I love being able to tell people, "I told you so!" An article in today's Chesterton Tribune, a local paper out here, is reporting that the US Marine Corps got involved and shut down the Portage JROTC after Major Johnston, their leader, tried defending his ability to send them to TEA Parties in the county.

And what do you know? The Tea Party organizer says she disagrees with the US Marine Corps. Now she has something in common with Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan. What else do they have in common? Well, apparently neither one knows what they're talking about. "Political" and "Partisan" are two separate and distinct words. They are NOT interchangeable.

Is the TEA Party non-partisan? Yes. There are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians that go to these events. They don't field candidates and they aren't organized into a political party.

HOWEVER, what makes them a political organization is the fact that policy opinions are advocated by Faith Jones and the speakers at the event. Last time, a Republican US Senate Candidate spoke along with a kook who spent the better part of an hour and 20 minutes trying to sell his book arguing that America has become similar to a biblical kingdom... or something like that... all I know was that Travis and I were starving by the end of the speech and we left early to go grab food with my cousin and his girlfriend.

Unless Faith Jones is planning a Tea Party where the message was going to be, "We love America and we don't care about issues like Healthcare Reform and left wing radicalism!" then she's flat out wrong. And if that is indeed what she's planning, the TEA Party would officially become meaningless. Either way, it's ridiculous.

What really irritates me about this is that as soon as I heard about what was going on, Faith Jones was the first person I e-mailed. I told her exactly what I wrote here; that Oprisko was going to have her way because it violates US Military policy to be involved in demonstrations like this. Although she was kind enough to post my e-mail on the Meetup forum, I never got a response from her and she continues to act as if nobody has informed her of the rules and regulations I detailed for her.

Now, before any of you attack me for siding with the liberal on this one, I'm also standing on the side of the US Marine Corps. Besides that, I made a real, honest, and sincere attempt to try and HELP her get out of the situation before THIS happened. She obviously continues to reject the assistance, and that's her right as the leader and organizer of the group. I believe the modern term used for the Northwest Indiana Patriot response to this whole situation would be "Epic Fail!"

Seriously? You disagree with the Marine Corps? If there's one thing I learned in my time in the Air Force, it's that you should NEVER disagree with a Marine. NOW you look like an extremist. Really savvy.

Anyway, I want to thank all the Airmen, Marines, and veterans that I spoke to about this to verify I had the correct understanding of the regulations. You guys have always had my back and, in or out of the service, I'm always going to have yours. Thanks again.