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We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government.

-James Madison

Webb on Women in the Military

This speaks for itself...

...but I'll make a few comments anyway. Jim Webb’s comments about women in 1976 were wrong, and he doesn’t seem to recognize this even today. Russert gives him the perfect opportunity to say that he was wrong, and it should be easy, because time (and some courageous women) have proven him wrong. Everybody is wrong from time to time. But he just won’t say it. Why?

The comments were not only wrong, they were irresponsible, as they were made while women were in the military academies. He says that he doesn’t think it was wrong to participate in the debate at that time, but the fact is that his participation was harmful to those women, and therefore the military itself. It was a stance that was unhelpful, combative, and inflexible. I understand his statement about 4:18 on this clip regarding using the military for social experimentation. But neither can the military be allowed to violate legal standards of equality simply for the sake of a slow transition in warrior mindset.

I won’t refuse to vote for Webb on this one issue, of course, but it just doesn’t instill confidence. I prefer to see a politician admit when something they said was wrong, which Webb’s comments were. This brings up another part of the interview, however.

Right after this clip, Russert asked George Allen about some comments he made regarding whether women should be allowed into Virginia Military Institute. Quoting Allen:

Russert: From American Enterprise magazine, “If Virginia Military Institute admitted women, it wouldn’t be the VMI that we’ve known for 154 years. You just don’t treat women the way you treat fellow cadets. If you did, it would be ungentlemanly, it would be improper.” Men and women shouldn’t be treated the same at a military institution?

Allen: The regiment at VMI and the way that it was… the curriculum, the training, would be ungentlemanly to treat women the way that they were doing it.

Without defining what Allen meant at the time by the word “gentlemanly”, I have to point out that this is completely accurate. Now that VMI admits women, it is not the VMI that it used to be. For better or worse, it’s not the same. The curriculum and training have been changed, and there is no point in denying this. But Allen backed away from saying so:

Russert: But has women at VMI worked?

Allen: Yes, it has.

Russert: So you were wrong?

Allen: Well, we were wrong. But here’s the point, here’s the difference: the Supreme Court said we were wrong, [and] we complied with that decision.

No, Senator. SCOTUS said that the practice of not allowing women into VMI was wrong. They did not say that the women should be subjected to the curriculum and training that were in place for 154 years. They said that women had to be admitted, and had to be given access to the same curriculum, training, and opportunities as the men. Senator Allen should have stepped up and said that VMI has done an excellent job of adapting to this new environment (and he probably could take some of the credit there, too). But he let Russert give the impression that it is the same VMI as it ever was, and the same ungentlemanly environment that used to exist.

I said that I prefer to see a politician admit when something they said was wrong, but Allen admitted to being wrong when I don't feel he actually was.

I will likely put out some more thoughts on today's Meet the Press. Perhaps after the kids are in bed...

Posted by Wulf on September 17, 2006 at 03:21 PM

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We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government.

-James Madison

Webb on Women in the Military

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