Army Reservist In Hot Water Over Ron Paul Speech

[RandySF]

An Afghanistan war veteran is in trouble for giving a political speech while in uniform at a caucus night rally with Ron Paul on Tuesday in Iowa.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Reserve told TPM on Wednesday that Cpl. Jesse Thorsen may have violated military policy when he wore his fatigues on stage and praised the Texas congressman’s presidential bid.

Thorsen’s commander is now looking into the speech and will figure out what to do next, said the spokeswoman, Maj. Angel Wallace.

The Des Moines-based soldier served in Afghanistan but hasn’t been on active duty since October, Wallace said. However, he still serves a weekend a month and two weeks a year as a reservist and may be deployed to Afghanistan again in about a year.



http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/army_reservist_in_hot_water_over_support_for_ron_p.php?ref=fpb

[Renew Deal]

1. Someone on DU noticed this last night

Oops.

[joshcryer]

3. DUers are smart! It was a really quick catch!

I hope that they're not 'blamed' over this guys flub. I think a first time offense is easily overlooked, maybe a little stern talking to, but that's it.

[Renew Deal]

5. Brooklynite

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002114256

And a NYer as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. If he serves a weekend a month he is in the guard

lazy reporters and all that.

And yes, it gets really confusing with the Guard... they are on duty while on drill, otherwise, no, they are not. Why they are looking into it, and why they might as well let it go. UNLESS that is, he was on drill THIS WEEKEND.

[pecwae]

15. There is a difference

between the Guard and Reserve, but both have meetings or drill once a month and two weeks annual training. I know; I've been in both as well as AD. The confusion isn't helped when you make erroneous statements.

[pecwae]

20. I'll take my chances.

When someone makes blanket statements about the US military, something I know about intimately, as if their word cannot be denied I intend to correct erroneous information.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Of course there is

But the point is if he was "on duty" then he broke regs. If he was not...

It is clear as day with active duty. Guard and reserve can get confusing.

[pecwae]

18. That was not the point you made.

"If he serves a weekend a month he is in the guard," is what you stated.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Okie dokie

Meaning if he was on duty fry his ass...if he was not.

Not that it really matters in the big scheme of things. (It does, but I learned today that procedural shit doesn't)

[MADem]

4. As he should be--what, did he sleep through his standards/ethics training?

And WTF was wrong with Nitwit's staff? To say nothing of Nitwit himself, standing there on the stage? He runs around making note of his service in the USAF, yet no one on his campaign team saw an issue there? You'd think someone would have engaged their brain, but that didn't happen here. You don't "tout" for a replacement for your sitting Commander in Chief.

The crowd cheered, but observers who know military law cringed.

“He’s got a problem on his hands and certainly he should have known better,” said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School. “All kinds of lights and buzzers should have gone off.”

Had Thorsen been on active duty, he could have faced up to two years in military prison and a dishonorable discharge, Fidell said. But even off active duty, he may still be facing punishment.

Fidell said Paul’s campaign should have known better, too. That night’s third-place finish “must have been better than they expected,” Fidell said, because “they allowed their better judgement to get away from them.”

[Scootaloo]

7. He's supporting Ron Paul; Standards and ethics are the lest of his concerns.

[MADem]

10. He should be smarter than all that! Hell, he passed the ASVAB to get into uniform!

Unless someone took it for him.....!

[Whisp]

24. speaking of Nitwit's staff:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/100281161

Ron Paul has faced a torrent of criticism in recent weeks over newsletters printed in his name during the 1980s and 1990s which contained racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic content. He is also on the hook for accepting the support of fringe right-wing groups. While Paul dismisses these concerns, his campaign seems to have no problem working with and enjoying the support of anti-gay extremists, including one supporter who has called for the implementation of the death penalty for homosexual behavior.

==
the endorsement was scrubbed from his website but yah, as you say, these people seem to be inept.

[renegade000]

6. you'd think a supporter of a states-rights libertarian of all people

would be wary of trying to minimize the appearance of the military (federal government) interfering in political discourse...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. LOL

[la la]

9. i wondered the same-

and one of the anchors mentioned it as well---

he had been interviewed earlier on CNN and the interview was cut off- for whatever reason--the ronpaulfanatic FBers were ranting about it for a while- then paul invited him on stage to 'finish' his interview.

...ask me--they're all a bunch of looneytoons who will never, ever stop being paul cultists/fanatics......

[arbusto_baboso]

11. Court Martial under UCMJ.

The military as an institution is NOT democratic and CANNOT be if it is to operate as it should.

[Marrah_G]

12. He might find himself without that extra pay and benefits before to long.

[justiceischeap]

14. I can hear it now, "Obama hates the troops!"

wait for it. They'll claim this soldier was picked on because he's a Paul supporter.