Wednesday, May 4th 2005
The Rainbow Herring
Get it? It’s like a “red herring”! But humorously adapted to fit the context! Is that clever or what? Ok…
The issue of the moment is the nationwide movement to ban military recruiters from public universities. It’s such a big deal that the Supreme Court will be weighing in. Andy R. from CalStuff is correct in pointing out this growing movement. Just a few weeks ago, there was a protest on the Berkeley campus that drew in activists from both sides. And there’s an excellent opinion piece by Cinnamon Stillwell on SF Gate that brings everything together.
On the surface, the protesters are using the military’s current policy regarding homosexuals as their main selling point. But as B.A.D. points out, they are more anti-military than anti-discrimination. And this fact is quite clear when you read any coverage of their protests. For instance, this report from the UC Santa Barbara Daily Nexus:
The protesters began their rally at Storke Plaza, singing chants such as, “Hey hey, ho ho, the military has got to go.” They also held signs that read, “Recruit to Education, Not War,” “Books Not Bombs,” “Academic Senate Act Now” and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Me What the Military Is All About.”
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“They die and they believe in all these myths about the military,” Pascual said.
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The military is also sexist, Joaquin said, because 90 percent of women in the military claim to have been sexually harassed and a third claim to have been raped. She said the military discriminates against those who are less physically able because it requires those who enlist to meet physical fitness requirements. The military also harms the environment, she said, because it is the “single worst polluter in the world.”
The accompanying photo depicts students as mock casualties of war. So what was this protest about again? The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy? It seems to have been about everything except that policy.
The anti-war/anti-military left is trying to use a completely different issue to further their agenda. I really doubt that they care about how to make the military better, because they’d rather see it gone. And I seriously doubt that they are fighting for homosexuals to openly serve in the military. Why would they fight for people to be included in an institution that they hate? I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of gays and lesbians that want to join the military, want to in order to serve their country. They probably would want nothing to do with these anti-military types that are supposedly fighting against discrimination.
If people want to protest the war and the military, that’s fine. Just don’t try and do so under the cover of an entirely different issue. And for people that truly want to change the military’s policy, joining up with the anti-military left in an effort to kick recruiters off campus is probably the worst way to do it.
As a side note, and you have every right to disagree, but I’m with Barry Goldwater when he stated: “You don’t need to be ’straight’ to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.”
Like little pigs, they want to feed from the federal funding trough without accepting the obligations that are attached thereto. Cut off the little piglets food source: federal funding of our colleges.
If they don’t want recruiters on campus, then they should get no federal benefits whatsoever.
Oh wait, that’s the law already.
Comment by petty bourgeois — 5/4/2005 @ 9:14 pm
Smug words about the “funding trough” for a guy with degrees from two state schools, yet can’t get certified by any state bar.
Comment by jonp — 5/4/2005 @ 10:37 pm
Oh that’s right. I forgot. You’re this big honcho at some super-secret right-wing think tank. Yeah….
“What we do tonight, Petty?”
“Same thing we do every night. Try to take over the world!”
Comment by jonp — 5/4/2005 @ 10:44 pm
If they truly want to change military policy, it’s probably a good idea for them to join it so that forces within the military can demand change.
Comment by B.A.D. — 5/5/2005 @ 9:21 am
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If they truly want to change military policy, it’s probably a good idea for them to join it so that forces within the military can demand change.
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This has some merit, but it would require decades’ worth of change, because of how the officer corps has lost almost all of its FDR and LBJ-era Democrats since the Vietnam War. When it comes to stopping current wars, it’s useless as a short-term strategy.
Comment by jonp — 5/5/2005 @ 11:46 am
How would having more FDR and LBJ-era Democrats as military officers change things? Who got us into WW2 and Vietnam again? Is it that they would be more likely to oppose “Republican wars”?
Comment by patr — 5/5/2005 @ 2:26 pm
Well, if it won’t work in the short term, I guess we’d better not do it. Then, in a few decades, when we go to war, there’ll be another bitchfest, and someone will suggest joining the military to change it from within, and folks will scoff “Ha! That would require decades worth of change.”
Comment by B.A.D. — 5/5/2005 @ 6:27 pm
What everyone fails to remember that “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is not a military policy — it’s a federal policy. The highest ranking officer in the military can’t change it. There use’d to be a word that preceded “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” — it was “Clinton’s.” Funny how no one mentions that…
Comment by Lt W — 5/5/2005 @ 10:52 pm
Well, the President, as Commander-in-Chief, is technically the highest ranking officer in the military. I believe that a new Executive Order is all that it would take to change things. So those looking for a change in that policy should consider changing their target.
Comment by patr — 5/5/2005 @ 11:51 pm
While the military doesn’t have direct control over the policy, if the military asked for the rule to be changed, it probably would be.
Comment by B.A.D. — 5/6/2005 @ 7:24 am
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How would having more FDR and LBJ-era Democrats as military officers change things? Who got us into WW2 and Vietnam again? Is it that they would be more likely to oppose “Republican wars”?
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A fine reference to Bob Dole! Anyhow, you’re right that it wouldn’t magically turn the military into a bunch of peace-loving hippies. But the officer corps right now is extremely far right, both politically and culturally, especially considering the reports about evangelical harassment of Jewish cadets at some of our service academies. Even an LBJ Democrat would be quite to the left of the median viewpoint among the officer corps these days.
Comment by jonp — 5/7/2005 @ 6:12 pm