Monday, June 17, 2013

No One is Covering or Concerned About the Real Scandal Plaguing The Obama Administration

And the Senate is Not Helping

No, there is no big IRS scandal, just a bunch of incompetent and politically insensitive idiots in the IRS that did what incompetent and politically insensitive people do which is a bunch of stupid things.  And no there is no Libya scandal, that is just something Republicans and their media cronies have cooked up to tarnish Ms. Clinton.

But there is a real scandal, and it is this.  There is a massive number of sexual assaults in the armed forces.


A recent Pentagon survey found that an estimated 26,000 assaults took place last year. Senior military officials have repeatedly traipsed to Capitol Hill this spring to lament the problem but have been ridiculed by members of both parties of the Armed Services Committee for failing to make a dent in the problem.

The military is under the control of the executive branch.  This is a problem where the civilian management of the armed forces has not taken control and demanded a solution to this problem.  And even worse, a Democratic Senate is weakening rather than strengthening proposed reforms.

In a striking showdown between Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and a member of his own party, Mr. Levin said on Tuesday that he would remove a measure aimed at curbing sexual assault in the military from a defense spending bill.

One problem here is that military commanders control the prosecution and even more of a problem commanders can and do overrule a conviction, no explanations given.  So the solution is to take that power away from the military and place it with an independent group that will protect victims and punish wrong doers.  But the Senate, lead by Democrats is rejecting that.

Mr. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said he would replace Ms. Gillibrand’s measure — which has 27 co-sponsors, including four Republicans — with one that would require a senior military officer to review decisions by commanders who decline to prosecute sexual assault cases. Although Mr. Levin’s measure would change the current system, it would keep prosecution of sexual assault cases within the chain of command, as the military wants.

There is no explanation for this, there is no excuse for this, it is simply a scandal that the Obama administration and the Senate Democrats have allowed to fester.  

1 comment:

  1. The notion that a violent criminal can be protected from prosecution because he is a member of the armed forces is incompatible with American democracy.

    You are right that this is an inexcusable problem and a blight on the administration. I wonder why legislative action should be needed at all, considering Obama's powers as Commander-in-Chief. I presume he has the tools he needs to address this problem, but declines to wield them.

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