Harvard returns to the fold ...

Finally, something I have wanted since the blog started is taking place. If I wasn't out-of-pocket late last week I would have blogg'd on it then. Sorry Shipmates - but better late than never.

Is good.

Fulfilling a long-stated desire to bring ROTC back to campus, Harvard University president Drew Faust today will sign an agreement with the Navy to officially recognize its Reserve Officer Training Corps, two months after repeal of a ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

The agreement, to be signed in a ceremony this afternoon with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, will reestablish ROTC’s formal presence on campus for the first time in four decades, signaling an end to tensions between one of the nation’s most prestigious universities and US armed forces, an issue in play since the Vietnam War.

“Our renewed relationship affirms the vital role that the members of our armed forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclusion and opportunity as powerful American ideals,’’ said Faust, the daughter of a decorated World War II veteran, in a written statement. “It broadens the pathways for students to participate in an honorable and admirable calling, and in so doing advances our commitment to both learning and service.’’

Harvard grows up. Well said.

Of course, the thumb-sucking, Amerikkkan hat'n Marxists are not happy.

Other forms of oppression and inequality permeate our military. In 2009, CBS News reported that "one in three female soldiers will experience sexual assault while serving in the military, compared to one in six women in the civilian world." Last week, the New York Times reported that a "federal lawsuit filed (recently) accuses the Department of Defense of allowing a military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault" while consistently "mishandling cases … brought to its attention." Also in 2009, ABC News reported that "among officers, just 3 percent of whites report experiencing discrimination within their current unit, compared with 27 percent of black and Hispanic officers."

Advocates of ROTC's return argue that circumstances are different today, and this is doubtless. The state has found a way to partially disarm supposed threats to so-called traditional family values by permitting some, though not all, queer people to carry arms — as long as they don't have sex! — in wars that the majority of Americans oppose. What has not changed is the serious harm to all communities that our military creates at home and abroad, to the benefit of an increasingly privileged few.

The author, Julian Francis Park has other arguments as well - about what you would expect by a narrow-minded, unimaginative, blinkered, mal-educated Leftists (Emma Goldman? Really?) - but give him a read. He even gives his email address there is you want to send him a note.

Me? Well, you know what I have to say to him.