by Alex Newman
The
New American

A veteran in uniform who spoke out in favor of GOP presidential
contender Ron Paul and his foreign-policy views after the Iowa Republican
caucus could face discipline for potentially having violated military
regulations, according to Defense Department officials. But the
soldier has already gained a tremendous following online among PaulÂ’s
enthusiastic supporters.

After caucusing for the top-tier candidate Rep. Paul (R-Texas),
Cpl. Jesse Thorsen spoke to CNN about why he supported the 12-term
CongressmanÂ’s bid for the Republican nomination. The veteran
of the Afghanistan war also called for peace and warned against
starting more wars overseas before being abruptly cut off, apparently
because of technical problems.

“I’m really excited about a lot of his ideas – especially
when it comes to bringing the soldiers home,” the 28-year-old
corporal told the CNN interviewer about Dr. Paul before the video
feed dropped. “I’ve been serving for 10 years now and
all 10 years of those have been during wartime. IÂ’d like to
see a little peacetime army and I think he has the right idea.”

As Thorsen continued to speak, the connection was broken, prompting
some Paul supporters online to suspect that CNN might have deliberately
cut the transmission. But later that night at a post-caucus rally,
Ron Paul himself invited Thorsen to the podium to finish his remarks.

“How ‘bout Ron Paul!” Thorsen said as the crowd
cheered. “If there’s any man out there that’s had
a vision out there, it is definitely him. His foreign policy is
by far, hands down better than any other candidateÂ’s out there,
and IÂ’m sure you all know that. We donÂ’t need to be picking
fights overseas and I think everybody else knows that, too.”

Saying
he was “flabbergasted,” Thorsen compared the experience
to “meeting a rock star.” He concluded by saying campaign
supporters would continue their efforts in New Hampshire and across
the nation to ensure that the liberty-minded Dr. Paul would be elected
the next President.

But according to some U.S. officials cited in news reports, Thorsen
should not have publicly backed a candidate while in uniform. The
actions may potentially have even been a violation of a Defense
Department “directive”
forbidding service members from making “inferences that their
political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship,
approval, or endorsement.”

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the rest of the article

January
10, 2012

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© 2012 The New American