Somehow Being Sweet Like a Sailor does not have the Same Ring

Since when is cursing like a sailor against the law? I do it all the time so I was surprised when one of my readers (thanks Bruce) emailed me this a href=”http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601110157jan11,0,7485808.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed”Chicago Tribune article /aabout a sailor who is facing a court martial and criminal charges brought against him for doing what sailors do best–cursing. He is also being charged with sexual harrassment for making some “spicy comments” about his ex-wife that was overheard by a female midshipman. I’m sorry but if you can’t take men or women talking this way even to your face, you do not belong in the Navy but in a convent where sweet, untarnished behavior is expected. The good news is, the article reports that sexual harrassment complaints are down, but this is not enough for champions of victims rights:br /br /blockquoteThis is not necessarily good news if you’re in the business of victim advocacy–and it is a business, perhaps soon to become a career choice if Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) has her way. Slaughter is the sponsor of a 95-page bill that would create a Pentagon Office of Victim Advocacy. We may never win the war on terror, but we’ll by golly win the war on hurt feelings.br /br /Slaughter’s bill has met with little success thus far, but the Pentagon is working on the idea. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, reports that the Pentagon contracted with the Wellesley College Centers for Women to study the idea of an OVA and make recommendations. Wellesley has submitted a report for which it was paid $50,000, but the Pentagon has not released it./blockquotebr /br /Wow, I trust Wellesley College to make unbiased decisions on the behalf of women–I mean victims–everywhere. Somehow, I bet that if we did not have enough victims already, we’ll certainly be having more if such an asinine bill flies.