Oh, I do not believe this. What on earth? Repeat after me, America: it is not possible to return to our so-called mythical Golden Era (1947-1948) when men were men, women stayed home with the babies, the world admired America and things were perfect. (We also had polio and - oh, never mind.)
Congress is discussing, seriously, mind you, removing women from any position that might take them near the front lines in Iraq. Morning Edition's piece on this pointed out that there really isn't a front line in this war; one woman was killed while eating in the mess hall.
This on the heels of proposals to cut terms of enlistment from four years to fifteen months because it's getting to be difficult to recruit for the military, what with the war and all.
Oh yes, and even though the military is desperate for language experts, it's still essential that we seek out and remove all of the homosexuals in the armed services language programs. After all, what's more important, communication (and understanding an decoding etc.) with people who want to kill us or the culture wars?
Is Congress doing anything productive today? No. They're having yet another debate about judges and the right to fillibuster.
Several women took over cannons in battle during the Revolutionary War, and some were injured in combat. Ladies, on behalf of the deluded souls in Washington, I'm sorry.
Words Written: a few hundred
Lessons Graded: six
3 comments:
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I (like you) hate the idea of that sort of disparity of treatment. That said, though, the fact is that, at the moment, women are not allowed to hold combat positions in the military, and as a result are not allowed to receive combat pay. You could make the argument that the real reason for not allowing them in such positions is monetary.
Given that, if they aren't going to get paid for putting their bodies on the line, why shouldn't they be kept away from the line?
That's a good point, alison. I think women should be eligible for combat pay. It is hard to delineate what is "combat" or the "frontline" when most of these soldiers are dying in unconventionable acts of war. The fact that a soldier is in Iraq should be enough for combat pay.
I agree that this is not the time for the military to act like it is some exclusive men's club. The military has lost many fine soldiers because of its outdated policy on homosexuals and now it wants to revert to a 1950s mentality toward women.
But, it's for their own protection! Who knows what men in the middle of war could do to these ladies! You just can't trust men to restrain themselves when young women are placed so close to them in such a hostile environment!!!!1
Yes, that's sarcasm.
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