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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
It's not all of the Republican Party; that's sort of the problem. A big chunk of their monied supporters are, indeed, plutocrats, and therefore so are the politicians they buy. However, they have built a coalition around Angry White Men, a lot of whom are poor and would be shocked to understand just exactly what their party leaders stand for.
Thus, they must pay lip service to standing up for the little guy against Big Government Intrusion. That's the candy coating for their bitter reality.
It really is an amazing story of coalition building, if you think about it. You have plutocrats, anarchists (libertarians), theocrats (evangelicals), and racists all voting in lockstep against anything that even remotely smells of liberalism. Truly I would not have believed it had I not seen the results.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"So, looks like rules keeping women out of combat roles in the military have finally been abandoned. To nobody's surprise, 99.999999999% of internet comments about it is insanely thinly veiled sexism about how inferior women are.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/women-in-combat_n_2535954.html
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:02:02 PM by Midgetsnowman
I spent a good quarter of my life performing in football stadiums, one of which was specifically designed to throw sound all over the place, where I had to play in unison with people 40+ yards away, so all she'll get from me is a good "suck it up, pussy."
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:04:01 PM by Pykrete
I agree. I just find it funny it took less than an hour for idiots to trot out the tired old 'well, its like the NFL. women arent in the NFL because they cant measure up"
or the even more ignorant "well, now they'll see how fun combat is when they get kidnapped and raped" as though thats not already a risk for attached medics.
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:07:30 PM by Midgetsnowman
There is some validity to the argument that women taken as prisoners are more likely to be subject to rape and other indignities, on the basis that the enemies we fight don't believe in equal rights. I'm not sure how that argument uniquely applies to women, though, since the same could be said for soldiers of any ethnic, religious, gender, or other group that the people they are fighting particularly despise.
The other crap is just people insistently demonstrating how shallow their gene pool is. Frankly, if women wish to be soldiers and take the same risks as men, more power to them. We need brave soldiers of all kinds.
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:08:50 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
That may be true, but to be fair. women have already been attached to frontline units as medics or other "not combat" roles, not to mention, they do know the risk going in, so it kind of comes off as "my angel couldnt possibly survive outside her domestic lifestyle!"
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:13:37 PM by Midgetsnowman
Oh, I know. I'm giving it the credit of being one justification that at least has some basis in reality. There are other cases in history that are not gender-related; for example, I seem to recall hearing that Allied Jewish soldiers captured by Germans in World War Two Europe didn't fare so well.
Those aren't reasons for them to be prevented from serving, of course, but they're the sort of thing that I would consider a valid reason to grant a wish not to fight in the front lines.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Yeah. The point is, they have that right to make that choice. Anyone who doesn't get that is not only sexist, but also rather dense.
Though the military needs to have sub-zero tolerance for rape in-service. From what I hear, it's both disturbingly common, and often unreported/ignored.
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:21:36 PM by DrTentacles
Its just kind of sickening to see just how much sexism has vomited forth in the last few hours.
I mean, I know comments on the internet are always toxic, but 99% of Huffpost's comments on this article makes me hate other men to an almost genocidal degree.
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:21:50 PM by Midgetsnowman
There is nothing wrong with a little misanthropy in regards to the baseless comments of idiots. Let's not forget that trolls still rule the internet.
Well, good for our female soldiers. A few years from now, this issue will likely have been forgotten about; you hardly ever hear anyone bitching about the repeal of DADT anymore in the mainstream media. This is one of those "no duh" moments that nevertheless represents a major milestone in our culture.
Of course, sexual harassment in the U.S. military remains a major problem and will likely continue to be a problem for a long time, but that's not directly related to combat roles — if anything you'd imagine it getting better. I have never served but it seems that you necessarily grow to respect the people you fight alongside.
edited 23rd Jan '13 1:27:25 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Harry Reid: Senate will pass House debt ceiling bill
Representative Duncan: Clinton to blame for 'death trap'
Speaker Boehner: Obama's focus on shoving GOP 'into the dustbin of history'
'Zero Dark Thirty' director: I was 'spooked' by Senate investigation
edited 23rd Jan '13 2:50:36 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016The ingrained social concern that "men are expendable and women are not" is hard to put away. It has historically been the men's job to move out and draw fire. Probably a horribly outdated worldview, but it exists.
Even I'm guilty of holding it. I'm going to need some time to process this properly.
Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.I wish they went the other way, and, rather than making it so that both men and women are in the military, make it so neither men nor women are in the military.
edited 23rd Jan '13 2:54:47 PM by deathpigeon
"Speaker Boehner: Obama's focus on shoving GOP 'into the dustbin of history'". Yep, and good riddance. Although Obama isn't really doing anything there; the GOP is doing it to themselves.
Nice thought, but not very realistic.
edited 23rd Jan '13 2:55:07 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Someday we will manage to replace our entire military with killer robots that look like Schwarzenegger.
It'll be totally awesome.
edited 23rd Jan '13 3:05:06 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016

Good for who? FDR's policies were disastrous for the robber baron/magnate class of his period. They tried to stage a coup d'etat against him. Really
.
Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.