for his choice of reading material:
Sommers was reading Limbaugh’s “The Great Destroyer” backstage at a U.S. Army Band concert at the U.S. Capitol. A superior officer told him that he was causing “unit disruption” and was offending other soldiers.
“I wasn’t reading aloud,” he said. “I was just reading privately to myself. I was told they were frowning on that and they warned me that I should not be reading literature like that backstage because it was offensive.”
In another episode, he had been caught backstage reading a copy of Levin’s “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America.”
Sommers said he was told to refrain from reading the book “while in uniform or within sight of anyone from the band.”
The Army’s solicitousness on behalf of band members who might be offended by the sight of a Sean Hannity book is touching. But this is a slippery slope. Some combat troops are offended by sharing living quarters with those whose sexual practices they abhor. Their sensibilities should receive at least as much respect as those of left-wing bandsmen.
Speaking of gays in the military, the issue is closely linked with attempts to trample the rights of Sommers and other Christian military personnel.
Sommers ran afoul of gay colleagues by serving Chik-Fil-A sandwiches at a party he hosted for fellow soldiers, and by then tweeting that he was doing so “in honor of DADT repeal, and Obama/Holder’s refusal to enforce DOMA act.” Fox reports that he was later summoned by a superior officer, who Sommers says is openly gay, and told that unidentified individuals were offended by the tweets and some considered them to be racist (when did gays become a race?).
Sommers was then reprimanded, threatened with judicial action, and given a bad efficiency report. An investigation was also launched.
It appears that Sommers is not an isolated victim of the Arny’s efforts to curb the rights of those who have serious reservations about the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:
Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty said stories like this are becoming commonplace in the military post-repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
“These stories are the ones that have not been told – about some of the more subtle ramifications of the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy,” he said.
One service member received a severe reprimand for expressing his faith’s religious position about homosexuality in a personal religious blog.
A chaplain was relieved of his command over a military chapel because he could not allow same-sex weddings to take place in the chapel.
And a chaplain who asked senior military officers whether religious liberty would be protected in the wake of the repeal of the law against open homosexual behavior in the military was told to “get in line” or resign.
The gay rights agenda isn’t just about attacking discrimination. It’s also about “rubbing the noses” of those with religious-based and other reservations about homosexuality “in it.”
Given the past treatment of gays, I think I understand how this became part of the agenda. But it shouldn’t become part of the agenda of the U.S. Army or the U.S. government.
Personally, I would be ashamed of Sean Hannity anyways.
He is a cafeteria Catholic. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise
You cannot disparage the Commander in Chief. That is military 101. I held my tongue for 24 years. Now I can say what I want. Seriously this is so crazy to have this story. Had it been a government employer going on base...different story.
Why should our soldiers be slinking around in fear, lest someone find out that they are reading Limbaugh and Hannity? For crying out loud, this is America!
In amother time, America’s military spent its energies training to fight enemies who wanted to destroy us and our way of life. Now it’s more interested in choking the life out of its members.
Or the other way around.
there was a time when the most popular TV programming at overseas stations was FOX. Have they cut them out - forbidden the troops from seeing FOX???
exactly why my boys are now not joining the military, to hell with the queer, cross dressing army, Navy, anti Cristians Airforce and maybe the marines might be alright still as they fought over turning don’t ask.
The military has far too many people joining or has joined just for their freebies, their handouts, , join a support unit, don’t; get in danger, learn your trade, get paid for it and then leave after your minimum years to get a life time freebies.
There are still good men and women but it’s not like how it used to be and with no rapes at record levels on men by men then why is no one mention that rapes on men went up to record levels when don’t ask was overturned and cross dressers and turd pokers were allowed to be open
already has, have you seen many of them in today.
Fairy young men, butch women, fat women, many for some reason fat black women.
Two pulls up to get in the marines today and to graduate it is 3, the run is in sneakers and now there is grief shrinks for those who want to talk.
It’s a joke, in a way but then we have to not forget how rapes on men are at record levels because of the homosexuals being allowed in today and being open about it
When your commander in chief is your bitter enemy, hates everything you fight for and uses you and your buddies as cannon fodder then their is a duty to disparage the CIC and all who support him.
what a bunch of pussies, we used to always laugh at each other, make fun of each other, call each other names and now it’s all PC.
One of the first tings a republican President should do is talk to the real non PC Generals the ones who were not promoted because of their race, sex etc and then get the marines and say we are doing a test and we will see in the marines over the next four years if rapes on men go down and if they perform much better with out the homosexuals and PC.
Once they do then extend to all branches
cross dressing, homosexuals, PC and affirmative action have non place in the military and also for the freebies then one has to do minimum of 8 years unless in a combat unit because too many join their support units and get out quick for their handouts
times for s state militia in all states, that as strong as the military, and a million strong, oh wait I have heard something similar
homosexuals have no place in a military period, they care only for their sex and how they get it and the military gives them a hunting ground instead of their dog parks, public bathrooms etc.
No coincidence rapes on men have gone to record levels since don;t ask was overturned and yet all we ever hear is rapes on women and yes some are done by women
HUH, why on earth should you hide the cover, sorry but that is cowardly .
You have a right to read it and you have a right to look at porn but you don;t have to hide what you read or what you think, hell we didn’t at all , we always let it be known what our views were including about our officers sometimes,
There must be some reason why libtards want the gays to be in the military so bad.
They can’t think it improves the military, because history shows it doesn’t.
So ... why?
Well, if you want a bunch of freaks with no moral compass who are willing to do anything and give them a gun to do it... then they promote themselves from within until they take over (like they have done in academia) then you eventually end up with a gestapo like the Hitler SS.
Those sick bastards would do anything... and there have long been stories about how they were seriously gay at the upper echelons
their=there
you bit your tongue, WTF why, hell our unit never, making fun of elected officials and their cheating, not trusting them etc.
We make fun of them , put them down and we still got the job done and we even said about certain officers who were useless.
We have every right to speak up to pals or to make fun of others.
When the shooting starts and it did then we did nto care about the CIC or the country , we cared about each other, pals, friends and family, not elected officials, CIC or some pansy PC officer who is about PC
A friend of mine who is a US Marine puts it very succinctly: “we defend democracy, we don’t practice it.”
agree every word pal, what gets me is how some say we should nto speak up while serving or we should not read what we want.
Far to many , far too many PC idiots in the military today or career officers who care nothing but their own jobs.
A fighting unit is a fighting unit, we unwind by having fun and that means making fun of Clinton in the oval office then so be it.
Having turd pokers in the military is there to ruin the military and to take down anyone who oppose them , which sadly many officers have become cowards and won’t stand on principle today including some Generals
we had a saying.
we care nothing about the CIC or the elected officials , because at the end of the day we fight for each other in our unit and that is all we do.
Fighting for country when in contact was not in our minds, we cared about each other.
In the movie The Last Detail, with Jack Nicholson, they go to a party, and a Black Panther type character is taunting the black sailor: "C'mon, say something bad about Nixon! Just ONE thing!".
The sailor reamins silent.
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