Tom Finneran: On Hillary Clinton and the Marines

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Friday, February 28, 2014

Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Only a fool would bet against Hillary Clinton’s chances for becoming the next President of the United States. Having high regard for the money I earn, I would not make that bet. She has the political ability and the burning ambition to once again enter the insane inhuman arena of presidential politics. And while the Republicans as a whole stand an equally good chance of securing the White House, I’m reminded that the specific candidate himself or herself is absolutely crucial to the outcome. Neither Sarah Palin nor Herman Cain nor Donald Trump nor Newt Gingrich is EVER going to become President of the United States. They might have charisma or charm or money or fame or political experience, but they will not get by the American people. Candidates and campaigns matter.

Learning from her mistakes

For proof of the point, consider Hillary’s ignominious defeat by the upstart Barack in 2008. While many pundits continue to embarrass themselves in full swoon to President Obama’s “talent” and “history-making”, the truth of the matter is that Hillary ran a horrible campaign, plagued by infighting and coasting on the assumption that it was “Hillary’s turn”. Give credit to Team Obama for puncturing the mythical pretensions and the presumptions in that theory. No one glides into the White House on an air of assumption. The prize must be fought for………….

Hillary’s big advantage for the 2016 race goes back to 2008, the lessons learned then and there, including the accumulation of instructive scar tissue. She emerged from the knife fight of the nomination both sadder and wiser. She will not forget those lessons and she will be a formidable opponent. Nor should anyone discount the “history” involved in electing the first woman President. There are lots of women for whom the demolition of that historic barrier will be sufficient reason to vote for Hillary in 2016. You know, “I am woman, hear me roar” stuff……………………

Gender Equality

Speaking of women, I note that the Pentagon is on the march to a mandate requiring combat arms “opportunities” to be opened up to women by 2016. The old-fashioned guy in me cringes at the thought. And yes, I am aware that other nations appear to include women in fully integrated roles in their military units. Nonetheless, I ask whether this push for “gender equality” is not dangerous to our interests.

And I further ask the meek and mild Pentagon why is it that equality is to be achieved by defining the standards downward? Is political correctness allowed to trump combat readiness? As the father of two very capable daughters I take a backseat to no one on a woman’s ability to serve and excel in virtually any role. But I sense a surrender, a total capitulation, to political goals which are unhinged from the realities of the battlefield. Scaling walls, carrying comrades, lugging arms and ammo, is not for the faint of heart. Many guys cannot do it. Combat does not occur on the manicured fairways of Augusta National, with caddies at hand. It occurs in frightful places under frightful conditions and it inevitably requires some very basic brute strength.

Bowing to political correctness

In the most recent example of the Pentagon’s bow to political correctness and its retreat from combat readiness, it has scrapped a basic strength requirement because some 55% of women Marine recruits could not pass the three-pull-up test. This was a proposed unisex threshold for all Marines, male and female. And with 55% of the female recruits unable to pass this scaled-down test, the Pentagon panicked and called for “more study” of gender norms.

Here’s a radical thought for the Pentagon’s consideration---set a standard, a high and meaningful standard for battlefield combat, and anyone who passes the standard enters the combat unit. If my daughter can do ten or twelve or fifteen pull-ups (and one of them could), then she’s in. And if my other daughter could not do the paltry minimum of three, then she’s out. Not every guy will qualify for a combat unit. Not many guys would qualify. Why then the silly search for standards that will pass every girl into physically elite units?

Is it not obvious that all of us have vastly differing talents? Square pegs don’t fit into round holes and the recruit who can do twenty pull-ups, fifty pushups, and a ten mile run in full combat gear might not be able to read a map or analyze a satellite reconnaissance photo.

Advice for Hillary

Back to Hillary for a moment. She could do herself a world of good with the utterance of a few simple points on this question of women in the military. Do you remember Bill Clinton’s “Sister Souljah” moment? It occurred at a moment in the campaign where he felt the need to show that he was not a member of the loony left brigades of the Democratic Party. Memory tells me that “Sister Souljah” was singing the praises of cop-killers, as if they were freedom fighters. Bill Clinton cleverly inserted himself into the controversy around the song and denounced it without equivocation. Voila! He made himself mainstream, normal, and eminently electable.

Hillary could do the same with some words of wisdom and reassurance for the Pentagon brass, that they need not tie themselves in knots to find a fair and sensible outcome. A pull-up is a pull-up is a pull-up, whether it is done by man or woman, friend or foe. And nothing should ever interfere with American troops’ combat readiness. If my daughter can’t meet the battlefield standard then she doesn’t go to the battlefield. What the heck, she could go right to the Pentagon and bring them some badly needed common sense.

Go Hillary! It’s time to roar.

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