WAKE UP, MARINE, AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM !

In response to this message dated 2/8/2008 1:08:55 AM Eastern Standard Time:

You are naïve and as such, your obvious ignorance is tolerated, as is your obvious leftist leanings. Semper Fi,

Thank you for writing,

It appears that you are a former Marine and as such took an oath upon enlistment to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." You should know, upon reading the Constitution, that the President is the Commander in Chief of the military only and otherwise is a public servant and accountable to the people of the United States by our nation's laws as dictated by the U.S. Constitution ... the supreme law of the land. We are a government of, for, and by the people and those who hold office in government are servant to the people of the United States. Now, how our active and public petitioning of our government for redress of grievances and defense of the Constitution is "leftist" I haven't a clue. Your comments above make me wonder if you can even site where in the Constitution the right (if not civic duty) to do so exists.

You, and all of our military, swore an oath to the Constitution and not to the president, a political party, or anything or anyone else. We were/are required by the Uniform Code of Military Justice to obey all lawful orders and disobey all unlawful orders. Please review your oath of enlistment. We will be happy to mail you a copy if you wish.

To stand by and allow our Constitution to be attacked and dismantled as it has been over the past 7 years by the civilian representatives in our servant government (Patriot Acts 1 and 2, Military Commissions Act of 2006, John Warner Defense Appropriations Act of 2007, Veterans Disarmament Act of 2008 ... to name just a few) makes you in effect party to treason against the United States, whether by your active support of the people doing so or by your failure to actively oppose them and hold them accountable.

I suggest that you turn off your television set, review the oath you took upon enlistment and/or commission into the USMC, read the Bill of Rights if not the entire U.S. Constitution, and look into the unconstitutional legislation and removal of our liberties which has occurred over the past 7 years and then ask yourself if you have done all that you could to honor your oath. Remember Marine, our "freedoms" are in the Constitution ... the same Constitution that hundreds of thousands of men and women in the U.S. Military have given their lives to support and defend.

If you are a veteran and no longer active duty, you have a duty to oversee and keep in check our servant government ... and by condemning our efforts you obviously have failed to do so. It saddens me that any veteran, let alone a former Marine, would not even understand this. Wake Up, Marine, and get with the program !

We will be happy to mail to you a complimentary copy of both the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution, along with a copy of the Oath of Enlistment. Simply email to us your name and mailing address and we will get it out to you in the U.S. Mail.

Sincerely,

Philip C. Restino
Co-Chair, Central Florida chapter of Veterans For Peace - Chapter 136

PS - We are not Democrats. We are not Republicans. We are not Independents. We are Americans !

Note: Semper fi, an abbreviated version of the Marine motto Semper fidelis - Always faithful - can be used in a disparaging or dismissive manner. Very much like the more familiar terms, Gung ho or John Wayne, are used. As used by the first correspondent, Semper fi is clearly derogatory.