Sadly, the anecdote I’m about to share illustrates so many things these days as our culture continues to circle the drain. It’s is said that someone once asked Louis Armstrong what soul was. The great Satchmo is reported to have replied, “If you listen to the music and can’t hear it, I can’t tell you what it is.” Just so. And when someone asks, in all seriousness, “Well, why shouldn’t women serve in combat and in elite units like Army Rangers of Navy SEALS?” I feel like Louie must have felt trying to answer that poor earless sod’s question about music. If any adult can ask that question, he or she is too immune to the obvious for me to answer it.
As widely reported, the U.S. Army, which is being miniaturized as the threats to our security grow, now has two women Rangers, or at least two women who’ve graduated from Ranger school. Surely political pressure will have these women serving in Ranger units faster than you can say “social engineering.” The news was met mostly by cheering from the usual quarters.
Rasmussen thought this would be a good time to ask what Joe and Jill Americano think about women serving in combat, including in elite units like Rangers and SEALs. The news is not good for those who cling to the sensible but increasingly marginalized idea that men and women are different, that the sexes are not interchangeable, that we aren’t all just persons.
In a survey of 1,000 likely voters this week, fully 61 percent told Rasmussen that they favor allowing women to serve in all combat roles, including in elite special operations units. Only 27 percent opposed this. Twelve percent didn’t know what to make of the question.
Even slightly more than half of older folks approve of the idea of G.I. Jane. A mind-blowing 73 percent of voters under 40 say women SEALs are a good idea. This appears to be yet another battle (excuse the expression) that the cultural left has won, though it’s not clear these folks will be pleased with the results when they’re in. Of course the usual will follow. Physical standards will be lowered. There will be quotas for women. There will be all manner of men/women problems. No more of our enemy will die. But some rabbits surely will after field maneuvers or deployments.
