Tea Party Patriots’ page back in business - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Tea Party Patriots’ page back in business

After a brief disruption, a politically charged Facebook page is back in the hands of the California-based Marine who started it three weeks ago.

Sgt. Gary Stein, a meteorologist with 1st Intelligence Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., formed the “Armed Forces Tea Party Patriots” on the popular social networking site as a way to offer service members a nonpartisan forum to speak out on issues that are important to them. The group is part of a growing grassroots movement comprising conservative, middle-class taxpayers who oppose President Obama’s fiscal policies.

Stein shut down the page, which already had more than 400 fans, on Tuesday and canceled a scheduled interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews after his supervisors voiced concern that he may be violating a Pentagon policy prohibiting service members from participating in partisan politics while in uniform.

Though he will once again be moderating the Facebook page’s discussions and posting links there, Stein says he intends to make it clear the site is not endorsed by the military or the federal government.

“I will still post links, but I will do it in the highest regard and respect of Marine Corps orders and DoD directives,” he said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening.

For more on Stein’s story, see the April 26 issue of Marine Corps Times, on newsstands this coming Monday.

Tell us what you think

Should military members be able to participate in partisan politics? Do you see Stein’s efforts as nonpartisan? How should such comments be policed on social networking sites?

E-mail your comments to staff writer Amy McCullough. Please include your name, rank and duty station.