CHICAGO, February 11, 2012―Rick Santorum needs to spend some time in a foxhole in Afghanistan before he starts lecturing the military. When bullets are flying and missiles are exploding, Santorum believes our servicemen will be distracted by sex.
Rick Santorum reiterated on NBC’s Today show yesterday that he does not believe women should be fighting in the U.S. military. The problem is not with the women, he says. The problem is that the men in the U.S. military might not be able to focus on the mission if women are in danger.
U.S. Military Women
At the GOP debate in Florida last September, Santorum told an openly gay serviceman who had just been booed by the audience that he would work to “circumvent” the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell because “sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.” Santorum’s statement echoes what other homophobic men have stated in backyard, grill-side discussions: They would not want to be in a foxhole worrying about what the gay guy next to them was going to try.
Anyone who is in a foxhole with bullets flying and missiles exploding, who then stops to consider whether fallen comrades are male or female and what their sexual preferences are instead of focusing on their mission, is not someone who should be defending our freedom.
The debates over women and gays in the military have many arguments on both sides. People who worry over gays in the military have their opinions on women as well: “Carrying a stretcher was a four-man job; we let women in and now it’s a six-person job.” “If women want to do the same things as men, they should go through the same training, carry the same weight, run the same miles.” Some of these arguments have merit. If women are going to be on the front lines, they’d better be able to drag their 200 pound comrade out of harm’s way when he’s unconscious. And they only are on the front lines if they can.
“If women really want equality, why aren’t there as many female bodies coming home as male bodies?” The lack of thought in that sentiment is staggering.
But back to the topic at hand, which is this: Rick Santorum does not have faith in the character of the U.S. military. He believes that when lives and freedom are on the line, both gender and sexual orientation are forefront in the minds of our fighting forces.
Lori Piestewa, 1st American Indian woman killed
Santorum believes men have a natural tendency to protect women. If Santorum were in the foxhole, would he help the female soldier with a broken finger before he would help a male soldier who just got his hand blown off? Would he stop to ask if they were both heterosexual before deciding whom to help? And if the answer to either of those questions is “yes,” which of those three people would you vote out of your foxhole?
Actually, that’s a bad example. The female soldier’s “motherly” instinct is just as strong as Santorum’s “protective” instinct. She would be bandaging the male soldier’s wrist even with a broken finger.
To be perfectly honest, the average American has no idea how the female soldier, the male soldier or Santorum would react in this situation because the average American has not trained for it. But the American soldier, whether male, female, gay or straight, has trained for it. They know what to do. They know what is expected of them. And they deserve a Commander in Chief who believes in their commitment to doing it.
If men are truly so weak that they must help the fragile female above all else, wouldn’t it make sense to stock the whole front line with females? Surely the Taliban would come to their aid rather than stick to their mission at hand.
Julia Goralka strongly believes that anyone who wears a uniform that says they are willing to die for you on a daily basis, whether military, police, firefighter or first responder, deserves the utmost respect. To contact her, see above.
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