>>My defamation?
Yes, your continuing defamation of good people in defense of offal.
Dems try to silence men of honor:
Marines mull
penalty after major
jabs Clinton
By Bill Gertz and Ernest Blazar
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
he Marine Corps is considering whether to punish a major
for publicly calling President Clinton an "adulterous liar"
and "criminal" who should be impeached for trying to cover up
his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Col. Stu Wagner, a Marine Corps spokesman, said senior
Marine officers have examined an article written by Marine
Maj. Shane Sellers but had not decided whether the statements
in it merit administrative or legal action.
"We're taking a look at it and I don't know what kind of
action will be taken," he said.
The article by Maj. Sellers appeared in the weekly trade
newspaper Navy Times two days after the Corps'
-- Continued from Front Page --
No. 2 general warned all Marines that public criticism of the
president and discussion of impeachment could be illegal.
Maj. Sellers, a 20-year veteran, wrote that Mr. Clinton is
guilty of activity prohibited by military law.
"First, let's be specific," he wrote. "It's not about sex. It's
tawdry and titillating, to be sure. But for all its soap-opera
quality, what Clinton and Monica did as consenting adults boils
down to adultery. And one should call an adulterous liar
exactly what he is -- a criminal."
Such remarks are rare for an active-duty officer. No other
current military leaders have spoken publicly about the scandal
since Mr. Clinton admitted the affair in August.
Deputy Marine Commandant Gen. Terrence Dake told all
Marine generals in an e-mail message sent last Friday, before
the Navy Times article appeared, that no Marine should
discuss the scandal and impeachment proceedings in public.
"It is unethical for individuals who wear the uniform of a
Marine to engage in public dialogue on political and legal
matters such as impeachment," Gen. Dake said. "Not only is it
unethical, it could place the individuals in violation of Article
88" of military law.
Article 88 prohibits officers from using "contemptuous
words" about the president, who is commander in chief of the
armed forces, and other civilian leaders.
Gen. Dake said the Corps "must remain aloof of the
distractions which will surely continue over the next months."
"Our energies must continue to be applied to keeping the
Marine Corps the nation's force in readiness," the message
stated. "We are not politicians. We are not a Corps of lawyers.
We are warriors, nothing more, nothing less."
A Marine Corps spokesman said the general's message
was sent in response to a brief item in last Friday's editions of
the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper said some Marine
officers are circulating an electronic petition calling for Mr.
Clinton to be impeached.
The petition campaign was prompted by recent statements
by retiring White House Press Secretary Michael McCurry that
military personnel he had talked to were not upset with the
president.
"You must emphatically discourage any such actions," Gen.
Dake said of the petition.
Maj. Sellers has written a column periodically for the Navy
Times, which is not part of the military establishment. In the
article, dated Oct. 19, he also criticized Clinton defenders in
Congress who favor letting the president off with punishment
short of impeachment.
"Reading the U.S. Constitution leads one to think that
President Clinton's conduct would warrant impeachment
hearings," he wrote. "After all, isn't impeachment the
mechanism our founding fathers devised for these
circumstances? But our lawmakers seem more preoccupied
with interpreting statutes than invoking them.
Maj. Sellers is a "mustang" officer -- an enlisted man who
rose through the ranks --based at Quantico, Va. He currently
works for the Defense Intelligence Agency and could not be
reached for comment Thursday night.
The major wrote that the Clinton scandal is dominating
newspaper headlines and he lamented the end of baseball
season and the the home-run derby, which had "carried us past
the denials, half-truths and counter-accusations spewing out of
Washington."
But with the end of the regular season, "There is no joy in
Mudville; mighty Clinton is still at bat." The headline of the
article -- not necessarily written by the major -- was "Time to
Send Clinton to the Showers."
Another public expression of the dislike many in the military
feel toward Mr. Clinton appeared in the Army Times, also an
independent newspaper, last week. Army Col. John R. Baer
wrote in a letter that during his recent retirement ceremony, the
presentation of a certificate of appreciation signed by Mr.
Clinton prompted ridicule among a gathering of soldiers and
civilians.
"After the retirement festivities, I wrote a letter to Mr.
Clinton returning that certificate in four pieces," Col. Baer told
the Army Times in a letter published Oct. 12. "Simply stated,
I've honorably adhered to the oath my father administered at
my commissioning over 27 years ago. Values are fundamental,
necessary and not negotiable.
"Mr. Clinton, character is important and you've 'negotiated'
away yours."
The colonel urged the Army to drop presenting the signed
certificate at military retirements "so as not to embarrass
soldiers."
In 1993, Air Force Maj. Gen. Harold Campbell was forced
out after calling Mr. Clinton a draft-dodger, pot-smoker and
womanizer in a speech.
Retired Marine Col. Ron Ray, now a lawyer in Kentucky,
said many middle-level officers are speaking out candidly about
the president and other problems in the armed forces because
senior leaders are failing "to uphold first military principles of
morality."
"It is wrong for this major to speak in such strident terms
about his military commander," Col. Ray said. "But six years of
Congress failing to uphold its civil authority, and the Joint
Chiefs' failure to have the moral courage to defend military
principles is causing us to see more and more of this."
Col. Ray said Maj. Sellers should be cautioned but not
punished. The service chiefs and other military commanders are
the ones who should be held accountable, he said.
"If they punish him, then the chiefs are no better than the
commander in chief," Col. Ray said.
Maj. Sellers wrote that those urging light punishment for the
president because they feel "his offensives against the American
people" do not qualify for impeachment should view the actions
of Mr. Clinton, who as commander in chief is the highest
ranking military officer, under military law.
An officer who lies and is caught at it would be held
accountable and his career cut short, he said.
"I always thought that the law was the law, fair and equal to
all constituents," he said. "So, why should the president of the
United States receive any less verdict and sentence for lying
under oath?"
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