Right wing fantasies: Obama To Disband the Marine Corps

[geardaddy]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/01/1355083/-Obama-To-Disband-the-Marine-Corps?detail=facebook

You didn't know this, did you?

On a flight home I sat in between two individuals, a Marine and boxing promoter. The boxing guy was an older gentleman, and told interesting stories, such as meeting Don King. Both men were very pleasant and that helped make time pass on the flight. We were all combat veterans and all Southerners, so we had a lot in common. Then the discussion, inevitably, turned to politics.

The older guy turned to the Marine and said "You know Obama is getting rid of the Marine Corps, right?"

The Marine was puzzled. He hadn't heard this news. Neither had I. "Yeah, Eric Holder just had a meeting with the Joint Chiefs. Obama is going to disband them by Executive Order."

Hooooo boy. We are going to do this now, are we? Putting aside for the moment why the head of the DOJ would be involved with restructuring a military department in the DoD, I said: "I don't think any president can just disband a branch of service. Also, this would be pretty big news. Don't you think it would be all over the news instead of a message board?" I assumed it was a message board because I follow GOP conspiracy theories on rightwing sites, and never heard of this one. Even the Marine, who was no Obama fan, agreed this sounded very stupid and we moved on to other topics.

We all parted ways and thanked each other for the talk. I told the Marine I'd see him on my flight back since there soon wouldn't be a base for him to go to.

Sure enough, I got back home and did some checking on the interwebs. Although I couldn't find anything about Obama disbanding the Corps, I did find a story that Obama was going to disband the National Guard and Reserves by fall of this year, a post that Hillary Clinton is, in fact, going to dismantle the Marine Corps, and various other hysteria/delusions in the mind of a brainwashed conservative.

I thought about the flight and wondered, how can such a seemingly intelligent, normal man suddenly suspend logic and spout such nonsense?

They'll believe anything they read.

The rest at link

[safeinOhio]

1. I love to bet them a thousand bucks

on any bull crap they pull. They will never put their money where their mouth is. It always shuts them up. I did that at a gun range 7 years ago when a bunch swore Obama was going to take away guns. Yet not one of them would put up a grand on it.

[sarisataka]

2. I have to question

the veracity of this story.

Every Marine learns in boot camp that the existence of the Marine Corps is protected and defined in the National Security Act of 1947. Part of the reason for the act was because Harry Truman did wish to disband the Marine Corps. Prior to that the president theoretically could have disbanded the Marine Corps by executive action; now that it is law he cannot.

It would not surprise me however if RW types did not know that.

[MisterP]

3. no--but Truman did, apparently

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Admirals

[geardaddy]

4. You mean he tried to.