VIDEO: Rally Held in Support of Tea Party Marine Sgt. Gary Stein [Poll]

Dozens of members of local conservative groups  rallied Thursday near Camp Pendleton's main gate in support of Sgt. Gary Stein — the Marine and Temecula resident who openly opposes his commander in chief.

He faces a possible discharge from the military, and told the North County Times that he is optimistic in the process.

Patch readers have sounded off on their thoughts of the Tea Party Marine. Their comments are below. Names have been inserted into parenthesis for clarity.

: Like him or not, (President Obama) is your commander in chief. We are a nation of laws and respect. If our servicemembers only followed President's they agreed with, we'd have a very undisciplined, unprefessional military. You're paid to defend democracy, not practice it.

: Daniel, you will not see me at the rally for Sgt Stein. He has committed a serious violation of the UCMJ which puts his loyalty to superiors in question. I would not denigrate his previous contributions to our freedon, but he cannot be trusted to follow orders, therefore he is not suitable for continued service in the military.

: As a WW-2 Marine Officer Vet. I think the rascal should be kept in the Corps. We need some out of the box NCO's aboard if the Corps is to survive. As a young Lt. and shortly after overseas I confronted a Capt. and sternly dis-obeyed his orders. As I was looking out after the welfare of the malaria stricken marines under my command. Turned out that he was a dip-shit in the Colonel's eyes too so I got away with it. I commend the opinion of this NCO. Keep him aboard.

: Whether people want to come up with silly propaganda about a birth certificate or religion, this man is our President. He'so your president, mine, and this soilders. This is dishonorable and he will be treated as such.

: I am not an Obama supporter, however he is the Commander in Chief and the Marine is out of line. When he is no longer in the military he is more than welcome to criticize him.

: Sgt. Gary Stein swore an oath to protect America from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. If Obama disregards, and in so doing, comes against, the Constitution, he should be seen as an enemy. The Constitution IS America. In my opinion, Sgt. Stein is cut from the same cloth as all American heroes who have gone before and are responsible for our freedom. If we run out of men like him, the countdown to the end of the greatest nation in the history of mankind will begin.

: No serviceman should be put into a position to where he must choose between obeying an order, or obiding by his oath to the Constitution.

What are your thoughts? Vote in the poll and tell us in the comments. You can email a letter to the editor to daniel.woolfolk@patch.com. Please include your full name and city of residence and limit it to 500 words.