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Left, Right or Wrong?
April 29, 2008 - 12:14amWhatever your opinion about the war in Iraq is, it is obvious that U.S. soldiers have performed every duty given to them. Now they might be unfairly punished. No, I’m not talking about more allegations of inadequate equipment. I am talking about good old American pornography. Republican Congressman Paul Broun, who represents Georgia’s 10th district, is reportedly drafting a bill that would prohibit the sale of Penthouse and Playboy on military bases.
Broun’s bill, which would amend the “Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996,” has so many things wrong with it that I do not know where to begin. This is a perfect example of what politicians do in order to win elections. It is easy to be cynical about the current state of politics and government, and sometimes this cynicism is unfounded. Stories such as this one, however, do nothing more than fuel the flame of dissatisfaction with politics. Congressman Broun is up for re-election this fall and this is undoubtedly an attempt to gain support from his conservative, religious constituents.
There is also something inherently wrong with the legislation. The Department of Defense has a review board that convenes every few years with the intention of reviewing “sexually explicit” material and determining what is appropriate for U.S. soldiers to purchase. The fact that the U.S. Department of Defense actually commits resources for people to analyze pornography is disturbing in its own right. That an elected official of the United States believes sexual harassment in the armed forces is caused by pornography is even more disturbing. That’s right. Broun believes that reading Playboy causes soldiers to commit sexual harassment. The congressman told Newsweek, “Sexual assault is going up within the military, and I certainly think there's a very high likelihood the pornography being sold in military PXs is contributing to that.” I’m not going to say anything--I will just let you soak up this assertion before I move on to my next point.
Broun claims that the real issue is that taxpayer money should not be used to pay for pornography. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) reports that 98 percent of its budget comes from sales at its stores on bases and not from taxpayer dollars. Furthermore, the AAFES reports that in 2007 sales of both Playboy and Penthouse at bases throughout the world accounted for less than 3 percent of the AAFES’s total magazine sales. These facts undermine Broun’s claim that taxpayers are funding pornography. Our soldiers, amidst the bloodshed, fear and death that they encounter on a daily basis, should have the right to purchase pornography. After all, all kinds of pornography are just a click away nowadays. The irony of this is that our soldiers are fighting for freedom while they are denied certain rights. I am not proposing that soldiers be exempt from rules and laws. However, so long as looking at pornography does not affect soldiers’ performance, and there are no indications that it does, then the members of our armed forces should retain the right to purchase relatively mild magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse.
Any discussion that remotely involves pornography cannot really be taken seriously, but this situation in particular is absolutely ridiculous. As a U.S. congressman, Mr. Broun should focus his efforts on helping veterans and improving the situation in Iraq, not on authoring legislation in order to win re-election.
When someone joins the armed
When someone joins the armed forces they become an employee of the government and a symbol of our country's best. When they are at war, they are at work. In the same way you wouldn't allow a secretary to look at porn at work, why would you allow a soldier to look at porn at work? It gives off a bad image of the US to other countries as it is inappropriate and unprofessional.
I would say Paul Broun is being a good conservative, and whether he is doing it to get reelected or not, it is in no way conflicting with his normal stance as a republican from Georgia.
The difference between
The difference between someone being a secretary and one being a soldiers is that a secretary gets to GO HOME. If the soldiers are allowed to go home every time they want to buy pornography then I would have no problem with this bill. However, as they are not, one should not take away another's right or access to a publication readily available in the soldiers' home country.
Ah but they do!
All the more to your point: the soldier gets a nominally private room, access to the internet (where he or she may view porn for free or a fee to the website) and have downtime. This is the time when the soldier will read the materials. To say that a secretary might read porn at work would suggest that soldiers are holding porn magazines instead of their rifles while under attack. In reality, we ask that the secretaries go home to read porn, and similarly we ask that the soldiers go into their designated bunk to read it.
One might make the argument that if males and female were forced to share the same bunk area, as soldiers might sometimes be asked to do, that someone of the opposite sex might be offended or concerned. But we already have laws against that: using explicit pictures as a method of sexual intimidation or other unwanted advance is defined as sexual harassment.
Newflash: Soldiers get downtime.
Do you really expect a soldier to be hyper-vigilant at all waking hours? It's not humanly possibly, and that's why even in war a soldier gets a bit of downtime. What they do during that time is their business. Broun is a sanctimonious prig and should worry about real problems and not force his antiquated beliefs on others. We did quite well during WWII when the nose art on the bombers was more graphic than the magazines that desiccated prude is fussing over. Let soldiers be soldiers and they will do a much better job.
Porn for soldiers?
Jesus, keep your morals to yourself moron. They're fighting for freedom. Give it to them!
Outrage!
I'm outraged by this development. "Oh, soldiers want to look at porn... CAN'T HAVE THAT!"
This is the cancer killing America.