HERE is an undated photo from the Facebook page of the Tea Party showing George W. Bush dancing recently with an injured veteran. The sight of  a woman dressed in military fatigues says a lot about what a society thinks of women. But the sight of a woman who has lost her leg in military action, having been deliberately put in harms’ way, says even more, painting a picture of a world that does not value, well, anything. It fills me with horror and disgust, not for this particular woman, who has been maimed permanently and deserves some compassion, but for the powerful institutions and leaders who have condoned this.

In the recent entry on women in the military, a female reader, an Air Force veteran who stated that she joined the military for solely economic reasons, says that women, purely on the basis of their patriotic sentiments, are an asset to the military as soldiers. Terry Morris, also a veteran, disagrees. He writes:

In short, while I agree with you that women CAN BE, and often are, patriotic Americans, I reject that patriotism, as defined above, is in general the chief motivating factor for female enlistments in the U.S. military today.

His comments are worth repeating in full: (more…)

JILL FARRIS writes in response to the post on the Navy’s “Love Boat culture:”

Of course, the inevitable result of sex between shipmates under stress are unplanned pregnancies resulting in abortions. Women who undergo abortions have an increase in drug use, divorce/relationship problems, depression etc. In other words, these “love boat” conditions lead to an increase in ruined lives.

Whenever I read of women in the military or see any woman in a man’s uniform (ie., border guard, police woman etc.) I wonder where is her father and why didn’t he protect her? There is something so perverse about a woman acting like a man! And, apparently, underneath that uniform the hormones still do what hormones do and women still act like women!

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