Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Military Lactivists

More social activism in our nation's military...

“While there is no policy that addresses breastfeeding in uniform, Air Force spokesperson Captain Rose Richeson told MSNBC: "Airmen should be mindful of their dress and appearance and present a professional image at all times while in uniform." (Yahoo – Shine)
Hiking up your BDU blouse and t-shirt and opening your bra in public like the young lady in the picture does not present a professional military image.
"People are comparing breastfeeding in uniform to urinating and defecating in uniform. They're comparing it to the woman who posed in "Playboy" in uniform [in 2007]" Scott told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "We never expected it to be like this."   (Yahoo – Shine
People who stir controversy with photos like this aren't advancing a cause, they are being provocative.  They love stirring the pot and making martyrs of themselves.

The problem here is that it is not their uniform. The uniform and all it stands for belongs to the United States Air Force. They throw out the red herring about people comparing breast feeding to urination, defecation or having sex in uniform to detract from their poor military image.  If there is an issue with the DoD not providing private facilities to breastfeed, then address it!  But you don't do it by disrespecting the uniform and violating the rules.

The DoD sets policy of dress and appearance and standards of behavior while in uniform. For example, you can’t walk around with your shirt unbuttoned or your jacket open. You must wear a hat when outside. You also can’t be fat. Even details like umbrella use and how to carry things in your hands are regulated. All of these things detract from a professional appearance and tarnishes the image of the military.

Motherhood First

We don't need Zena the warrior goddess mommies. Our country is not in mortal danger where we need every last citizen manning the battle lines. If motherhood conflicts with military duties, one of them has to go, and it sure shouldn't be the baby.

 A woman in the article talked about breastfeeding during a guard weekend. Should we be paying people to do that on military time? How much duty are you really pulling if you take your baby with you? Our military is becoming a European-style social program. We have maternity versions of Battle Dress Uniforms. Think about that. A pregnant woman dressed in combat camouflage. That same woman, rightly so, is also on a medical profile that prevents her from being ordered to dig holes, fill sandbags and perform other arduous field duties, but she’s being paid and she’s wearing the uniform.  It don't make sense

Rush Limbaugh said it best: The mission of the military is to kill people and break things. I served with many outstanding women, and I am all for them being all they can be so long as serving does not conflict with their motherhood.

* - I am very pro-breastfeeding.  Please see Breasts, Bucks and Bondage

71 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking at the mental images of women in fox holes acting coy and seductive, men under fire succumbing to temptation singly -- or in groups -- then women five, six, eight months pregnant suffering from morning sickness, then nursing babies fathered by God knows whom -- all this while machine gun bullets whiz overhead, and the sky is filled with the rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air giving proof day and night that our sanity's not there.

~ FreeThinke

Always On Watch said...

I know several women who breastfeed in public at the church. I have also seen several women breastfeed while on the D.C. subway system. All of these women drape the nursing baby and that side of their own bodies with a blanket or other covering. The same has been true within my own extended family -- when it was impossible for the nursing mother to find a private room.

Frankly, I think that nursing mothers in the military should make arrangements other than breastfeeding while on duty -- particularly within the view of others or within the range of a camera lens.

Breastfeeding should NOT be on public display for some kind of weird gratification.

Anonymous said...

Admittedly I am an old dinosaur. I agree with Rush. The military is about killing and blowing things up. Why would we want to femenize our military. If a soldier is unfit for duty, he/she is unfit for duty. Period.

Anonymous said...

The left has been busily -- and successfully -- transforming the once-civilized world into one big Theater of the Absurd.

Dadaism has leapt off the canvases, lurched, stumbled, marched, limped and swayed into every area of life, taken over, and now dominates and disorders our lives while merrily destroying our future.

An idea whose time has come can be an unnerving, terrifying thing.

I fully expect to see Scatologists organizing and demanding their "right" to pee, poop and puke in public anywhere, any way, any time they choose.

I can just see Simon Cowell hosting a brand new "Reality" TV Show called "Your Shit Parade." Soon to be followed by "Puke with Pride" and "Live Weekly Pissing Contests." How about featuring America's Most Flamboyant Farters?

PBS is sure to follow with well-researched documentaries by expert commentaors: A Trip Down The Alimentary Canal -- The Beauty of Bladders -- Should Breast Milk Be Pasteurized? -- Government Proposed Limitations on Defacatory Functions -- Yoga for Better Sphincter Control -- A Panel Discussion of Proposed Government Regulations for Eating Establishments Providing Coprophagiac Cuisine -- Should Lactating Mothers Be Provided with Special Sections on Buses, Planes and Railroad Cars? -- Oh the list could be endless.

I can just hear the lawyers panting and salivating as they wait to make hay on yet-another series of developments based on the assumption that Human Folly is Sublime.

~ FreeThinke

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Breastfeeding should NOT be on public display for some kind of weird gratification."


Actually, the only gratification going on in breast-feeding is for the baby, who is taking nourishment.

True story: I was having dinner with friends at a local chain restaurant when I witnessed this. A mother was in a booth discreetly breast-feeding her infant. A customer walked by the booth and apparently complained to the wait staff about what she saw. Someone came to the the booth and asked the mother to continue breast- feeding in the ladies' room.

[Imagine eating in a public bathroom, but that's what that infant was forced to do!]

At the same time this was happening, we, at our table, noticed a young woman, [late teens, or early twenties] sitting with her companion and wearing a top so skimpy, it barely covered her nipples--and she was amply endowed.

My friends and I laughed about the aburdity of the situation: A mother, modestly nursing her infant was chastised and made to finish feeding her baby in a public bathroom, while the nearly naked-chested young woman was not disturbed.

We live in a twisted culture.

I breast-fed my children, but had to be careful not to disgust those who have only a Hefneresque idea of what female breasts are for.

Yes, the military's mission is to kill and break things, but the military also has desk jobs and other non-combat areas where these mothers could serve just as well.

And I see nothing wrong with the "feminization" of the military. It's long overdue.

Mustang said...

In light of the female who recently left her infant on the roof of her car while she drove across town, an incident that thankfully ended well for the child, I can’t say I have much confidence in the institution of motherhood. This sort of stupidity has been with us for a long time. I recall reading about WW II era women who left their infants inside parked automobiles while they worked their shift at the aircraft factory.

As you point out in this article, the military is a special subset of our society. Until the leftists began their program of social engineering, it was an improved subset. Limbaugh’s observation is correct, and in the all-volunteer environment, we must acknowledge that not everyone is suitable for military service. There is no constitutional right to serve in the military. Young mothers must face up to this reality: they can be the best airman, soldier, sailor, or Marine … or they can be the best possible mother to their children. They cannot achieve both.

And by the way, this choice is the same among civilian women. What must happen in a sane world is that women have to make a decision based on what they think is their highest priority. Amazingly, not all women think that motherhood should be their priority —and that’s how you end up with a large number of nitwits in society.

Always On Watch said...

Shaw,
There is a difference between modestly nursing a baby and putting on a display.

Forcing a woman to nurse her infant in a restroom without a nursing room (Yes, there ARE such restrooms is disgusting -- IF the situation is as you described.

I've seen numerous women discreetly nursing their infants in several different restaurants. I've also had a new mother nurse her baby at the back of my classroom while class was in session. No problem at all -- WITH ANYBODY PRESENT.

BTW, by "gratification," I wasn't referring to the baby at all. I was referring to the mother showing off. In fact, I recently saw my own cousin show off in such a manner at a party at the local VFW (in the banquet room - not the bar). My cousin obviously wanted all the men to look at her breast as she made a production number out of showing off her breast to all at the banquet.

Silverfiddle said...

Shaw:

I agree with you on this:

mother was in a booth discreetly breast-feeding her infant. A customer walked by the booth and apparently complained to the wait staff about what she saw. Someone came to the the booth and asked the mother to continue breast- feeding in the ladies' room.

That ticks me off, that they would expect a woman to feed her child in a public restroom.

You are outside you lane though, when you comment on the military. It doesn't need "feminization." It needs a relentless focus on its mission.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"In light of the female who recently left her infant on the roof of her car while she drove across town, an incident that thankfully ended well for the child, I can’t say I have much confidence in the institution of motherhood."

Really? You indict all mothers because of what one irresponsible mother did?

Should we believe all military men are insane murderers because of what Nidal Malik Hasan did at Ft. Hood?

"...they can be the best airman, soldier, sailor, or Marine … or they can be the best possible mother to their children. They cannot achieve both."

Sure they can if their husbands are stay-at-home dads. And there's no reason why that couldn't be worked out. Women have been suceeding at it for centuries.

Anonymous said...

"We live in a twisted culture."

Ya shore done got THAT right, hon!

Your point is well taken, Miss Shaw.

I have no problem at all with women in the military -- as long as they are bull dykes with a Sado-Masochistic personality. ;-)

But before you get furious and spoil our budding friendship I hasten to add that I have been all in favor of our having a woman president all my adult life. The performance of Elizabeth I of England and her remarkable contemporary Bess of Hardwicke should have settled that issue centuries ago.

Regards,

~ FreeThinke

PS: Did you see the message I left for in answer to your question about poetry at The Ultimate War on Women thread? - FT

Shaw Kenawe said...

"It doesn't need "feminization." It needs a relentless focus on its mission."

I'm saying that because women are in the military, the military HAS been "feminized." And women can and DO focus on the mission. I object to your pejorative use of "feminization," as though it were a bad thing.

You're doing the ususal masculine left-brain thinking here, IMO.

Shaw Kenawe said...

FT,

No, I didn't see your response. I'll go now and have a look.

Ducky's here said...

@mustang - This sort of stupidity has been with us for a long time.

------
What stupidity, breast feeding?
Yup, a long, long time. The marine finally got one right.

Oh, Freethinker, you don't seem to understand Dada.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Sorry to be off-topic, SF, but I want to make sure FT sees this:


Yes, I'm an admirer of Maxime Kumin's poetry. Thank you for posting her wonderful poem, "Purgatory."

Side note: I had the privilege of attending several poetry workshops in Truro, Mass., given by American Pulizer Prize-winning poet, Alan Dugan.

SF, I forgot to give you props for the clever blogpost title. LOL!

Silverfiddle said...

"You're doing the ususal masculine left-brain thinking here, IMO."

Guilty as charged. When you said "feminization" I was thinking frilly curtains and long talks curled up with mugs of tea to discuss whether we should take that hill.

Silverfiddle said...

I wish I were the author of "Latctivist," but alas I cannot claim credit.

Anonymous said...

"I wish I were the author of "Latctivist," but alas I cannot claim credit."

Fret not thyself, SilverFiddle.

Noel Coward -- or was it Oscar Wilde? -- once said something to this effect:

"Any fool can say something bright, but it takes a truly bright man to remember it, and use it later when occasion warrants."

Onward and Upward!

~ FT

Anonymous said...

Miss Shaw,

Thank you for the link to Alan Dugan. I'll be sure to take a look.

~ FreeThinke

Always On Watch said...

Apparently, the photo is not posed:

...All of the women in the photos volunteered to appear in the awareness campaign, and Echegoyen-McCabe is featured -- wearing civilian clothing -- in a few of the other candid shots. None of the photos are posed; the women are simply feeding their babies the way they usually do....

Much more at the above link.

Anonymous said...

Here's an example of Dadaist poetry. I defy you to "understand" it. go on! I DARE you to explain it to us.

We're waiting ...

'Gadji beri bimba'

gadji beri bimba glandridi laula lonni cadori
gadjama gramma berida bimbala glandri galassassa laulitalomini
gadji beri bin blassa glassala laula lonni cadorsu sassala bim
gadjama tuffm i zimzalla binban gligla wowolimai bin beri ban
o katalominai rhinozerossola hopsamen laulitalomini hoooo
gadjama rhinozerossola hopsamen
bluku terullala blaulala loooo

zimzim urullala zimzim urullala zimzim zanzibar zimzalla zam
elifantolim brussala bulomen brussala bulomen tromtata
velo da bang band affalo purzamai affalo purzamai lengado tor
gadjama bimbalo glandridi glassala zingtata pimpalo ögrögöööö
viola laxato viola zimbrabim viola uli paluji malooo

tuffm im zimbrabim negramai bumbalo negramai bumbalo tuffm i zim
gadjama bimbala oo beri gadjama gaga di gadjama affalo pinx
gaga di bumbalo bumbalo gadjamen
gaga di bling blong
gaga blung


~ Hugo Ball

Submitted by FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

AOW and SilverFiddle both raise an important point:

It really doesn't matter very much what we SAY or what we DO -- barring murder and all that, of course.

All that matters is the MOTIVATION behind it, and the MANNER in which it is expressed.

OR -- as Shakespeare put it:

"There's nothing either right or wrong, but thinking makes it so."

~ FT

Z said...

Rush is right.
I don't think children should ever come second in a mother's life and they must when their mother's in the military.
I also have heard from many military people that girls are getting pregnant in the military, some by men who aren't their husbands, etc.
This whole silly experiment isn't working but God forbid we hear the truth about it from our media.

"Military Lactivists" (is that yours, SF? brilliant)
The picture says so much and none of it's good. These are military warriors? If that makes me anti breast feeding to some of you, we have more problems than even I think.

I'm wondering if Al Qaeda will use this picture on recruitment pamphlets "See? That's military? Piece of cake."

Silverfiddle said...

@ FT: I defy you to "understand" it. go on! I DARE you to explain it to us.

Easy. It was the middle of winter and Mr. Ball got his tongue stuck trying to lick a flagpole.

Anonymous said...

Several years ago, you may remember the tremendous brouhaha over some bizarre Mormon Cult who still practiced polygamy in the confines of their private Texas compound. Much was made of "child brides" made pregnant at 14 by some randy old goat.

The sort of irony Shaw described in her "restaurant post" I saw in the Texas situation.

Naturally, I too full advantage of poetic license in the following, but it still makes a point about the inanities and inconsistencies embedded in our culture.


IRONIC TRANSFORMATION
Regarding the Daughters of FLDS*

Fee Fie Fo Fum!
I smell the stench of a leftist bum.
Be it black or be it Commie
I'd send it crying for its Mommy.

Glory! Glory! I get pissed
When I see an activist
Throwing out some grubby daughter
With the bathtub full of water

Just because she looked so plain
Prim, ill-clad with unstyled mane
She was looked on as a child
Older lechers had defiled.

Had she been a raving beauty
Lib’rals would have felt a duty
To gild and then perfume her tub
And let her join their gen'man's club.

Then, someone's little girl at last
Would soon forget her dreary past.
Become a wild ecdysiast,
Living life as one big blast.

The Mormons’ shame she’d cared not for.
“Dear, Judge, I love to play the whore.
“The gen’men here are oh so nice;
“I just adore my life of vice.”

“Before I lived just like a nun
“Pregnant with a little one
“Serving all my family’s needs
“Enslaved to dull domestic deeds.”

“Sex was just another chore
“It really was an awful bore.
“Now you’ve shown me it is fun.
“To hell with living like a nun!”

“Thank you for my liberation
“It’s for me a graduation
“No more working night and day
“At night I now get paid to play.”

“Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
“I just love getting paid to play.
“Texas Raiders –– every one ––
“Give me pleasure by the ton.”


~ FreeThinke (2008)

_________________________

* FLDS in case you don't remember stands for Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

Sam Huntington said...

Leftists: defying common sense for 100 years.

Ducky's here said...

I found the meaning of Dada


You'll just have to find your own, FT.

Ducky's here said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ducky's here said...

"...
I shall be reading poems that are meant to dispense with conventional language, no less, and to have done with it. Dada Johann Fuchsgang Goethe. Dada Stendhal. Dada Dalai Lama, Buddha, Bible, and Nietzsche. Dada m'dada. Dada mhm dada da. It's a question of connections, and of loosening them up a bit to start with. I don't want words that other people have invented. All the words are other people's inventions. I want my own stuff, my own rhythm, and vowels and consonants too, matching the rhythm and all my own. If this pulsation is seven yards long, I want words for it that are seven yards long. Mr Schulz's words are only two and a half centimetres long.
..."

The Dada Manifesto
Hugo Ball


But I really don't see how Dada relates to breast feeding, FT.

Bunkerville said...

And just where do they pack and carry rifle, ammo and other assorted equipment?

Ducky's here said...

Well FT, if Kapital had turned men into machines that seems consistent with the type of "poetry" they would write. Rhythmic but devoid of any reason or logic.

Silver may be interested to know that Ball rejected the Dada movement after a few years and lived quite happily as a devout Roman Catholic.

Anonymous said...

To paraphrase my old friend Gertrude Stein on whom I once did a term paper many long years ago:

An ass is an ass is an ass.

Unless you count Lewis Carroll for his "Jabberwocky" -- a legitimate position to be sure -- Ms. Stein -- a genuine "original" -- may have been the first "Dada poet" -- among other things. Whether so categorized or not, her collection of short poems called Tender Buttons certainly qualifies her to be classified as a Dadaist.

The following example form Tender Button adequately illustrates the point, although in reading through Tender Buttons there are still many recognizable links to those things that make us human, which does not appear to be so in the example provided by Mr. Ball:

MILDRED'S UMBRELLA

A cause and no curve,
a cause and loud enough,
a cause and extra a loud clash
and an extra wagon,
a sign of extra, a sac a small sac
and an established color and cunning,
a slender grey and no ribbon,
this means a loss a great loss a restitution.


~ Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)

Since life is neither fair nor rational, despite all our fervent attempt to make it so, studying works that reflect the hopeless confusion and inanity of the Human Condition can be amusing. Everything does not have to make sense in order to be worthwhile, although I could never recommend abandoning the search for meaning in existence. We just haven't yet devised any reliable formulas for achieving it.


~ FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

Sam,

You said it very well, and I agree, but we also must remember there is a world -- a very real, puzzling, fascinating, terrifying world -- that exists -- and apparently thrives -- outside the realm of Common Sense.

I once found a motto in a greeting card sent to longtime friends. It has stayed with me, and still appeals and gives reassurance:

Life is a Mystery to be Lived -- Not a Problem to be Solved.

It took me decades, but I finally learned the wisdom of leaving in God's capable hands the things I have no power to do anything about.

"All this struggling and striving to make the world better is a great mistake; not because it isn't a good thing to improve the world, if you know how to do it, but because striving and struggling is the worst way you could set about doing anything."

~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Despite Shaw's recent besmirchment by Glenn Beck, a man who probably means well, but has a very limited background, and seems incapable of appreciating the beauty of subtlety and depth of understanding, the great playwright and music critic had much to say of enduring value.

~ FreeThinke

Hack said...

You are definitely right about the military becoming one big social experiment. Women like the two above and open, flamboyant gays in units, deployed or not, are a detriment to cohesion, unity, and morale and I can attest to this first hand.

Mustang said...

Shaw asked, “Really? You indict all mothers because of what one irresponsible mother did?”

Answer: Try working on your reading skills. Nothing I wrote indicted all mothers. But now that you mention it, I think statistics reflect mothers are aborting their children in epidemic numbers, and I think the numbers of babies born addicted to drugs is rather high as well. Is this your definition of good nurturing?

I don’t agree with the concept of stay-at-home fathers except under the most unusual circumstances. Fathers should not strive to become mommies. I do understand leftists advocate this sort of deviance, but then no one ever accused the left of having good ideas about social policy.

Ducky's here said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ducky's here said...

@mustang - In light of the female who recently left her infant on the roof of her car while she drove across town, an incident that thankfully ended well for the child, I can’t say I have much confidence in the institution of motherhood.

------

Doesn't seem to be anything equivocal there, Mr. Muy Mucho Macho.

Now run along and kill some Muslims or whatever you do. Make yourself useful. Make the world safe for the Old Testament.

J.O.B. said...

Fiddle- I agree completely. Breast feeding has been proven to be very beneficial for babies.
I don't view homosexuality as a bad thing either.

But when it comes to the military, there should be a different set of rules. If for nothing more, maybe just for morale. It might suck for breast feeding Mothers and open homosexuals, but no one forced them to join.

Shaw Kenawe said...

@mustang: "In light of the female who recently left her infant on the roof of her car while she drove across town, an incident that thankfully ended well for the child, I can’t say I have much confidence in the institution of motherhood."

True. You didn't write "all mothers" but you DID write "I can't say I have much confidence in the institution of motherhood."

FYI, those who belong to the "institution of motherhood" are all mothers. Therefore, I understood that what you wrote was an indictment on mothers.

@mustang wrote: "I think statistics reflect mothers are aborting their children in epidemic numbers, and I think the numbers of babies born addicted to drugs is rather high as well. Is this your definition of good nurturing?"

No. Did I write that it was?

@mustang wrote: "Fathers should not strive to become mommies. I do understand leftists advocate this sort of deviance, but then no one ever accused the left of having good ideas about social policy."

That was probably a nice idea about 40 years ago. Not anymore. Sometimes the mommies make more money than the daddies, therefore, it's best for the family finances if the mommy works and the daddy stays home and nurtures the children. BTW, when a daddy does this, it's called being a "daddy" to the children, not being a "mommy." Lots of dads do a very fine job of raising their children while mom brings home the tofu.

Anonymous said...

STALEMATE

When both extremes of "doctrinaire"
Meet and greet, too often
Their meeting fails to clear the air,
And each side fails to soften.


~ FreeThinke

Mustang said...

@Shaw: “That was probably a nice idea about 40 years ago…”

I think it is true we have made great strides in some areas of society, while in other areas we are a dismal failure. After sixty years of the leftist education model, we cannot be proud of our children’s scholastic achievements, when compared to other industrialized (and a few third world) nations. At-home mothers are able to supervise their children after school, help them with homework, and involve them in worthwhile activities, such as scouting. At home mothers help ensure children “do their chores,” which is an important part of the transition to adulthood.

Absentee and disinterested parents produce something less than desirable, don’t you think? Remember, we were talking about establishing priorities. If young mothers think working outside the home is more important than raising their children, then no one should be surprised when their unsupervised children involve themselves in dismal and dangerous activities.

While American society faces a plethora of problems, few communities want to address them in a meaningful way. There are so many heart-wrenching examples it is difficult to know where to begin. We bemoan “gangs,” but fail to address absentee fathers who create a need for them. We shun traditional family relationships, but we have plenty of patience for expensive juvenile courts. How has progressive policy strengthened the black community? I am only saying you should carefully consider these factors before you reject the past. Quality parents produce quality adults … the opposite is also true.

Ducky's here said...

So we all go back to Ozzie and Harriet, mustang? Dad has some job that is never revealed and moms keeps house and somehow we manage to support the consumption the economy depends on to avoid seizing up like it is now?

Hard to put the genie back in the bottle now isn't it?

I have it !!! Let's smash unions so that a one earner wage is impossible. That should get mom back in the old kitchen.

Yeah, you talk a good game but your overall theory has a few inconsistencies.

As Shaw said, 40 years ago it was pretty to think so. But Kapital realized we'd pitch it all for a really big flat screen TV and never look at what happened.

Anonymous said...

"Easy. It was the middle of winter and Mr. Ball got his tongue stuck trying to lick a flagpole."

Just hadda tell ya it took me a full twenty minutes to stop laughing after I read that.

Of course he might have taken in a big mouthful of hot potato too.

An griddle mays norgenspout gablit enshabile kirumbilge schnapps aveton looglit, barforidelster avacksytuff etc.

~ FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

More like Father Knows Best, or Leave it to Beaver, or My Little Margie, Canardo.

I favor the Swiss Family Robinson model, myself

~ FT

viburnum said...

I don't have any issue with breastfeeding, in any way. It is unconscionable that a woman could be chased into a restroom to feed her child. We're mammals. Get over it!

I do however have a definite problem with whatever blithering idiot decided it would be OK for women in the military to bring infants along on a reserve training weekend. What are they thinking?

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

Shaw said
"Should we believe all military men are insane murderers because of what Nidal Malik Hasan did at Ft. Hood"

I don't believe anyone was thinking it was "military men" who were the insane ones here.

Louis H. said...

Is ducky head full of shit?

Sam Huntington said...

Was that a rhetorical question, Louis?

Ducky's here said...

Swiss Family Robinson, FT? I suppose so but I'd hoped you'd gained a more postmodern sensibility.
Maybe a the new family unit?

Ducky's here said...

Ouch that hurt, Sam.

That your best material? It is a rare fringe right bed wetter who has a sense of humor.

Makes us long for Freethinker's rants.

Jersey McJones said...

"Our country is not in mortal danger where we need every last citizen manning the battle lines."

Thank you, Silver. That has to be one of the smartest things any American has ever said. Absolutely true. And has been true for 147 years now.

But history dragged us into the Second World War, and our little "empire" became a worldwide octopus, and we're still doing it today. We have been essentially fighting World War Three for 67 years.

It's been a terrible mistake. We need to think more about our common good, and less about bullshit bogeymen.

JMJ

JMJ

Liberalmann said...

Rush Limbaugh said it best: "The mission of the military is to kill people and break things. I served with many outstanding women..."

Rush is a liar who NEVER served

Finntann said...

@Shaw: Yes, the military's mission is to kill and break things, but the military also has desk jobs and other non-combat areas where these mothers could serve just as well.

Yet the policy is in order to remain in the military, you must maintain combat eligibility. There are many folks who could sit desk jobs and perform in other non-combat areas that are separated because they are not eligible to deploy.

@Ducky's @What stupidity, breast feeding?
Yup, a long, long time. The marine finally got one right.

Wrong... you found the meaning of Dada, why don't you go find the meaning of context... that is not what Mustang said.

25 years in the military, including time in combat units and I have no problem with women in the military or even in combat. In fact, if you asked me to put together a hand-picked combat team of people I've worked with, no restrictions, about a third would be women, which says a lot since they are only about 20% of the force (Air Force).

The problem isn't with women in the military or in combat but with a specific subset of women. I could point and name names of specific women in the military who never met fitness or weight standards and who never deployed because they gamed the system, in essence being serially pregnant and on restricted duty for most of their careers.

But then, that's not a problem with women but with leadership and the way the rules are structured. Males can not as easily game the system as females, although some do manage to pull it off. Of those that do manage to game the system, gender is irrelevant.

As for breastfeeding in or out of uniform, it doesn't bother me. Bringing your infant to work however is another story. My wife breast fed and worked, she simply pumped at work. If you can't pump, regretably that's a personal problem, there is no constitutional right to bring your rugrats to work. My specific question would be does their CO allow male members to bring their children to work on their guard weekends if they haven't made arrangements for dependent care?

Cheers!

Ducky's here said...

Wrong... you found the meaning of Dada, why don't you go find the meaning of context... that is not what Mustang said.
-------------------

Why are Libertarians so sarcasm challenged? It's a trait of the fringe right in general.

viburnum said...

Lib-Mann: "Rush is a liar who NEVER served"

Try reading the punctuation marks son. That was SF who served with many outstanding women.

I believe the original of that quote came from Col. Harry Summers, a former instructor at the Army War College, later a talking head for CBS after he was shit canned for being a little too outspoken.

The original went something to the effect of " The purpose of the United States military is to kill people and destroy things in the name of the United States government when that government decides that such action is in the pursuit of the national interest." As I recall it was said in reference to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut as a complaint about being in the wrong place, doing the wrong job, with the wrong people.

Lisa said...

hahaha Libdud gets pwned again as did the Unions and the democrats in Wisconsin woooohooooo!!!!!
So much for irrelevancy of the Tea Party.

Trekkie4Ever said...

If they are in uniform they should not be nursing, they are quite aware of military policy.

I found this shameful. And as a mother who nursed her baby, and worked a 40 hour a week factory job I used a Medela Pump on my breaks to pump my milk.

These women can use breast pumps and save their milk and yes, bottle feed them with their milk. They are still getting the nutrients the babies need and when not working, breast feed, not big deal.

Many working mom's have to do that and so can they.

They are in the military, they took an oath and maybe they need to choose either their children or their military careers or buy a breast pump. I was never in favor of women being in combat, but that battle got lost due to feministic views.

And for the record, there is ABSOLUTELY no need for a woman to just pop out her breast in public, there are nursing blankets, that allow the babies to breathe and they are NOT going to suffocate. I think they do it for shock value, it is very inappropriate and shows poor etiquette.

Silver, I am so glad you posted on this, because this was my next post!! Great minds, think alike.

KP said...

Great thread. Every blog is more enjoyable and more educational when it has opposing views. Good work SF!

I think any position is undermined when you read stuff like "his head is full of shit". Self sabotage is part of being human; but not productive.

Most Rev. Gregori said...

In today's brave new world, it seems that stupidity comes first, then if there is still time, that can be followed by decorum and duty.

KP said...

I recall walking through the San Diego airport with my brother who was a Captain in the Navy at the time and on leave and in Levis and a t-shirt.

Two young military guys were walking in the other direction; their ties were lose and they were too loud and looked a little too happy.

He didn't say anything to me, he just went their way, got close and quietly said something to them without identifying himself. Those two guys were crisp so fast it made my head spin.

I asked what happened? What did you say? He said, I quietly told them they better fix it, fast.

BOOM!

That is how it should be.

Silverfiddle said...

Leticia: I'm looking forward to your take!

KP: Your brother is a wise man. The best leaders are the ones who correct quietly. The smart ones straighten up, and the dumb ones won't no matter how you address them.

Ducky's here said...

Why is the fringe right so hung up about the human body?

This tempest in a teapot reminds me of the time John Asscroft had those dirty statues in the capital rotunda covered.

KP said...

@Ducky I don't think this has anything to do with the human body. It has everything to do with the military and it's current protocol. The military is not fringe anything. It is dead serious so it's people don't end up dead. Commanders put their entire focus on everyone returning from a tour of duty. If that happens on an air craft carrier I can assure the leadership is not an accident.

Finntann said...

sarcasm challenged?

If you think that's sarcasm you're the one who's challenged.

Silverfiddle said...

KP: Dead on!

FreeThinke calls Ducky "Canardo," and it's easy to see why.

Trekkie4Ever said...

Silver, I think I just gave you my take on it, lol!!

Women that work outside their homes, need breast pumps, period.

Anonymous said...

Q. What do you call a female FBI agent?

A. A breast-FED!

Hugh Farnham said...

The reason I liked that photo was how it exposed today's USAF in bold relief. I almost photo shopped the gals slinging M-4's over their shoulders while doing their mammy thing.

You can ignore political correctness, but you can't ignore the effects of political correctness.

Hugh Farnham said...

I almost forgot to add the outrageous addendum to this story:

The USAF uniform board is seriously considering adding a nursing uniform to our Air Force wardrobe. In Air Battle camouflage.

What do you think our enemies think when they see this silliness?

Yes. They laugh, too - at our weakness.

Stogie said...

FreeThinke calls Ducky "Canardo," and it's easy to see why.M

I prefer the term "Rubber Ducky" because he's so real, sincere, polite and correct.

That was sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

I'm STILL looking at the mental images of women in fox holes acting coy and seductive, men under fire succumbing to temptation singly -- or in groups -- then women five, six, eight months pregnant suffering from morning sickness, then nursing babies fathered by God knows whom -- all this while machine gun bullets whiz overhead, and the sky is filled with the rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air giving proof day and night that our sanity's not there.

WOMEN do NOT belong in COMBAT. Maybe hardened, cigar-chomping, crew-cut, bull dykes do, but not WOMEN.

If you accept the idea of WOMEN as EQUAL to MEN in COMBAT, you are a "modern" man who has been metrosexualized.

~ FreeThinke