Photo: 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, to drive into Arlington Cemetery.
Jihadwatch posted a particularly mind-blowing story today that unfortunately fits in with my theme of the day about mainstream society's mission to outlaw, repress and thoroughly stamp out strains of expression that come under the banner of traditionalism. Country; marriage; patriotism; conservative dissent; even McCain-Palin--you name it, it is now anathema in the Public Square.
This "progressive"-type neo-Puritanism extends also to the United States Military--a fact that is particularly mind-blowing. Seems Jesse Nieto, 25-year Marine veteran whose son Marc was among the 17 US sailors killed in a jihadist attack on the USS Cole in 2000, has a car with some decals the military wants removed. As Nieto's lawyers at the Thomas More Law Center explain:
Since 2001, Nieto has displayed various decals on his vehicle expressing anti-terrorist sentiments, such as “Remember the Cole, 12 Oct 2000,” “Islam=Terrorism,” and “We Died, They Rejoiced.”
Here's another picture:
On July 31, 2008, two military police officers (MPs) issued Nieto a ticket for displaying “offensive material.”
Remember, folks, this is the Marines talking.
In mid-August, after Nieto refused to remove all “offending” decals from his vehicle, the Base Magistrate issued Nieto a written order, ordering him to remove his vehicle from the base until all decals were removed and banning his vehicle from all other federal installations. The order in effect prevented Nieto from driving his vehicle to Arlington National Cemetery (a federal installation) to visit the grave of his fallen son....
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “The banning of these decals is political correctness run amuck in the military. 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.”
Continued Thompson, “I suspect the next thing the Marine command will want to do is eliminate the Marine’s Hymn since the phrase ‘to the shores of Tripoli’ celebrates the Marine victory over Islamic forces in the Barbary Coast War and the Battle of Derne.”
You want to know what's "offensive"??? The PC, sensitivity-trained US military command. That's what's offensive.