Monday, May 13, 2013

The emphasis (or lack of) given to rape and assault in the military speaks to 'priorities'

 Yesterday, US House Reps Tammy Duckworth and Tulsi Gabbard appeared on CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley. They were on to discuss the issue of rape and assault within the ranks of the military.  Along with serving in Congress, both women are also Iraq War veterans.


 GABBARD: There is no excuses. It's not enough just to say this is not something we'll stand for, we'll hold these people accountable unless you're providing a system and process to actually do that. And I think there are two things we really need to look at. What is the core reason why this hasn't really gotten better over the years? One being we have to make sure it's a victim-centered response from the moment that the victim makes that report all the way through to the point where the perpetrator is prosecuted, and charged and punished. And secondly, making sure that we are investigating those who are retaliating and abusing their positions of command or power.

CROWLEY: A huge number of women who said they did report said they also felt retaliation career wise or otherwise.

DUCKWORTH: This issue is a power issue, it's not a sex issue. It's a power issue. And we have to empower --

 CROWLEY: In a culture that's built on power and rank.

DUCKWORTH: It is. But, you know, the military, because it's built on power and rank, has the ability to fix it based on that same tradition of power and rank. Commanders can put an end to this. And I am very, very disturbed that they have not been able to do this. Look, we're both still serving. We're taking the courses and the classes the military is mandating. Something is breaking down between the coursework that's happening and the education that's happening and what actually happens when somebody reports a problem. And that's where we need to be fixed. Because after 10 years, you have not solved the problem, done. We need to do something and we need to come up with a different system.





 They were booked on the show to talk about the issue.  The issue was noted in passing on NBC's Meet The Press -- in passing.  Maybe that's part of the problem and maybe Senator Dianne Feinstein is part of the problem.  Here's what she had to say.



 David [Gregory], I think the key is what these two have just said. I think it has to be taken out of the command decision-making. It’s clear that there is too much excuse. And this has got to stop. And there has to be zero tolerance. And that has to be supported by a separate judicial process whether it’s a full court-martial process or anything else aside-- apart from the military command structure. And, you-- you-- you know, what’s happening too, to women all over the world, the rapes in India, wh-- what’s happening in this country (Unintelligible) the concern over the abuse of women against their will, it’s got to stop. And the military ought to set the tone for a new day because it cannot continue like this.




That's what she said, that's all she said.  Tammy Duckworth and Tulsi Gabbard just got elected to Congress last November.   Dianne Feinstein's been in the Senate since 1992.  This is a major issue and two freshman members of Congress treated it as such while Dianne went on Meet The Press to yack about 'poor Hillary Clinton.'  Good heavens, are we back in the 90s.  Are Democrats in office going to waste every damn moment defending a Clinton?  Dianne's not in the State Department and she needs to learn to take her nose out of that business.  She's Hillary's friend, one of Hillary's closest friends in the Senate (a fact she didn't note on the program).  She wasn't elected to do favors for her friends.

While Dianne wastes time pretending that feminism is defending a woman worth millions -- a woman who is now also earning millions for public speaking (Hillary kicked off her paid speaking fees in Dallas, Texas at the end of last month) -- she's failing women.  She went on TV to yack about Hillary.

 I think it has to be taken out of the command decision-making. It’s clear that there is too much excuse. And this has got to stop. And there has to be zero tolerance. And that has to be supported by a separate judicial process whether it’s a full court-martial process or anything else aside-- apart from the military command structure. And, you-- you-- you know, what’s happening too, to women all over the world, the rapes in India, wh-- what’s happening in this country (Unintelligible) the concern over the abuse of women against their will, it’s got to stop. And the military ought to set the tone for a new day because it cannot continue like this.


 Is that what you think?  21 years after you were elected to the Senate, that's what you think, if prompted to speak. If prompted to speak and if you can go after every other panelist in the roundtable that's what you say.  You don't do anything.  You've had 21 years to do something.

But you can, all on your own, whine that Hillary's name was mentioned "32 times" in a hearing.  Dianne doesn't know that.

Let's be really clear on that.  Dianne is in the Senate. She wasn't at the hearing.  And let's point out one other thing because I hate dumb and I hate lying:  If someone did count how many times Hillary's name was mentioned in the hearing?

That count's not correct.  It implies that Republicans were saying "Hillary" over and over.  Democrats Eleanor Holmes Norton, Carolyn Maloney, Elijah Cummings and many more brought up Hillary all on their own.  We reported on that day of the hearing.  We addressed it again yesterday at Third with Dona in "Report on Congress."

This is beyond nutty and deceptive.  It's time to start calling out the enablers in Congress.  That's Dianne.  21 years and she can't bring up the topic on her own, can't be the first panelist to speak on it, can't offer any damn leadership on it.

21 years.  How many women and men in the military have been raped or assaulted in 21 years?

But Dianne's most important priority on Sunday was defending Hillary.

Visit Dianne's webpage.  We've got marriage equality, we've got "keeping assault weapons off the street," immigration reform, we've got gas prices . . .

You know what we don't have?

One single statement from her in the last four weeks on rape and assault in the military?

Contrast that with this:

 “Sexual assault continues to plague the ranks of our military services. And it is absolutely unconscionable that a fellow servicemember, the person you rely on to have your back and to be there for you, would commit such a terrible crime. It is simply appalling they could commit such a personal violation of their brother or sister in uniform. Even worse is the prevalence of these crimes. Just today, we’re hearing the alarming statistics that the number of cases has increased by more than a third since 2010. And for the estimated 26,000 cases of military sexual assault in 2012, less than 3,000 of them were reported. What’s even more startling is that of those who bravely came forward to report the abuse, an astounding 62 percent of them were retaliated against in one way or another.”


That's Senator Patty Murray speaking on the Senate floor last week.  "Just today, we're hearing?"  She's referring to the Pentagon's release last Tuesday of the annual report on rape and assault.  But Dianne can't say a word on Meet The Press about this on her own.  On her own.  She had a segment all to herself in addition to the roundtable.  But it has to be brought up by the host and journalists and others have to weigh in before Dianne throws out her sound byte -- sounding like an unprepared college student who's 'classroom participation' is nothing more than restating what everyone else already said? 


Senator Patty Murray wasn't just speaking on the Senate floor about the issue last week (although just that would have been more than Dianne's doing).  She was introducing the bill that she and Senator Kelly Ayotte have cosponsored "Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of 2013."  In her remarks, which you can view video of here, Senator Murry notes that one in five female veterans who utilize VA services also report that they were sexually assaulted or raped when they were in the US military.

Until members of Congress get their priorities straight, nothing's going to change.  Dianne was part of the 'revolution' of 1992 -- the genderquake (a demographic stat as well as a response to the treatment of Anita Hill by the Senate Judiciary Committee) swept a number of women into office.

Dianne's fretting that Hillary might be damaged for a 2016 run (that Hillary's yet to announce).  That's possible damage to a possible run that would take place in four years.  In four years, how many more women are going to be raped and assaulted in the military?  What's really the pressing issue?  Protecting a million insider of the club or protecting  the men and women whose safety the government is supposed to secure?

Dianne's becoming part of the problem.  She needs to take a moment to reset herself because her 'emergency response system' is preventing her from offering any leadership on one of the most pressing issues today.

  
Back to State of the Union with Candy Crowley:

DUCKWORTH: Yes. It would be a serious -- if you're found guilty of rape or sexual assault, you should be thrown out. That's a serious charge.


GABBARD: Dishonorable discharge.

 DUCKWORTH: Yes.

 GABBARD: Something that will stick with this person for the rest of their lives. It doesn't just stick to military career, any other job they try to get in the civilian world this will be on their record.



It needs to be asked of CBS' Face The Nation?

Martha Raddatz (filling in on This Week) should be asked why, when she had  segments with Senators John McCain and Jack Reed, she didn't raise this issue?  Because they're men?  Are women members of Congress the only ones who can talk about rape and assault in the military?  Women and men are raped and assaulted in the military.  But even if that wasn't the case, I don't believe either McCain or Reed ran on a platform which said, "Elect me and I'll represent men."  That said, she did bring it up -- in the final minutes of the program. 

Of the major Sunday shows, only Face The Nation ignored it.

I'm cutting slack for the guests of the program who were on as dueling guests at the same time.  ( I'm holding Bob responsible for the failure to raise the issue and not Senator Dick Durbin or Senator Kelly Ayotte since they were on in a segment together with Bob throwing questions at them to create 'drama' a la The Firing Line.)

It's either a serious issue or it's not.  And it was already one of the two biggest crises for service members before the new Pentagon report came out last week.  (The other big crisis is the suicides.)

Benghazi was in the news cycle.  It was going to have to be a topic.  But let's not pretend that was all the shows focused on.  Maybe next week, the Sunday chat and chews could do a public service and treat it as a real issue.  Only Candy Crowley did.  Sorry, but David Gregory and Martha Raddatz waiting until the last minutes of their show and then doing it as a roundtable -- with generic sound bytes from the guests -- really doesn't add to anyone's understanding or prevent rape and assault.  Again, Gregory and Radditz did raise it and credit for that.  But it was treated as an aside, not as a serious issue.
 I'm not saying Benghazi didn't need attention, it did need it.  I'm not saying that the IRS nightmare emerging (conservative groups being targeted) didn't need coverage, it did.  I'm saying when you're This Week and you've got time to roundtable about golf?  You damn well had time to talk about rape and assault at length and not waiting until "we just have a couple of minutes . . . just a couple of seconds."



Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Penny Pig Pritzker" and  Kat's "Kat's Korner: Natalie Maines releases a mother of an album" went up yesterday.


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