Praise: Women in Combat

The Friday 16 March 2012 Stars and Stripes included an article titled, Female Marines aim to blend in, but be visible enough to set an example.  The title is appropriate.

“We don’t like to be singled out. We’re Marines,” Maj. Jennifer Marino said during a panel discussion Thursday about the role of female Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As women are about to be allowed in units that are explicitly designated as combat units, this will get more attention.

The opportunities for women are changing. Though women are still barred from infantry units, a recent Pentagon decision will open to women more than 14,000 active-duty and reserve jobs that were previously available only to men.

 As early as this summer, a few hundred jobs for company grade officers and staff noncommissioned officers in the Marines will be open to women. Those positions would be in ground combat units like artillery, tanks and combat engineer battalions in military specialties already open to female Marines.

 The first woman to command a combat brigade is being installed today, 17 March 2012.

The California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade will get its first female commander today.

Col. Laura L. Yaeger will be installed as commander of the unit at an afternoon change of command ceremony at the Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos.

She replaces Col. Mitchell K. Medigovich, who served as the unit's commander during its recent deployment to Iraq. Medigovich and his soldiers were among the final U.S. troops to leave that country.

It should be no surprise that some people have objections.  Among the Republican presidential contenders, Rick Santorum is the most vocally opposed,

Santorum had to explain past statements that he opposed contraception because it allows consequence-free sex, and that women should not work outside the home. He also said women shouldn't be allowed in combat.

Most Americans support women in combat roles according to a recent Quinnipiac Univeristy poll.

American voters also support 75 - 22 percent allowing women to engage in close ground combat. Support is 70 - 27 percent among men, 79 - 17 percent among women and 67 - 29 percent among voters in military households. All party, age, income, religious and education groups support the measure.

To be fair, aside from Mr. Santorum, most of the GOP presidential contenders have backed off of this issue.

Asked during the February 22 GOP presidential debate in Arizona about their views of women in combat, the candidates by and large played up to those polling numbers, with at least three of them expressing general openness to an expanded role of women on the battlefield.

Predictably slippery, Mitt Romney said that he would “look to the people who are serving in the military to give the best assessment of where women can serve.” Noting the 100-plus women who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, he expressed his belief that “women have the capacity to serve in our military in positions of significance and responsibility, as we do throughout our society.”

Newt Gingrich pointed out that in the present environment of “total warfare,” anyone “serving our country in uniform virtually anywhere in the world could be in danger at virtually any minute. A truck driver can get blown up by a bomb as readily as the infantrymen.” He added that “you ought to ask the combat leaders what they think is an appropriate step, as opposed to the social engineers of the Obama Administration.”

Rick Santorum, who had been criticized for earlier suggesting that it may not be appropriate for women to serve alongside men in combat, subtly backpedaled on that opinion, saying that while he still had concerns, “I would defer to at least hearing the recommendations of those involved” in making the decisions about where women serve.

On February 10, during an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, Santorum said that “when you have men and women together in combat … men have emotions when you see a woman in harm’s way. I think it’s something that’s natural, that’s very much in our culture to be protective, and that was my concern.” He added that the issue is “is how men would react to seeing women in harm’s way, or potentially being injured or in a vulnerable position, and not being concerned about accomplishing the mission.”

Men react to seeing fellow countrymen in harm's way in exactly the same way, without regard to gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, or any of the other human differences that make for political wedge issues.  When you train and fight together, the rest simply doesn't matter.

It isn't that women don't end up in combat.  We had women earning combat medals during World War II, when a cap of no more than two percent of the military being female was established..  A commentary by Colonel Michael Underkofler tells a small part of the history of women in combat.

Every day women in our country put on combat boots and serve in the air, on the ground and on the seas. While we may define and re-define what it means to serve in combat, make no mistake, women have always served in harm's way. The war today clearly demonstrates the vulnerability of all of us and the evolving nature of warfare. We couldn't fight it as well as we have without the contributions of our women warriors.

They already train for combat, even in competitions.

Integration of women into combat units is no more challenging than was integration of Blacks, both of which are more challenging than integration of lesbians and gays.  In each case, the United States is stronger with the contributions of highly talented sailors, soldiers, and airmen without regard to their minority status.  In each case, the United States is stronger because of the diversity that each brings to her or his unit.  The ideals of E Pluribus Unum work.

FollowUp 17: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

Effective at midnight tonight, Republican Wisconsin State Senator Pam Galloway is resigning.  This means that there is an open seat for the scheduled recall election.  Ms. Galloway is one of four Republican Senators, in addition to the Governor and Lt. Governor, who are facing recall elections on 8 May if there are no primary contenders and on 5 June if there are primaries on 8 May for those seats.

This leaves the Wisconsin Senate split at 16 - 16 until the recall elections occur.  It is likely that the Senate will then have a Democratic majority, ending the Republican monopoly of the legislative and executive branches of Wisconsin government.

To be fair, Ms. Galloway claims that the reason for her resignation is that there are several illnesses in her family.  Assuming that her words are accurate, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, this is not a case of any dirty tricks by any politicians.

I do wish Ms. Galloway the best of luck in the speedy recovery of her family members.  The next three months will be very interesting in Wisconsin government.

16 November 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
30 November 2011, FollowUp 1.
4 December 2011, FollowUp 2.
11 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
14 December 2011, FollowUp 4.
15 December 2011, FollowUp 5.
30 December 2011, FollowUp 6.
13 January 2012, FollowUp 7.
17 January 2012, FollowUp 8.
25 January 2012, FollowUp 9.
2 February 2012, FollowUp 10.
9 February 2012, FollowUp 11.
12 February 2012, FollowUp 12.
18 February 2012, FollowUp 13.
22 February 2012, FollowUp 14.
6 March 2012, FollowUp 15.
12 March 2012, FollowUp 16.

30 March 2012, FollowUp 18.
31 March 2012, FollowUp 19.
3 April 2012, FollowUp 20.
4 April 2012, FollowUp 21.
11 April 2012, FollowUp 22.
14 April 2012, FollowUp 23.
17 April 2012, FollowUp 24.
21 April 2012, FollowUp 25.
29 April 2012, FollowUp 26.
2 May 2012, FollowUp 27.
6 May 2012, FollowUp 28.
10 May 2012, FollowUp 29.
13 May 2012, FollowUp 30.
23 May 2012, FollowUp 31.
24 May 2012, FollowUp 32.
30 May 2012, FollowUp 33.
2 June 2012, FollowUp 34.
4 June 2012, FollowUp 35.
5 June 2012, FollowUp 36.

FollowUp 4: Eugene Delgaudio Lies About Legislation Again

The delusional self-proclaimed Public Advocate of the United States wrote again today with more claims regarding supposed legislation.  The way Mr. Delgaudio begs for money is certainly performance art of a sort, but it is a sordid act.

Dear Some,

It's hard to write you this.

My office is in trouble.  And I need your help.

I have been working overtime fighting against the radical Homosexual Lobby.

Today, I'm worried.

Despite passing Thought Control and repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the radical Homosexual Lobby is drooling for more this year in Congress.

Thought control??!?  Really?  There is no such thing as thought control.  My best guess is that Mr. Delgaudio is referring to hate crimes legislation.  Perhaps he would be happier in a new tinfoil hat (very silly site that you otter go see).

And with this Congress, they have adopted new tactics.

I see well-known agents of the radical Homosexual Lobby everywhere. They are huddled in dark corners scheming and plotting.  They meet secretly with members of Congress in hopes of tempting them to advance their perverse agenda with campaign cash and the promise of votes.

A little paranoid?

This, in spite of the fact that we've defeated a major portion of the Homosexual Lobby's perverse agenda in the past .

Together, we held off the Gay Bill of Special Rights in 2011, and cut off the efforts of pro-homosexual Obama White House, but we had to spend everything to do it.

As we saw previously, Mr. Delgaudio is paying himself over one hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year from the donations he receives.  He is lining his purse very nicely as he had to "spend everything to do it."

There is not now and there never has been a "Gay Bill of Special Rights."  The LGBTQ Community continues to push for equal rights.  We want nothing more and nothing less than everyone else.  It is called equality, nothing special.

The Homosexual Lobby knows this, and it knows as well as you or me that if we can't finance ourselves, we won't be able to stand up to them in the future.

We haven't seen the last of the Gay Bill of Special Rights either.  Mark my words.

And the new year brings greater threats than ever before -- I am in trouble...

This is a painful email for me to write.

For the first time ever, I feel as if my pro-family supporters are letting me down.

Translation:  Mr. Delgaudio fears that he won't rake in as much money for his own "pay" this year as he did last year.  Money, money, money.

I have prayed about this matter.  I am sure that I am doing what is right .

It is our duty as decent God-believing adults to fight against the tyranny and immorality of the radical Homosexual Lobby.  But many good Christian supporters aren't coming through.

Tyrrany?  That is the domain of a majority that is able to inflict its will on a minority.  It is immoral to deny equality to all citizens.  Perhaps in these tight financial times, Mr. Delgaudio might have to do real work for a living, instead of simply accepting money for spreading hate.

It seems a lot of people believe all our problems are solved because we have a Republican Majority in the House.  And many pro-family leaders are complacent or just plain worn out, and they want to quit.

Somehow, listening to the GOP presidential contenders, I don't think that Republicans are complacent.  Certainly there are a lot of hate groups making a lot of noise that is better documented today.  Somehow Mr. Delgaudio has not yet made it onto the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate group listing, although he did earn two paragraphs at the conclusion of one of their intelligence reports.

I cannot believe it!  That'd be like surrendering after Pearl Harbor!

And after the holidays, many of my best supporters haven't been able to help like they used to...

In fact, money is so tight here that I have had to scale back important pro-family campaigns.

Since Mr. Delgaudio's "campaigns" appear to be limited to mass e-mails and rarely printing out copies of his hate to hand deliver in Washington, D.C. (he lives nearby), this shouldn't be too much scaling back.  We could hope for more.

Critical petition drives, grassroots lobbying campaigns, and citizen outreach programs may be closed down.

And as the radical homosexuals have gained almost complete control in Congress, my hands are tied...

Heaven forbid that Mr. Delgaudio cut back on his six figure salary from his hate campaign.

At times, life here in Washington has been a virtual hell for me...

I will not forget the past.

I've faced the blinding hatred of the Radical Homosexuals.

Gee, why would people who you work to keep in a lower caste possibly come to hate you?

Radical homosexuals have distributed hate flyers giving out my address and telephone number and urging sick and disgusting calls by homosexuals to harass my family.

Newspapers even print this "Hate the Delgaudio Family" material.

Doing a search on news.google.com for that exact phrase, since Mr. Delgaudio put it in quotes it must be exact, comes up with zero.  If a newspaper did print that, they did not include it in their online edition.  Or, Mr. Delgaudio is forgetting that he claims to be a "good Christian" and he is bearing false witness ... again.

I've received "crank" phone calls... even death threats!

Doing a search for Delgaudio death threat also came up with zero.  Remove the word death and the only news article that comes up is from a week ago, where Mr. Delgaudio is reported to have opposed drug rehabilitation programs as part of his job on the Loundoun Board of Supervisors.  He is quoted as saying, "I need that money for the people who are doing well in life."  This is despite the fact that the rehabilitation programs would have saved taxpayer dollars according to the article.

With his six figure income from his "work" as the so-called Public Advocate, he must need money for people like himself.  The term greedy seems appropriate.

Years ago, after a man in a black car was caught taking photographs of my children, I had to call in police protection for them.

One time a dead dog was left in my yard.  What kind of people would do this?

I was once even forced to send Sheila and the children into hiding for a short time .

They are safe now... There is no precaution that I will not take to protect my wife and precious children.

Some in the news media routinely promote or allow printed attacks on my wife, my children or me.

Sorry, but I don't believe any of this.  Mr. Delgaudio either never reported these assaults to the news media or they didn't happen.  In terms of attacks, those are missing as well.  There are rare responses, one of which I recently wrote about, but the purpose has been a response to Mr. Delgaudio's rants, never a threat of attack on him or his family.

Sometimes, I am afraid that without your support, I too will be forced to give in to the Radical Homosexual Lobby and stop fighting against their perverted agenda.

That's why I need to ask you today to seriously consider making an emergency contribution to Public Advocate.  Even a donation of $20 or $40 would make a huge difference.

Sorry, but I removed this link.  Mr. Delgaudio's begging does not need to be rewarded.  If that is your inclination, go to his website and do so, it is the first link in this blog post.

My friend, I am tired.

My health is suffering under the strain of fighting the Radical Homosexual Lobby with limited help.  I can't eat, I can't sleep and I am sick with worry.

Many nights I stay up and worry -- worry about my family, worry about Public Advocate's future, worry about the future of the American Family and morality.

Somehow he doesn't seem to be worried about the morality of fleecing his donors.

I have fought on, but I desperately need your help right now. Please don't let me down.

Last year's fights have put my office tens of thousands of dollars over budget.

Every day, it seems, it gets harder and harder to raise the money to keep our campaigns going .

I'm expected to expand programs to stop liberals in Congress from allowing homosexuals to run rampant over our country...

The Gay Bill of Special Rights is at the top of the agenda for pro-homosexual congressmen this year.

Last time the Gay Bill of Special Rights came up, only an outpouring of support by members like you allowed us to stall the vote in the House and buy us the time we needed to rally our troops.

If this immoral bill passes, it will mean pro-homosexual hiring quotas in workplaces throughout the nation.  It will also make it nearly impossible for employers to deal with unsatisfactory employees who are radical homosexuals.

No.  This is a bald-faced lie.  There has NEVER been legislation proposed that included a hiring quota for homosexuals.  Never written up as legislation.  Never proposed.  Mr. Delgaudio is back to bearing false witness.

Lesbians and gays want the same rights as straights.  We want to not be fired without cause.  That cause should not be our sexuality, but our work performance.  This is called equality.  No special rights, equal rights.  How radical a person's politics are away from work should not affect their employment performance review and retention or firing.  (There are some exceptions for employees who work with the public and who should not have their politics on display ... such as public school teachers.  But it should still be equal rules without regard to sexuality).

President Barack Obama has vowed to use his power to pass pro-homosexual legislation before it's too late.

The only other significant "pro-homosexual legislation" is the Respect for Marriage Act.  That legislation, which would effectively repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), will not be considered in the House of Representatives this session.

And the attitude of the Oval Office is only likely to get worse as President Barack Obama seeks new ways to appease his radical homosexual allies ahead of his re-election.

There is no chance of Presidential opposition.  We need to stop the Gay Bill of Special Rights ourselves, now!

There is no chance of equality legislation passing the House while John Boehner is Speaker.  This is a set up for more begging for money (I've removed the link again).

Please Click Here to chip in.

The letter goes on and one.  Rather than quote every line.  Let's jump ahead to the next outrageous claim.

These people admit that they want to molest our children.  They admit that they want special rights that no American has.  They admit that they want to infiltrate and weaken our military's moral fiber.  They admit that they want complete control over the national law enforcement apparatus.  They admit that they're deviants.

No, no, no, no, and no.  Five significant lies in just one paragraph.

I've never met a homosexual who wants to molest children.  Those people are called pedophiles and every homosexual I know objects to them as much as every heterosexual I know.  There was a magazine article last year where some idiot wrote, "Yes, we want to molest your children." as satire.  Equally stupid people like Mr. Delgaudio picked that up as if it were gospel truth.  It is not.  I work with teenagers and know that however cute their bodies might be, they are immature brats who need to grow up before they become interesting as potential partners.  For the record, I'm not interested in potential partners, preferring to stay with the same man who I have been with since 2005. 

Homosexuals want equal rights, not special rights.  Right now heterosexuals enjoy special rights that homosexuals do not have.  The caste system should end.

I served in the United States Navy before Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).  Gays and lesbians have served in the military for a long time.  We serve to protect and strengthen our country.  Now we can serve without keeping secrets that might hamper unit effectiveness.

I have no idea where the "complete control over the national law enforcement apparatus" comes from.  Is this a reference to hate crimes laws?  Is this a decade-late complaint about the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas?  Perhaps Mr. Delgaudio is being a bit more delusional than usual.

Homosexuality is on the normal and natural spectrum of animal and human behavior.  It is not a deviancy other from Mr. Delgaudio's narrow definitions.

And just as Jesus showed us by example and could not have stood back and done nothing at the Temple, I couldn't stand back and do nothing in the face of the growing power of the radical Homosexual Agenda.

Following Mr. Delgaudio's analogy, he is much closer to running the Temple than to Jesus.  Perhaps he should study his Bible a little more carefully.  Jesus was the radical according to the Christian gospels.

I absolutely must raise $132,945.23 in the next 25 days to pay past bills and keep programs going.

Still less than halfway through the e-mail.  It is repetitious and annoying.  There are some darker references further along that I won't dignify with printing here.  Too ugly.  Too many lies.  Mr. Delgaudio appears to always choose the wrong answer to the popular question, "What would Jesus do?"

19 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

11 January 2012, FollowUp 1.
14 January 2012, FollowUp 2.
16 February 2012, FollowUp 3.

13 June 2012, FollowUp 5.
12 July 2012, FollowUp 6.