I visited the Michael Savage website tonight, and saw this headline:
There's only one problem. I followed the link to the article in the Washington Post - and Obama has nothing whatsoever to do with it! The Marine Corp has a rule against wearing jewelry, so the Marine Corp is trying to get its people to stop wearing the jewelry!
The fact that Savage's site would put out this bald-faced lie is disturbing. What do they think, that people will read the headline, and condemn Obama out of hand without bothering to read the actual article? How dishonest is that?
And its rather stupid, too, because I'd be willing to bet that anyone who reads that headline is going to follow the link to the article, read it, realize that the headline is a total lie, and bang there goes a bit of Savage's credibility.
Obama and the Dems do enough bad stuff without Savage's website geeks inventing stupid headline-lies. They are only harming the cause, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
(Frankly, this has happened a couple of times before now on Savage's site, where the headline is totally pejorative, and you go to the article and its totally innocent! I now don't feel like I can trust any headline that appears on Savage's site!)
The actual headline when you get to the article:
Policy on KIA bracelets stokes Marines’ fury
Memorial bracelets have become a regular reminder that the country is at war. President Obama wears one. Most soldiers wear them.
So do a lot of Marines.
And that has turned into something of a problem.
The Marines have always been among the most persnickety when it comes to their uniforms and their appearance. Recently, the Marine Corps Times, which is not affiliated with the service, noticed that some commanders have been ordering Marines to remove their “KIA bracelets,” which are meant to honor fallen service members.
The reason: The Marine Corps Uniform Regulations specifically prohibits the wearing of most jewelry.
Enforcement of that regulation has been spotty, and Marine non-commissioned officers have tended to allow the bracelets. But the article by the Times – which found plenty of Marines who were told they couldn’t have them – has caused an outcry.
At Quantico last week, home to about 6,700 military personnel, including many who have just returned from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines described their fury over the issue. Some noted that the bracelets are sometimes sold by the spouses of service members to pay for the costs of funerals and the needs of a mourning family.
“I came from a unit that lost a lot of men,” said Sgt. Darren Covington. “We wear the bracelets to remember our friends. It shouldn’t be against Marine Corps regulations to remember your buddies ... especially when some guys are walking around here with flashy gold watches.”
Under Marine Corps Uniform Regulations, jewelry is not permitted, with the exceptions of wedding rings, engagement rings, watches and chains, provided they can be tucked under T-shirts. In 1972, the Navy secretary also carved out a special exemption for POW/MIA bracelets.
The upshot, though, is that Marines technically aren’t allowed to wear the KIA bracelets, even if they are similar to the POW/MIA bracelets.
At Quantico, dubbed the “Crossroads of the Marine Corps,” the issue has hit a nerve among even those who don’t wear the jewelry.
“It's a huge insult,” said one master gunnery sergeant who declined to give his name. “These are our fallen brothers. This is how we show our respect.”
The Marine Corps Uniform Board is revisiting the issue, and the expectation is that Marines will soon be able to wear the bracelets without any concerns about straying from official policy.
“They are working the issue fairly aggressively,” said a Marine Corps official who was not authorized to discuss the issue on the record. “We expect a resolution possibly by the end of the year.”
_________________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.
No comments:
Post a Comment