{"id":62376,"date":"2012-11-17T04:21:30","date_gmt":"2012-11-17T09:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=62376"},"modified":"2012-11-17T09:33:14","modified_gmt":"2012-11-17T14:33:14","slug":"peering-into-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/peering-into-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Peering Into Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve done my best not to pay attention to politics this week, decompressing from the election crescendo. My computer devolved into a hunk of lifeless technology to celebrate the Merc-retro, assisting my news fast until mid-week, when Huffington finally loaded and I discovered that there was no honeymoon period for the returning president or congressional newbies from the rapacious infotainers we think of as ‘the press.’ With only 45 days (at this writing) before we supposedly plunge over the fiscal cliff and back into recession, time is too short for much political respite, unless, all ’emergencied out,’ you take it. I took it.<\/p>\n

\"Political Oh, bits and pieces seeped in, thanks to the occasional browse by CNN, HSN<\/em> and FOX<\/em>. Fears over the ‘grand bargain’ were only somewhat allayed by Obama’s oath not to extend tax cuts for the rich and Biden’s promise not to mess with Social Security. We’ve seen this president fold quickly enough in his prior incarnation, so with a new term in front of him, we’re holding our breath to find out if he lives up to his reputation as “teachable.” It could happen, stranger things have. It seems to me that the public turned out to be more teachable than some of us (about half) assumed. We need only to look at the election result to see the breadth of it.<\/p>\n

We are in what wordsmith Mark Morford<\/a> calls “the twilight of the old white guys.” The right was depending on their surety that young folks were too disenchanted to turn out, that women had thumbed their noses at secular healthcare, that the disenfranchised would not suffer a half-day wait for the voting booth, nor would the Latinos who “should be Republicans but don’t know it.” Ahhhh, but that didn’t go as planned. All those folks showed up and voted their own interests this time around. Looks like what’s wrong with Kansas can just STAY in very-red Kansas, thank you very much (and Missouri, more’s the pity).<\/p>\n

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Lost in his own considerable estimation, Mitt still can’t believe it, reporting to his furious donors that Obama had bribed all those ‘takers’ with free food, debt relief and birth control. Such nonsense assures that this year’s loser will soon fall into the fathomless pit of seldom-remembered presidential candidates that includes Bob Dole, who famously referred to himself in the third person, and maybe even John McPoopy-Pants if he keeps up his doddering hostilities and pathetic base-pandering (YOU DARN KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!).<\/p>\n

Jon Stewart quickly put the Romney commentary in brilliant perspective<\/a> while framing the evolving nature of the nation, but the point is probably lost on the semi-hysterics in more than twenty states who are threatening secession. A thinking person, it can be said, is capable of seeing both sides of an argument; a closed mind, only the side it’s on. Perhaps the Pubs should listen more closely to their faux-pundit, Stephen Colbert, who tells us in this month’s Playboy<\/em> interview that based on his experience, “You have to be vigilant to stay ignorant.”<\/p>\n

We’re at that long-awaited moment of revelation that dances on the edge of reality, twisting from side to side like a spotlight searching the heavens, plumbing the depths, illuminating what’s been deeply buried, things we don’t speak of. This business of the straying general is just one bit of the dark cavern we’re preparing to explore. In the mythological and pristine world of virtue and goodness that comprises the PR bubble in which an officer and a gentleman resides, Petraeus had no choice but resign and retreat. That’s the code. On the other hand, if I were the general, awake at night and counting my karmic debts, it wouldn’t be straying from my marriage bed that chases my happy dreams away.<\/p>\n

It does intrigue me, though, pondering the kaleidoscope of untried emotions this man has stepped into. His soul must have declared it time for instruction. Think about it. Occulted by the giant clusterfuck of paranoia over his comings and goings — no pun intended — Petraeus had to sneak into the capital Friday to testify on Benghazi, slipping in the back door. Considering the clout he’s used to as four-star general and CIA director, imagine the slow burn creeping through his military-mind at not being able to control a motley crew of paparazzi, mollify his furious mate, or find an adequate justification for his glaring reversal of facts on the source of the Libyan attack. This is a man of ambition and self-discipline come publicly undone. Ouch!<\/p>\n

Indeed, the headlines reflect a sudden release of old energy, as if a giant cork was pulled from a bottle, topics we seldom mention rushing out and exposing the dark abuse that too often hides in plain sight. A giant cork — or perhaps an eclipse in Scorpio — opening the lid on what we’d rather not know that we know. It’s an amazing feat to bury our nightmare landscapes so deeply that even when they stare us in the face, we don’t recognize them. It’s a strange trick of the mind that catches up with us eventually.<\/p>\n

This Wednesday, for instance, the United States Air Force will release a report<\/a> on the sexual abuse of female recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where all AF training occurs. To date, 48 ‘credible’ complaints of sexual misconduct have resulted in the court-martial of five training instructors, sentenced to from 30 days to 20 years in prison, with six others awaiting legal process. The charges range from “inappropriate touching of female recruits to sexual assault.”<\/p>\n

This conduct does not come as a shock to service women or their families, who most often do not report rape or violence against them because it would compromise their career path, but it is a particularly bitter pill considering the hypocrisy of the overriding evangelical presence at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. This is yet another example of radical and patriarchal leadership hostile to women, and in Colorado Springs, the systemic compromise of religious liberty and civil rights of candidates of both sexes.<\/p>\n

The complaints at Lackland are, no doubt, the tip of the iceberg. According to the Pentagon, there is a rape every half-hour in the military. You can read about some of these events and support the service women who are bravely baring their souls and sharing their stories at a website aptly named My Duty To Speak<\/a>. And so, in my opinion, it is our duty to listen.<\/p>\n

The women of America have been desensitized to the word rape, thanks to the cavalier insensitivities of (mostly male) Republican lawmakers in these last months. In matters of sexual abuse and cover-up, how have we allowed this to be institutionalized to the point where we simply ignore its occurrence? It’s past time that we not only re-think the ramifications of these events, in terms of pregnancy and STD — and within the military, legal fallout and career concerns — but also do what’s required to prevent them.<\/p>\n

Much like the Lilly Ledbetter “fair pay” legislation, often touted by Obama as his first victory, we can celebrate progress without pretending it is in the least complete. Ledbetter gives women the ability to sue for financial inequalities, but it does not remediate them. Women still earn far less than men for comparable work. How long is it going to take for us to acknowledge income parity as an issue of civil liberty in this nation? And how long can we go on ignoring matters of sexual assault as somehow sexual rather than criminal?<\/p>\n

We’ve been talking about female rape today, but male rape in the military is also an issue and one equally as shame-based, if not more (because we rarely hear about it nor is it as consistently reported). But now that we’re staring down into the darkness of the abyss, we will eventually stumble upon the truth that rape is not only an act of violence, but is itself a tool of war.<\/p>\n

3,191 sexual assaults were reported by military personnel last year. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta estimates that number to be more like 19,000, resulting in approximately 950 pregnancies. It should be noted that the military does not provide abortion services for rape or incest, but only if the mothers life is at risk.<\/p>\n

If we are to progress into a new era, we must face the darkness we have avoided for so long and make new decisions about life and sex, death and war. To enlighten is to bring Light to the dark corners that frighten us. It’s time to look deeply into the darkness, open our hearts to healing and forgiveness. It’s time to choose a course correction for all the things we’ve been unwilling to call our own.<\/p>\n

Veterans Day is just passed. Did you hear this conversation discussed amid the pomp and patriotism? Neither did I. We cannot hope to shape a better future until we address this topic, and so many others, waiting for us in the darkness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves I’ve done my best not to pay attention to politics this week, decompressing from the election crescendo. My computer devolved into a hunk of lifeless technology to celebrate the Merc-retro, assisting my news fast until mid-week, when Huffington finally loaded and I discovered that there was no honeymoon period … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}