Chip Cravaack is a former Navy Academy graduate and pilot; he knows that this goes on in our armed services.
Chip Cravaack has expended a lot of energy, pandering to his tea party base, giving at least lip service to reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Gays in the military aren't a problem; every modern developed country EXCEPT ours has had gays and lesbians serving openly without it being disruptive to good order and morale. Cravaack is just pandering to the same right wing backward homophobes that Bachmann trolls for donations, by offering up stupidity on a stick like criminalizing dressing 'too gay' instead of addressing serious crimes against women like rape. We need real police, civil and military, for real sexual crimes, not fashion police. While the criminalizing gay clothing article is satire, it underlines the reality of the failed priorities of the right that caters to homophobes while ignoring real problems.
Reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a plank in the GOP party platform; that Cravaack still supports doing so, is more evidence that the right is concerned with being 'anti' - anti- women, anti- LGBT, and apparently pro-rape, including in the military where violence against those serving in the armed forces is a problem involving predominantly heterosexual soldiers.
However other similarly developed countries do NOT have our 'culture' of rape tolerance in their military. Lets be clear - this is NOT ONLY a problem for women. Men are harassed and threatened and raped as well, in our military, and would be helped by the STOP Act. According to Catholic Online.org, a source Chip should recognize and respect, but appears to ignore:
So WHY is it that Chip Cravaack doesn't support the STOP ACT, which would address the problems of military rape? Unlike our Republicans from Minnesota in Congress, apparently Amy Klobuchar is aware of the problem and doing something about it; and Al Franken has acted to defend women against rape as well. What is the right wing's problem -- and why does Chip Cravaack fall into line like a mindless robot, incapable of independent thinking or action, with every anti-woman position the right takes? The Right is - effectively - PRO-rape, and anti-women.
This is part of a larger problem where 'Chip' is actively part of the right wing war on women that does NOT support the Violence Against Women Act, and which tries to redefine rape.
Chip has signed on as a cosponsor and voted for MULTIPLE legislative bills that have tried to redefine rape as only the most violent. That would redefine statutory rape of young girls as NOT rape, that would define rape where a woman is rendered unconscious by date rape drugs like 'rufies', or slipped some other form of 'Mickey', or simply gotten drunk to the point of unconsciousness or inability to consent or resist, as NOT raped. It would make it nearly impossible for a woman who had her life threatened or was otherwise viciously coerced to claim rape, if she wasn't battered bruised and bloody. This is misogynistic culture war on women. This is utterly failing to represent the interests of more than half of his constituency who are women. This is totally, utterly, egregiously unacceptable. We need to vote Chip Cravaack out, we need to vote out every single Republican and Tea Partier who is waging war on women. They are aiding and abetting the rapists, and revictimizing the women who have suffered from this crime.
Chip Cravaack needs to go; all of the Republicans in Congress from Minnesota NEED TO GO AWAY. They have chosen to be part of the problems, not the solution.
Chip Cravaack has expended a lot of energy, pandering to his tea party base, giving at least lip service to reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Gays in the military aren't a problem; every modern developed country EXCEPT ours has had gays and lesbians serving openly without it being disruptive to good order and morale. Cravaack is just pandering to the same right wing backward homophobes that Bachmann trolls for donations, by offering up stupidity on a stick like criminalizing dressing 'too gay' instead of addressing serious crimes against women like rape. We need real police, civil and military, for real sexual crimes, not fashion police. While the criminalizing gay clothing article is satire, it underlines the reality of the failed priorities of the right that caters to homophobes while ignoring real problems.
Reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a plank in the GOP party platform; that Cravaack still supports doing so, is more evidence that the right is concerned with being 'anti' - anti- women, anti- LGBT, and apparently pro-rape, including in the military where violence against those serving in the armed forces is a problem involving predominantly heterosexual soldiers.
However other similarly developed countries do NOT have our 'culture' of rape tolerance in their military. Lets be clear - this is NOT ONLY a problem for women. Men are harassed and threatened and raped as well, in our military, and would be helped by the STOP Act. According to Catholic Online.org, a source Chip should recognize and respect, but appears to ignore:
A growing number of advocates are claiming that sexual assault and rape are widespread in the military. At least 200,000 women currently serve with the US military on active duty. However, it is shortsighted to assume that only women are affected. According to other statistics, at least 27 percent of men serving in the military are estimated to have suffered what psychologists call "military sexual trauma" which is either sexual assault, or repeated harassment and threatened assault.
So WHY is it that Chip Cravaack doesn't support the STOP ACT, which would address the problems of military rape? Unlike our Republicans from Minnesota in Congress, apparently Amy Klobuchar is aware of the problem and doing something about it; and Al Franken has acted to defend women against rape as well. What is the right wing's problem -- and why does Chip Cravaack fall into line like a mindless robot, incapable of independent thinking or action, with every anti-woman position the right takes? The Right is - effectively - PRO-rape, and anti-women.
This is part of a larger problem where 'Chip' is actively part of the right wing war on women that does NOT support the Violence Against Women Act, and which tries to redefine rape.
Chip has signed on as a cosponsor and voted for MULTIPLE legislative bills that have tried to redefine rape as only the most violent. That would redefine statutory rape of young girls as NOT rape, that would define rape where a woman is rendered unconscious by date rape drugs like 'rufies', or slipped some other form of 'Mickey', or simply gotten drunk to the point of unconsciousness or inability to consent or resist, as NOT raped. It would make it nearly impossible for a woman who had her life threatened or was otherwise viciously coerced to claim rape, if she wasn't battered bruised and bloody. This is misogynistic culture war on women. This is utterly failing to represent the interests of more than half of his constituency who are women. This is totally, utterly, egregiously unacceptable. We need to vote Chip Cravaack out, we need to vote out every single Republican and Tea Partier who is waging war on women. They are aiding and abetting the rapists, and revictimizing the women who have suffered from this crime.
Chip Cravaack needs to go; all of the Republicans in Congress from Minnesota NEED TO GO AWAY. They have chosen to be part of the problems, not the solution.
Retired Air Force Captain Cravaack should read the Air Force Times article entitled : Report: Repeal of DADT has caused few problems
ReplyDeleteHere are the highlights :
One year after the repeal of "don’t ask, don’t tell," the military has reported no substantial problems as a result of allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, according to a new report.
Despite dire predictions from the Pentagon’s top brass just a few years ago, researchers found the repeal, which took effect in September 2011, has gone smoothly and has not affected military readiness.
"I was somewhat amazed about just how much of a nonissue it was. There was virtually no talk about it whatsoever," David Levy, of the Air Force Academy
No known incidents of violence or assaults have been linked to repeal, according to Pentagon officials and gay-rights advocates, and recruiting and retention remain strong. The vast majority of troops report no impact on their units’ cohesion.
The study also cited its own interviews with dozens of current troops, both heterosexuals and gays, who cited some positive effects of the repeal, such as promoting a greater level of trust among service members.
For example, one Air Force noncommissioned officer recalled an airman in his command who was depressed about his gay partner’s grave illness shortly before a deployment. The repeal of DADT "opened up more possibilities for [troops] to talk about their lives when doing so was necessary for resolving personal issues so they could focus on their mission," the NCO told the researchers.
Meanwhile in other military news, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair who served five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan has been charged with forcible sodomy, multiple counts of adultery and having inappropriate relationships with several female subordinates, forced sex, wrongful sexual conduct, violating an order, possessing pornography and alcohol while deployed, and misusing a government travel charge card and filing fraudulent claims.
When the level of abuse rises to the level of a military general facing court martial, isn't it time for Representative Cravaack to support STOP ?
CONTINUED
Instead of supporting the STOP Act, Representative Cravaack has no problem voting for HR 3541 Prenatal Non-discrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012. It failed to pass (see my commentary discussing the procedural process designed by the GOP to ensure defeat and create a campaign issue), but one Republican, Justin Amash (R-MI) stated the obvious :
ReplyDeleteWhen did Republicans start supporting hate-crime legislation? Hate-crime bills, like H R 3541, are apparently okay if they have to do with a baby’s gender but not okay if they have to do with a person’s skin color or sexual orientation. Or maybe they’re okay if it’s an election year and Republicans are trying to make the President look like he doesn’t care about women. I am appalled and outraged that we would take an issue as sacred as life and use it so cynically as a political weapon.
The bill also shockingly makes it a crime for a medical or mental health professional NOT to turn in someone who they SUSPECT of having committed this thought crime. They can be thrown into prison for a year if they don’t "report known or suspected violations . . . to appropriate law enforcement authorities." Free societies do not criminalize inaction.
I’m pro-life, and I think all abortion should be illegal. But Congress should not criminalize thought. And this bill won’t stop a single abortion if it becomes law. Every person seeking an abortion simply will sign a form stating her motive is not the sex of the baby. Those of us who are pro-life should demand more from Congress.
Raymond Cravaack is a prime example of the wrong type of legislator. We need legislators committed to addressing the real issues and not focused on advancing their own “thoughts” on the rest of us.
Good post … keep it up !