printThe following is from my new WND column, “U.S. Military Gone Gaga, Making Osama Smile”:
“In 2002, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, then Osama bin Laden’s spokesman, gave an interview to an Algerian newspaper in which he mocked the American campaign to dismantle al-Qaida, calling it a ‘Hollywood script.’
Back then, OBL and his aides had quite a bit to snicker about. The massive welfare-warfare machine that is the American military was preoccupied with a weighty, waste-management matter: incontinence and urinary tract infections among its women. The (malodorous) matter made news headlines across the US.
Our ascetic enemies are not encumbered by feminine plumbing problems. Al-Qaida maintains Esprit de corps among its men by confining the role the ladies perform in their outfit: Wahabbi women may combust for the cause; but they do not get to disable the ranks with feminine and feminist special pleading—OB/GYN and urinary tract requirements, sexual harassment lawsuits, out-of–wedlock pregnancies, and welfarism.
As if to confirm al-Qaida’s expressed contempt for the Empire’s army and soft recruits; the military proceeded, back then, to launch a Hollywood-like production proper. The Pentagon, no less, endorsed a VH1 series entitled ‘Military Diaries,’ a bit of ‘militarytainment’ that made Abu Ghaith’s reference to a “Hollywood script” impossible to dispute.
‘Military Diaries’ was touted as a ‘powerful firsthand look at our heroes, their stories and the music that gets them through.’ The viewer was treated to the thrusting pelvis and swaying breasts of a recruit by the name of Charlie, followed by Laurie, Danielle, Paul, and Jimmie, among others. These poster-girlie GIs wanted America to know that their ‘real duty was to provide humanitarian aid to the Afghans.’ They shared with us their dreams of being ‘self-help authors.’ And they imparted the joys of manning posts like ‘Diversity Awareness Officers’ or ‘Drug and Alcohol Counselors.’
The production sure put a ‘human face’ on our coed men and women of the armed forces. But it was a face that exuded mush, not mettle. And it was seen and savored by an enemy, to whom the ‘Promised Land’ is a military victory, not a spot on Oprah Winfrey’s concave couch (due to that lady’s mighty keister).
Cut to 2010. A politically powerful faction of the military-media-industrial-congressional complex is cobbling together another production to motivate OBL and his men. It features a pathetic pop tartlet called Lady Gaga, whose iconic status, in the absence of any artistic merit, tells you all you need to know about her fans.” …
Read the complete column, “U.S. Military Gone Gaga, Making Osama Smile”
Read my libertarian manifesto, Broad Sides: One Woman’s Clash With A Corrupt Society.
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UPDATE (Sept. 24): Please read John McClain’s lengthy missive in the Comments Section; it is a stirring account from a veteran about how females were foisted on men in the trenches, and the effects this tyranny has had on the moral of the men who do the heavy lifting.
The military should be left to the military people to run. Congressmen, mamas and media types need to butt out. If we left soldiers to operate the soldier business we wouldn’t have these shameless displays of “diversity awareness” and “sensitivity awareness” that seem to be the backbone of our military world. When is the last time anybody heard of the French Foreign Legion or the British SAS taking sensitivity classes? I can just see those guys trying to get in touch with their feminine side.
Much of the military, especially the Air Force, consists of purchasing clerks, Power Point Maestros, and pseudo-civilians who get to “retire” in their 40’s with a generous pension. Gay or straight, the scandal is not making those positions civilian.
(2) Most women are not combat capable and cause far greater sexual issues than a few homosexuals. Given that the political system has done nothing about this, I expect little in the “Don’t Ask” issue.
(3) Theoretically, “Don’t Ask”, is a privacy-based policy and should work well. Naturally, it became politicized with rightwingers going out of their way to pursue and out closeted gays and leftwingers insisting that gays be raised to the rank of a specially protected group.
(4) Finally, given that most of our modern military engagements are in places that we have no business monkeying around in; maybe we should open up the military to the obese, the handicapped, the blind, the elderly, the mentally impaired, etc. After all, we are all Americans (or Mexicans – not that it makes a difference to most politicians!).
(5) Final thought: if publicly proclaiming your sexuality is protected, what if one publicly proclaimed he was a Nazi?
Ms. Paglia’s suprarational interpretations of the relative merits of Madonna and Gaga – both products of a modern Italian-Catholic upbringing – appear to suffer from a syndrome the obverse of which is easily recognized in and demonstrated by Christopher Hitchens. Where Hitchens goes gaga for the things he hates, Paglia idealizes her crushes into hot lady madonnas.
(Still, I enjoy reading her stuff)
As for Gaga and her most recent gig, why not? Stephen Colbert is scheduled to appear this morning as a… what?… witness? expert? comedian? before a Congressional subcommittee on immigration.
That’s a good one.
Who knows if Osama had a giggle, but I certainly did.
“It is unjust for goodhearted gay soldiers to be booted from military service while straight soldiers who harbor hatred toward gays are allowed to fight for their country,” Gaga cooed.”
I agree with that statement completely. Let’s bring our ‘straight soldiers, male and female’ back home to fill jobs and build families and let our gays fight the Muslim menace, which when we look at Sharia and its instructions toward ‘Gay’ might be very Atropos (one of the three Fates who severs the thread of life), a bit of logic, I’m sure she would appreciate.
When I showed up at my first duty station in 1977, as a Marine, women were just ending their being relegated to administrative duties, and just being allowed to be part of “support” for combat units. For the first time ever, they were authorized the wearing of the military uniform of a Marine, having had their own “uniform” dating from the second world war up till then.
A great deal of time and effort was taken to acquaint us with the “fact” that women were entirely equal to men, in all respects, and were to be treated as such at all times, without prejudice. When we went out for our routine physical training however, women had their own formation because they could not run as fast as men, not individually, nor as a group. When we got to the Obstacle Course, there was now a step stool in front of each of the most difficult upper body strength obstacles, and we were told women were to use them because women are shorter than men, and at a disadvantage. Short men need not line up at the stool.
When those who not only participated, but worked hard to excel, knowing our performance in combat would reflect our practice and dedication in training, complained, the answer returned was that women would never see combat, and would only be in support roles.
Twenty years later, at the time when I chose to retire, we had lost the stepping stool, but we now were trained to perform as a team, as if we had not been so trained previously, and were taught it proper to assist those who had difficulty, because we would need all in our part of battle or support, regardless. In those twenty years, I met two women who were capable of equaling men in their physical performance, and they did so by extreme dedication and extreme training, in essence accomplishing the equal to women who train for things such as the Olympics. I never once ran across a woman who was the equal to any man in almost every aspect of every day routine work, whether as an electronics technician, a diesel engine mechanic, or any other job I worked or participated in, with the singular exception of “administrative personnel”.
The addition of women in the Marine Corps has made the service alter its treatment of the men who enter, from expecting absolute and immediate obedience to all orders, to changing from “squad bay barracks” where whole units were living in a single room, to having the equivalent of dorm rooms for all. There is no part of the Marine Corps which is unchanged, and none of the change has improved our training, our readiness, and all of it has been detrimental to camaraderie, high expectations of success, both for one’s self, and having the right to expect it from all around, and it has eliminated much of the necessary critiquing which once was the source of drive for excellence. The only thing improved by the inclusion of women in the regular ranks of the Corps, is the dating aspect of being a Lance Corporal.
It is this Marine’s opinion that women should have been allowed in the Corps, only if they chose to take the Corps as it was at the time they made the choice, and made the changes in themselves that allowed them to fulfill the exact same standards of operational readiness as the men who they displaced, and made non-available when we go to war now. The only reason I have cause to write this is because of all the “damned fools” who are blind to the obvious issues I merely touched on. Were our purpose as Marines still to take battle to an enemy of the Nation, we would not include women at all.
John McClain
GySgt, USMC, ret.
Vanceboro, NC
[Thank you!]
Political correctness aside, maybe our military wants females because thay can’t find enough men who are manly enough to actually be soldirs.
“Let’s bring our ‘straight soldiers, male and female’ back home to fill jobs and build families and let our gays fight the Muslim menace, which when we look at Sharia and its instructions toward ‘Gay’ might be very Atropos”
Brilliant suggestion! 🙂
I actually do like some of Lady Gaga’s music, but I’m becoming increasingly embarrassed by her antics. I made the mistake of becoming a fan of her on facebook, only to be bombarded by pro-homosexual propaganda, with receiving instructions commanding all of her “little monsters” to start engaging in pro-gay activism. Just a tad creepy…
In my minorities class, we are told that we must write and turn in a journal that expresses our thoughts in the class. Joy! You can imagine my commentary on the content of the class, including her brief on women in the military.
The thing is.. I am the only person in there commenting about this – and maybe the only one that she has had that has made this stance. How exactly is someone supposed to change anything if he is alone…?
In case you guys didn’t notice, women are now allowed on submarines. I give it another five to ten years before they are in all units.
No matter the argument, no matter the research, there is no stopping this from happening. If college is a microcosm of American culture, then my uniqueness on campus for the views that offer is a foreboding sign.
I am sorry Ilana, and especially Sgt. McClain, but spend you time better; there is no use in trying to stop the idiot wheel.
~Alex
Our trillion dollar, high tech military is so advanced compared to barefoot Somali Pirates and similar threats that men or women or gays or robots can prevail in a conventional engagement with those primitives.
However, what Sgt. McClain, Ilana, and others have seen is a de-facto war on heterosexual men. Specifically, any advantage in favor of women (such as 3:2 college enrollments, small rates of incarceration) are fine but any advantage in favor of men (such as “uneducated” electricians out earn “eaducted” librarians) must be eliminated. The result is an ever increasing number of rootless, Ritalin-pumped, alienated “boys” who must be psychologically neutered. While this damage occurs over most segments in America, it is extremely acute in the urban “minority community”.
The military should be left to the military people to run. Congressmen, mamas and media types need to butt out.
In a constitutional republic, the military will follow rather than lead. We should not wish it to lead. Since it is just as much a reflection of society as any other major organization, a traditional army serving a liberal government is simply an impossibility. Given enough time, a liberal government will always turn the military liberal. And the “military people” you want to run things include Diversity George Casey, Stanley “Hearts & Minds” McChrystal, and David “Please Don’t Burn That Koran” Petraeus.
The U.S. Military no longer protects American citizens. It hasn’t for some time. It’s current role is the belligerent arm of a federal government that represents the biggest threat to liberty in this country. Young men should be actively discouraged from enlisting, and those already enlisted should be encouraged to desert. When the whole rotten edifice finally comes down, which I think is inevitable, I want the militia to face homosexuals, feminists, and geldings. Maybe then the “They have jets! They have nukes!” crowd will pipe down and mind their place.
RE: U.S. military gone Gaga, making Osama smile … or rest in “Peace”?
Interesting take on men and women — DADT knows best?
I thought we were different.
But found it to be politically incorrect to accept: Seeing and hearing are valid means to discern “Truth”.
I contend, in our world’s state of affairs, as it is in an Obama-nation, the perfect American institutionalized student shall be taught to be color blind, deaf to reason, to deny common sense, and indoctrinated not to have critical independent thought; and we’ll equal, as “persons” — not boys and girls, and not men, and women.
The real difference with girls and women, isn’t the “plumbing” but the “wiring”.
Boys and men are wired with single minded switches, and connect one at a time — task by task. Whereas, girls and women have multiple connections hard wired, direct from the mother board, and multi-task at will, like it’s second nature.
Of course, I thank God women are difference. And you are likely multi tasking as your read my Email. That’s by design. “A rose is a rose, by any name”.
The military has been “broad sided” and got more troubles and woes, than it counted on. For hosting a DADT “gay” old time — affair by affair.
I could have told you if you mix any species with both genders, including homosapiens, they shall be fruitful and multiple — it’s in their nature.
Of course, I was once accused of being a “homosapien”, but it could never be proven. I denied it and held my innocence.
Yes, the “U.S. military gone Gaga, making Osama smile”.
God Speed.
Shalom.
DR
PS I contend, Osama Bin Laden is dead. And the jokes on us.
For the record my youngest daughter married a straight Marine yesterday. I don’t believe he has bought into all of the PC nonsense. However, after observing some of the guys who darkened our doorway to date both of my daughters, the evidence is clear to me that we have not done our boys any favors.
I have been somewhat succesful in helping encourage some of these guys to improve themselves. For some of these guys I’m almost certain that I was the first real male act like a father figure for them. Young men raised in single parent homes have a H311 of a time in our system. Given the feminization of our society and degeneration of our mores we have hurt and will continue to hurt our young men.
The fantasy writer J. R. R. Tolkien understood that the woman able to bear arms, and wield a sword in battle on par with her male counterparts, was one among hundreds of thousands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDVvUnhEs_g
I am sick and tired of hearing how our “military women” keep us “safe.” I despise any lowering of standards, but particularly when the physical differences between males and females are obliterated by dictatorial edict. As to Tolkien, he had a better grasp of reality than the 90 – 95% of today’s politicians and opinion-makers who daily poison our minds with the notion that women are “equal” to men in military matters.
War on boys…? Holy cow – you guys don’t know the half of it!
If you can, you should actively seek to enroll in a women’s studies or minority studies class; the amount of bigotry here for whites and males is just incredible.
The class literally asks us how we should see the ‘domination’ and ‘subordination’ of men towards women and minorities. It asks us how we should feel about the current ‘system’, which favors ‘male domination’ and ‘male oppression’. It’s just fantastic – I used to think that libertarians were making this stuff up when I would about it, but it really is that bad in college.
Academia has gone the way of the politically correct, ‘diversity of thought is great’, feminist way.
Until you guys check out what is going on at a campus near you, you have no idea as to how bad it is.
The military is just a part of our diseased culture.
My boyfriend, a former US Army captain, had this to say about the unequal physical fitness requirements for women in the Army.
“Everybody in the Army knew that the women’s physical fitness scores were a sham. Out of a possible 300 score, women would often score 350 or so. On the men’s scale, that 350 would have been a 220. On the guy’s side, it was nearly impossible to score 300. Now, it was a slap in the face since the playing field was far from level. Somebody that you could literally run circles around was receiving awards for physical fitness.”
Rewarding such inequality has done far more damage to the esprit de corps than allowing a few homosexuals in the military.