Why Should We Trust The Old Guard With New Ideas

Sows Ears and Old Wine Skins

When I think about trying to make a worthless thing useful; 2 sayings comes to mind. Jonathan Swift (Author of Gulliver's Travels) was credited with the saying "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear." Basically it's organically impossible to make something of value out of what is worthless. Jesus of Nazareth also said "Do not put new wine into old wineskins. If you do the skins will burst spilling the wine on the ground." Now while Jonathan Swift said you can't start out with a useless thing and expect to get something of value, if you put something of value into something that is worn out then you will lose your wine or your ultimate goal. I also remember the words of my Mom who said, "boy you can't half-ass do a job, and get good results."

Compromise is good when you can take the best ideas from everyone, and have the best people making them work. But compromise isn't just some magic bullet that you can use with any situation. You can't just bring ideas together from everyone, and try to do a force fit just to make people happy. Especially when the system or institution still remains broken. You have to look at the ideas and have the guts to say "this won't fit, or help achieve the final goal." And what is the thing that is broken? It's the military justice system. And why is our military justice system broken? It has failed to address the ongoing escalating military sexual assault epidemic in our country, which was reported in 2011 at 11,000 sexual assaults, and which shot up to and estimated (and no doubt still under reported) 26,000 sexual assaults in 2012. And yet we have congressmen and senators who are trying to find a way to fix the problem while leaving the damage-makers in charge. That's like trying to retain a wolf to be a sheep dog! Do I have to tell you, that's a bad idea?

Outrageous Betrayal and Beyond

Trina McDonald

Twenty-five years ago a young, eager 18-year-old, Trina McDonald, was stationed at Naval Security Group Activity in Adak, Alaska. Fresh and scrappy, she was anxious to serve. Meeting up with her sponsor, Trina was shown around the base, and finally with her sponsor finally taking Trina to a bar, and then back to some friend's room where she drank some beer, and remembered not feeling very well. Struggling to make it back to her quarters Trina recalls a man standing in the doorway, and then someone putting a pillow over her head, and being sexually assaulted. The next nine months Trina was drugged and raped repeatedly, personnel she regarded as her friends, as well as senior officers.

"You end up in this position where you think these people were your friends.-- You are stationed with people who have taken the same oath.-- You are going to defend the country, you are going to defend each other-- we would have died for one another.-- and you end up in a situation like I did with someone I considered a friend and being sexually assaulted by this person-- I was devastated." -Trina McDonald The Good Fight Podcast

Terrorized into silence

Why didn't Trina report this inhuman series of nightmarish attacks? Perhaps because one of the persons who committed this heinous act was military police. And others were in authority over her. At one point four officers tossed her in the Bering Sea. With frigid waters over her head she struggled to make it out of the icy waves only to be met by the four men and one woman, who told her to keep her mouth shut, or they would kill her. The final desperate act happened when, after leaving her duty station, Trina discovered her personal effects had been gone through, and pictures along with civilian information (addresses) had been removed. This was a clear warning that if she ever talked to authorities, her family would pay. Trina had been terrorized into silence by the very ones who had sworn to protect her.

One Movie Many Voices

http://invisiblewarmovie.com/

 Trina was one of the key players of the movie "The Invisible War" and tells what her life was like after that. She had  PTSD; she suffered from alcoholism, depression, drug, addiction, and at one point Trina was homeless, and tried to take her own life. But something within her spirit caused her to climb out of that well of despair, and fight back. She began sharing her story within the movie as a way to expose a hidden evil. After watching the movie myself, it felt like watching something that you didn't want to see or know about, but you couldn't turn away from; partly because this was being told by people like Trina McDonald. There weren't actors. They were survivors of a moral outrage. But their story was beginning to knock the military right to it's knees with a message; "this happened to me, and you failed to give me justice."  The truth of the matter was, America expected to see a documentary about atrocities perpetrated by the enemy abroad. Not by American servicemen within their own ranks. But the poster's sub-message "The battleground is your barracks..." was the spoiler that told it all. It is: betrayed by the very institution that is waving the flag of freedom high.

Speaking Truth To Freedom

Survivor turned advocate Trina McDonald brings her petition to DC

                                           

 

Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) With Trina

So after 25 years of broken promises by a broken system, are we suppose to just take them at their word that the problem of sexual assault in the ranks will be resolved? On June 4, 2013, Trina McDonald brought a petition to Washington DC with 215,000 signatures to remove the prosecution from the Chain of Command as far as sexual assault cases were concerned. Many of the victims like Trina couldn't access justice within the chain of command, and now she was moving to get help from Congress. As the stories through The Invisible War and other documentaries, were telling the gruesome stories of rape and injustice being perpetrated on the lives of men and women who volunteered to serve our country, many Senators were shocked and outraged by the stories and by the numbers.

 

"I couldn't believe how poorly some of these men and women were treated. I couldn't believe in some cases, commanders told victims that when they reported these crimes that it was their own fault-- or that they intended to do nothing. I couldn't believe that in some instances commanders still saw this issue as a perpetrator not being a gentleman---"Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY) The Good Fight Podcast

 

Also more scandal rocked the military as a Sexual assault prevention officer at Ft. Hood in Texas was arrested for the very crime he was suppose to be combatting, and a M.Sgt. at that same base had been forcing female soldiers into prostitution. And 2 major high profile rape cases were overturned by 2 three-star Generals. 

 

MJIA VS. Sow's Ear of Rhetoric

And yet the drivel of "Zero Tolerance" for rape in the Military continues. Amazing! The top brass continued to fight for their positions and military in the face of such atrocities. The talk sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher. Lots of noise, and nothing discernible.

 Senator Gillibrand has drafted The "Military Justice Improvement Act."

In a nutshell this bill is designed to give military personnel free access to advocacy when high crimes such as rape are committed against them. It doesn't strip any commander of his power of authority over his troops or unit. And yet either top brass and some politicians are making this issue of "maintaining good order and discipline" their cornerstone of defense.  

 

Senator Gillibrand gives push back to those claiming her bill would disrupt good order and discipline  

"Commanders do not need this legal right, to set the command climate. In fact most commanders will never have this legal right." -Kirsten Gillibrand

No Spilled Wine Here

And so ever since the birth of the MJIA in June of 2013 the war continues. The Bill has suffered some setbacks. Most recent was when the bill was to be brought to the Senate floor, but the Senate failed to vote on the act. It seems to have been stonewalled at the last minute when some Republican Senators made a lot of noise over another issue; there was never a vote.

 

Trina presents her petition Senator Gillibrand

But it's not over. Senator Gillibrand sees that time is on our side. It's a chance to meet other Senators, and have victims like Trina share their story in hopes some may put a face to all the stats and stories being heard. Yes it would have been a great Christmas present for all who are working so hard on this issue, but another gift that is equally as awesome is that Senator Gillibrand, Representative Speier, Senator Boxer, and others will fight on. The proposal is not dead. It will come back in 2014.

 

As I think about all who are reading this blog I would tell you: Don't give up. The fight is not over. We just need to use this time wisely. Please don't waste another day with defeatist thinking. Most people like Trina, and thousands of survivors, are in this fight because they want to prevent what happened to them from happening to others. Meaning there needs to be a system in place so that others are not swept aside, or thrown away as though their willingness to serve meant nothing. So call, Twitter, Facebook, or write your Congressman or State Representative. They need to hear from you on the Military Justice Improvement Act. Here's hoping that your Christmas is a bright one. Thank you all for your feedback.

 

Special Thanks to

 

Trina McDonald who shared her story with me. Thanks Trina, you are beyond awesome!

The Invisible War  a voice in the wilderness! http://invisiblewarmovie.com/

The Feminist Majority Foundation Blog http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/tag/military-sexual-assault/

Move On.Org  Petitioners Extraordinaire  http://front.moveon.org/

The Good Fight With Ben Wikler  Great Podcast. Check them out! http://thegoodfight.fm/