This from CNN:
“I had comments, passes, things like that,” Ernst told TIME. “These were some things where I was able to say stop and it simply stopped, but there are other circumstances both for women and for men where they don’t stop and they may be afraid to report it.”
In a statement, Ernst said she would work with Democratic Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York who's been pushing for legislation to take the authority for prosecuting sexual assault in the military out of the chain of command - a position Ernst said she backs.
In that statement, Ernst also acknowledged the inevitable hurdle of gaining support for this position within the Republican Party.
"This will not be an easy challenge. I understand many in my own party in Washington will oppose this plan, as will many in the military and Pentagon," she said. "However, this should not be a partisan issue, and as a woman in uniform, I know that we must act now.”
Ernst told the Des Moines Register that she's "...not doing this to go against (her party)"
"What I am doing is saying: 'This is a problem. It has not been resolved in the past couple decades. If we were handling it properly in the military, we would not have the issues that we have today,'" she said.
As you know I am not in the habit of praising Republican candidates, ESPECIALLY those endorsed by Sarah Palin, but this is a smart move on Ernst's behalf.
By identifying herself as a victim of sexual harassment in the military, and stating her plan to work to Kristen Gillibrand to take authority for prosecution out of the chain of command, Ernst has positioned herself to attract quite a lot of women voters who may not have found her all that attractive before.
Not only is she standing up for women, she is discussing working in a bipartisan manner, which MOST Teabaggers find completely unacceptable.
Like I said this is a very smart move.
However one has to wonder how Sarah Palin is feeling about an endorsee that is so willing to go against the conservative talking points, and to engage in that most awful of sins, working with the Democrats?
As a woman, I don' want to diminish how upsetting "comments and passes" can be, but real sexual harassment goes far beyond what this woman is saying -- and she never said she reported it or that there were any consequences for her having done so.
ReplyDeleteSaying and doing is two different things! Promises, promises!
ReplyDelete2:59 Exactly! She's a viper. She's playing the game. The rape in the military problem has been around for a long time. Where the hell has she been?
DeleteSorry, don't believe her even for a second. She's just jumping on some bi-partisan bandwagon to try to get votes.
ReplyDeleteI didn't say she was believable, I said it was a smart political move.
DeleteAnd it is.
Yes, lying about something that is actually a life-destroying experience for many women is a "smart political move". If this is the yardstick by which we measure "smart political moves" then Sarah Palin's "maternity with Trig" was also a "smart political move". In my book lying is never a "smart political move".
DeleteI am skeptical also given Palin said she would be an advocate for special needs children. When I see photos and video of people with children who have Downs lined up to meet her I feel sad she for them she lied. Maybe getting an autograph was enough or hearing her call Trig a gift.
DeleteMs. Ernst, we will watch for your actions following your words.
Exactly. "Politically smart" has nothing to do, and never has, with morality.
DeleteIt was "politically smart" of the Bush/Cheney cabal to use our thirst for revenge after 9/11 to drag us into war with a country that had nothing to do with it.
That's very nice. But I have learned that teabaggers cannot be trusted and I have no problem believing that she would not lift a finger to work on this issue once she got into the Senate. So, nice words, but I wouldn't trust her to back them up with action.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's a for sure!
DeleteThis is a smart move on her part she may have more brains than i previously thought, it shows she is putting herself out there as flexible whether this is true or not remains to be seen and i can guarantee you C4P pods won't like this one bit and neither will $arah Payme.
ReplyDeleteI have become so cynical that I think she'll garner votes from women and then, if elected, she'll vote at every opportunity against her sister women.
DeleteBeaglemom
Against her sister women and everybody else that isn't a bagger.
DeleteWhat, you think just because we are women that we will buy some cockamamie story from a Teabagger nut? Just like McCain thought Mrs. Palin=Hillary Clinton just because they both have vaginas? Sorry, without rock-solid proof I would never buy into her tale of victimhood. She's the perfect example of someone that would use sexual harassment as an election tool. This entire last-minute tale of makes me dislike her even more.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what she says about sexual harrassment in the military, Ernst is totally bonkers on every other topic.
ReplyDeleteIt's a smart political move given her target audience. She is just pandering of course. She will only fool the perennially fooled and subjugated Stepford women on the right.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss the part where she's in the army? Where she went away to war? Where she is able to speak on behalf of serving women?
ReplyDeleteOr is she a weekend warrior?
Ernst is a full time cuckoo.
DeleteWhat!!!!?? A genuine hog castratin' teaparty Christian who wants
ReplyDeleteto work with that commie traitor agnostic Kristen Gillibrand?
That just ain't what Gawd and baby Jesus wants!
No cooperation on nuthin'!
Democrats hate baby Jesus, and they are agents of Satan!
Reload, don't retreat!
Shoot first , ask later!
Joni, you is a RINO!
I'm having a hard time with this one... Did she ever file a report? If not, then she let her fellow female soldiers down. Playing the victim card without proof....well, I have something that I can sell you....la, la, la....
ReplyDeleteShe's a fucking moron, no matter how you cut her.
ReplyDelete...took a lot of balls.
ReplyDeleteJust like Sarah P. said. "I am against corruption! (if does not pay me a dividend and a kickback.) !
ReplyDeleteForget her stance on issues that adversely affect women and vote for her because she claims to have been a victim of sexual harassment?
ReplyDeleteAny woman who votes for Joni Ernst because she now claims to have been a victim of sexual harassment is an id'jit.