But we also need to be talking more broadly about military's failure to address sexual harassment & assault of troops by colleagues & superiors. After 30+ years of "zero tolerance" policies, assaults & harassment keeps going up: bit.ly/2BOKjbG
Too often military not only fails to address sexual assaults & harassment - victims are the ones who face punitive or administrative discipline instead of the perpetrators: bit.ly/3i7Y0Df
Despite a lot of work and good intentions, there remain very good reasons why a lower-enlisted soldier like #VanessaGuillen would't risk reporting persistent harassment or threat of danger. bit.ly/2NCrCdX
Fort Hood is a huge installation - and although I've never been there, I can recite at least a dozen shocking crimes I knew that happened there. Some say it gets a bad rap, but I'm among those asking WHAT IS UP W/ FORT HOOD. Also #renamethebasesbit.ly/2BcdXru
Remember when RAND did a study of "sexual assault risk" by installation? (Like, what employer gives you your risk of being assaulted by your co-workers?) 7% of all women at Fort Hood were estimated to have experienced assault that year. bit.ly/2AdA684
Also younger troops are at far greater risk of being assaulted by sexual predators who are also their colleagues and superiors: bit.ly/2YH3A7G
All of which is to say #VanessaGuillen represents a nexus of troubling issues the military still fails to address. Vanessa didn't know all this when she signed up, nor did her family. They shouldn't have had to. They deserve justice. #FindVanessaGuillen
The #FindVanessaGuillen case gets weirder & more tragic w/ each passing day. More unidentified remains found outside of base, more tragedy unfolding like a badly written murder mystery show. What in the world is going on at Fort Hood? abc13.co/3eRAKaj
Military leadership is absent here. #VanessaGuillen family speaks on murder & remains found near Ft Hood. Imagine if disappearance was treated like missing weapon or NVG. Imagine a military where troops don't have to fear rape or murder by colleagues. bit.ly/2CZTcjb
This is absolutely devastating. #VanessaGuillen sister says she wanted to join @USArmy since she was 10 yrs old. Yet "they treated her like she was nothing," she says, calling for Ft Hood to be shut down. #JusticeForVanessaGuillen
I read this yesterday. I keep wanting to scream. This is an important piece. But it is nowhere damning enough. A few thoughts: 1/ theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
First, it is surprising to notice someone who ran relentless cover for the Biden withdrawal last August seems to feel bad about it now & is made out to be someone of conscience here. It's puzzling, but not the point of the piece. 2/
Also, let it be known that Mission Essential Personnel has told more lies about our #AfghanAllies than the Taliban. This was systemic betrayal of loyal Afghans. They fired our friends for "security reasons" time & again. It seems directed at SIV denial.
Rush Limbaugh's legacy of stoking hate, bigotry, insults & lies will sadly live on. Remembering today the bile he spewed at veterans. Like when he called veterans wounded in Iraq "phony soldiers" for speaking up about the lies that started the war: abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2…
On transgender military service, Rush Limbaugh offered this "support" for the troops: "So the Trannies Could Now Get Into The Military Along With Everybody Else. Of Course, What Could Go Wrong?" mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/…
At one point, women veterans demanded Rush Limbaugh be taken off of Armed Forces Network because of the misogynist hatred he spewed. He was never taken off the programming. stripes.com/blogs/stripes-…
A few years ago @CapitolPolice arrested more than 150 peaceful protesters, many of them sexual assault survivors, using their 1st amendment right to protest the Kavanaugh nomination. I haven't been able to find one report or photo of any marauders or looters arrested today.
When disability rights protesters peacefully objected to cuts in Medicaid, more than 180 were arrested. @CapitolPolice took down people with physical disabilities. I have not yet found even one marauder or looter handled like these disabled heroes were.
When disabled people peacefully protested the harm legislators wanted to inflict upon them - @CapitolPolice literally flipped people out of their wheelchairs. I've seen no such aggression toward those who looted our Capitol today.
I don't wish COVID-19 or any illness on anyone. But like countless others, I'm enraged it took this long for the WH to put on masks. To treat this as the crisis it is. 210k dead. Mourning families. Unpayable medical debts. Lost jobs & businesses. This global tragedy is unending.
Seeing discussions of helicopter vs. ground travel from WH to Walter Reed - which is well and interesting - got me thinking of March-May in NYC when ambulances were constant, EMS & ER staff were overwhelmed & hospitals had morgue trailers filling with our neighbors & loved ones.
Wishing New Yorkers had options then - or that other Americans have options now. In early months, folks were told to stay home unless they couldn't breathe. Hospital hall space was taken up with critical patients, many of whom died from lack of staffing & equipment.
That "308,000 deaths in the military" number is very specific, so I did a simple search. Appears that 308,000 is the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. Real numbers, real lives - zero context here in #Debates2020. statista.com/chart/20699/es…
More than 20k people died of COVID-19 in my city. Healthcare workers had no PPE. NYC begged for supplies & equipment as morgue trailers filled. Deceased people were carried away in rental vans. We were failed by our federal govt profoundly. politico.com/news/2020/03/2…
NYC saved lives by limiting social contact and mandating masks. We do not want to go back to the mass-death we experienced in terrifying early months of this pandemic. This isn't a game, this isn't a political football. Americans are dying. #Debates2020