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November 14, 2008
Lawsuit Filed In Defence of Marine Vet’s Anti-Islam Decals
The car and decals the United States Military won't allow Jesse Nieto, a 25-year Marine veteran whose son Marc was killed by jihadists on the USS Cole in 2000,
Lawsuit filed in defence of Marine vet’s anti-Islam decals
Ann Arbor
A Marine veteran whose anti-terrorist and anti-Islam vehicle decals hindered him in visiting the grave of his fallen son at Arlington National Cemetery has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the military order which rebuked his display of the decals.
Jesse Nieto, a 25-year Marine veteran, served two combat tours in Vietnam. His youngest son, Marc, was one of the seventeen sailors killed in the terrorist bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in October of 2000.
Since 1994 Nieto has been a civilian employee at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. In 2001 he began displaying various decals on his vehicle expressing sentiments such as “Remember the Cole, 12 Oct 2000,” “Islam=Terrorism” and “We Died, They Rejoiced.”
On July 31, 2008, two military police officers ticketed Nieto for displaying “offensive material.”
After Nieto refused to remove all allegedly offending decals from his vehicle, the Base Magistrate issued a written order ordering Nieto to remove his vehicle from the base until all decals were removed. The order banned his vehicle from all other federal installations, and reportedly prevented him from driving onto the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.
The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center filed a federal civil rights lawsuit this week on Nieto’s behalf against the Camp Lejeune Commanding Officer and the Base Magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The lawsuit claims that the military’s ban on Nieto’s vehicle decals violates his constitutional rights to freedom of speech and the equal protection of the law.
“The banning of these decals is political correctness run amuck in the military,” charged Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “Our troops are being killed by Islamic terrorists, 9/11 was caused by Islamic terrorists, these terrorists want to destroy America, the Islamic countries persecute Christians, and now the military is victimizing a father whose son was killed by Islamic terrorists while serving our nation.”
Thompson speculated that the Marine command would have to eliminate the Marine’s Hymn because “the phrase ‘to the shores of Tripoli’ celebrates the Marine victory over Islamic forces in the Barbary Coast War and the Battle of Derne.”
The lawsuit alleges that military officials engaged in viewpoint discrimination prohibited by the First Amendment and violated the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by allowing some messages to be displayed but prohibiting others.
Further, the suit charges that the military’s ban on “offensive” speech is impermissible because there are no objective standards guiding government officials’ decisions, thus granting them “unbridled discretion” to determine the acceptability or the unacceptability of speech, a statement from the Thomas More Law Center reports.
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Wild Thing's comment..........
Un-effing-believable !
To quote Martin Sheen, about the same hypocrisy he talked about in Apocalypse Now after the gunboat crew machine-gunned the sampan and he shot the only survivor.
"We'd cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a bandaid."
And this one from Col. Kurtz's take on things would also be appropriate:
"We train young men to drop fire on people, but we don't let them write 'F#CK' on the side of their airplane -- because it's OBSCENE!"
Scene HERE if anyone wants to see it.
Our troops are over in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for their lives against Islamic terrorists and our base commanders are ticketing our veterans for having anti-Islamist bumper stickers on their cars?
It's insane.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 05:55 AM
Comments
If I can't have decals, can I just shoot a mooselimb and lash him to the top of my Tahoe?
Posted by: Steve, USMC at November 14, 2008 07:35 AM
I thought this was a free country still.
Too bad. They do things we don't like too, but we don't sue them over it. We ignore it. They have a right to their opinions, but if we show ours, that's just wrong.
I like the sticker.
Posted by: Lynn at November 14, 2008 08:28 AM
I love all of TEAM THEODORE for keeping me - a proud DAV - in the loop! "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!" Our 1st Amendment RIGHTS are for all AMERICANS that are LEGAL! Fight on and turn the carriers into the wind... and lock 'n load patriots...It's up to us / US!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at November 14, 2008 08:54 AM
As we were told in Boot Camp, a group of men without discipline is just a mob.
A couple of things I see here. First, any base the Commanding General has complete Autonomy over the base. Second, Jesse Nieto is a civilian working on a base and his right to work on the base is granted by the base commander. (His service notwithstanding if an active duty Marine did the same thing there would be hell to pay)
Didn't the State Department enact a rule not to refer to Jihandist as Terrorists ? And Bush approved this therefore the base Commander has to follow this via his commander in chief.
As far as free speech goes in the Military that is limited as everyone who has served should know. On any base you can't run around yelling, 'Eat the apple and FTC', especially at LeJeune, or FTA at Fort Bragg and get away with it.
The base is following orders from Washington. And everybody here knows they are going to follow those orders. The Base Commander does not need an internal investigation from the nitwits from Washington.
Second, and worst of all is this lawsuit against the base. And this will include any base after this, if they win. Now especially with the obamabots coming into power. This will leave our Military weak and somewhat disorganized and open to any lawsuit brought by any left wing nutball who has an axe to grind.
Finally, we all bitched about the weak rules of engagement in Iraq and how the troops lives were at greater risk because of these rules. These rules are too PC to fight an effective war on Terror or any war for that matter. But this is what we are stuck with when Liberals are writing the rules.
Posted by: Mark at November 14, 2008 09:32 AM
In 1944 if someone had driven on base with a bumper sticker that said, "Kill Japs, Win the War", they would probably have been praised. Different times. Now we are not only not allowed to fight a real war, we cannot identify the enemy.
I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, "I Love Islam". Made my blood boil. However it was his legal right to flaunt that sticker. A legal right paid for by American blood.
Things aren't right in America. After 20 Jan they are going to get even worse. Lock and Load!
Posted by: TomR at November 14, 2008 12:02 PM
You have gut'em first Steve, permission granted. Put a tarp down to keep the ooze off the paint on that Tahoe.
I hate this PC crap, it's all part of their 'hate crimes' bullshit, worse than En Gland and their crappy laws over protecting their ragheads. It's not like when Patton was around, he' have told then to FOAD and award Jesse Nieto a medal for patriotism. As Mark points out this comes from the top and for those of us who have been there the UCMJ is severe for rule breaking.(Not that I ever broke the rules):)
Posted by: Jack at November 14, 2008 01:49 PM
Steve, USMC, LOL that is an idea. haha I am just visualizing what that would look like as you drive around. heh heh
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 06:54 PM
Lynn, I like the sticker too.
I heard a caller on one of the radio shows tell about how she had a McCain/ Palin sticker on her car and her boss told her to take it off or she could wait a long time for a raise. It was only the two of them and no witnesses. I asked her what was her reply and she said. She asked if she could have a few minutes outside the office to take it off.
Then she went home and ordered another t-shirt instead and wore it on the weekends when she left the house.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 07:00 PM
Darth, thank you, it is fun having a blog, a lot of work but I love it. And the best thing about it has been to meet everyone on here. My internet family.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 07:03 PM
Mark, good points and that is true too. You are right too about the lawsuit. I hate that they cannot have stickers like this, I hate PC, but I also don't want a lawsuit to weaken our military in anyway.
I still hate it though, hate it, it is just so wrong, our military fight for freedom, for free speech and then they can't use it themselves. waaaaaaaaa
The new wording as well for the war, the terrorists etc. that really stinks to high heaven.
It is just so unfair so wrong.
Like my Dad said when I was a teenager, PC will destroy our country. He was right, it has and continues to.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 07:10 PM
Tom, I wish it was still like that.
"In 1944 if someone had driven on base with a bumper sticker that said, "Kill Japs, Win the War", they would probably have been praised. Different times. Now we are not only not allowed to fight a real war, we cannot identify the enemy. "
Tom, my blood would have boiled too. I would hate seeing a sticker like that.
Grrrr Islam!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 07:16 PM
Jack, ...."Put a tarp down to keep the ooze off the paint on that Tahoe.".....LOL good idea. I hate messes.
hahahaha
Oh my gosh, can you imagine what Patton would say, Oh yessssssss.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 14, 2008 07:20 PM
My hubby put this in the back window of the van-White, Straight, Conservative Male--How else can I piss you off today?
You should see the looks we get!
But it sure is funny!
Posted by: Lynn at November 15, 2008 06:41 AM
