Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The post in which this week's media obsession leads me to a brief rant
After a sordid week in the news I would like to state for the record that I have as little interest in the sex lives of our heterosexual soldiers as I have in the sex lives of our homosexual soldiers. And I find none of it to be particularly relevant to the job at hand, fighting and winning wars.
I know that the military has enjoyed a completely chaste reputation throughout all history -- especially sailors on shore leave, renowned for their tendency to attend a brief church service before sipping a cup of tea and returning to their ship -- but I find it hard to fathom that in 2012 A.D. we are tossing generals overboard because of what they're doing with other consenting adults. It's hard enough to find a good general, so frankly I don't care if he spends his off-hours hanging by his ankles from the ceiling at Mistress Crunchita's House o'Pain as long as he's doing a good job with his chunk of the war.
This seems a good time to remind everybody that by what seems to be our new standard, FDR and Eisenhower were unfit to lead us during World War II. I'm just as happy we didn't throw them overboard for the second string.
Here's what I think these straying generals deserve: a few months on the couch, some frosty stares from their wives, and a few jokes at their expense. (Yes, it is fair that "Hey there, hot stuff, want to write my biography?" is now America's favorite new pickup line, finally knocking, "Hey there, hot stuff, let's hike the Appalachian Trail," off its lofty perch.)
I will also admit that I have no idea what to make of the shirtless FBI guy, but as always with these sorts of things, it's mostly a question of whether the photo in question was welcomed by its recipient or unwanted. Again: consenting adults.
As long as the media and Congress seem to have infinite time and resources to investigate sex scandals in the military, here's a real sex scandal for them: the Defense Department estimates that 19,000 sexual assaults occurred in the armed forces last year, but only 3,000 service members reported being assaulted, and about 240 cases were prosecuted.
There, there's your real scandal. Go spend some ink on that.
In the meantime, we're still a nation at war, and it would be nice if everybody spent more time focusing on that instead of indulging in all this prurient hand-wringing over these pecadillos.
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"A soldier who won't fuck, won't fight"---Patton
ReplyDeleteI admit that the new pickup line is an improvement on the old one. So much more literary.
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