Rep. Jackie Speier outs obscene Marine Facebook page

[boston bean]

Amid the sudden uproar over sexual assaults in the military following a Pentagon report Tuesday that 26,000 members of the military were assaulted last year, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, released portions of a Facebook page, “F’N Wook,” denigrating women in the Marine Corps.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Marine Corps Commandant James Amos and deputy inspector general Lynne Halbrooks, Speier said she is confident that “you would also be horrified by the culture of misogyny and sexual harrassment depicted on the website.”

The photos, most of them too obscene to print, are available here in Speier’s letter. Scroll down, they’re at the end. And here’s the site itself. Have at it. Update: link is no longer working. Page apparently taken down.

A whistleblower called the page to Speier’s attention Tuesday.

Speier has been working for two years, with no results, to call attention to military rapes. She has done 25 speeches on the topic on the House floor. She has introduced three pieces of legislation to address the issue, but the House Armed Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) has refused to hold a hearing.

Link to article

http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/186727/rep-jackie-speier-demands-action-against-marine-facebook-page-denigrating-women/

Link to Speiers letter:

http://speier.house.gov/images/Correspondence/speiermarinecorpsfacebookpages8may2013.pdf

[sufrommich]

1. Sickening. These monsters are among us,anyone who

denies it has a nefarious agenda.

[boston bean]

2. It's just a joke!!! I can hear it all now.

There is no such thing as sexism or misogyny and even if there is.... We have equalists on DU and misogyny and sexism against women is not to be discussed... Because if you do, you are dissing and dismissing all other victims... Like, you only give a shit about women... Bad, Bad, me, you and anyone else, who dare to discuss it.

It's fucking ridiculous.

[sufrommich]

5. Yeah, it's sad. nt

[boston bean]

6. It's a twisted take on equalism. nt

[freshwest]

32. And the page was brought back to mock Congress, then taken down again.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/09/rep-speier-forces-shut-down-of-facebook-page-promoting-violence-against-female-marines/

Wonder where they'll host it next, but it's relatively mild compared to some RW sites.

[zerosumgame0005]

12. those kind of anus-brained idjits

make me sad for the human race...

[freshwest]

31. +1

[byeya]

3. Once a marine, always a marine...Lee Harvey Oswald

[sufrommich]

4. My dad was a marine and encouraged both his

daughters to be feminists. Being a soldier is not relevant,this is a problem throughout society.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. This is of course a problem thoughout society but it is also a problem with far greater

frequency in the military than in civilian life. Look up the stats. Child abuse rates are about the same, spousal abuse rates however are far higher in the military. Far. Army and Marines in particular, but all branches. The Army calls spousal abuse 'spousal aggression'.
The rates are alarming, the culture is disgusting, and denial is not going to help. Go learn the statistics.
Let me ask you this. Did you father encourage his daughters to become Marines?

[sufrommich]

20. I agree that a certain kind of sick machismo is

probably very prevalent in the military also police departments. Not only did my Dad discourage his daughters from joining the military,he discouraged his son and grandson too. Although I remember it had more to do with his disgust with American foreign policy than anything else.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. My father was also a Vet who did not encourage me to join

because of several things but one leading factor was the misogyny. I encourage you to look up the stats. The day to day actions and the overall culture of abuse is part of our foreign policy, the two things are linked and one makes the other possible....

[sufrommich]

26. I don't doubt your premise at all.nt

[atreides1]

7. Never blame the individual

Especially when it's the organization that lacks control at lower command levels...maybe it's time to start removing those who fall under the term "Conduct unbecoming"...it's not just for officers!

[duhneece]

28. But it's so much easier and more immediate than blaming the system

And all this righteous (and it IS righteous) anger feels so good....but, in the LONG run, of course I know you're stating a truth. Still, I would like to see all of us work to change the militaristic, revengeful justice (versus restorative justice) structure that supports misogyny.

[whathehell]

21. Sure..because the navy -- or the nearby frat house -- would be better

Misogyny exists ALL over the fucking world.

[Marrah_G]

8. fucking sick

[boston bean]

9. If go over to Speier's actual letter you will see that

the Marine Corps Inspector General, knows about the site and has been monitoring it for three years. Yet, despite that, those who have complained about the site become victims of cyber retaliation, while the website content runs unabated. Almost word for word, I can't copy and paste the text cause it's a PDF.

[sufrommich]

10. ....

What the fuck?? So it was monitored and these guys are still in the military?

[boston bean]

11. yep. It's a big joke. Can't punish the "guys" for jokin around.

hell, this is the military, we a tough ass bunch of guys, blowing off some steam, deservedly so...

That's how I see why it's not a problem for the chain of command.

Who gives a shit about the women who serve. They ought to just buck up and accept it.

[whathehell]

22. Well, sure..It's just "boys being boys", dontcha know?

Boys being boys hating women...very ugly.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. When I hear women themselves dismissing charges, laughing off allegations, or blaming the women

themselves--even suggesting that it's the price women pay for being in the military--literally, I feel sick to stomach.

[n2doc]

14. And yet, repubs spend endless hours on Benghazi

We know what their priorities are. Way to support the troops, repubs!

[marble falls]

15. Sad, sad, sad state of affairs. I'd like to say it wasn't like that when I was in...

the Navy, but I can't. I talked my daughter out of enlisting enlisting and until the Pentagon gets very serious about it I would never recommend any woman to enlist.

[Heidi]

16. Kick!

[Mopar151]

17. "The US Marines - Home of the Phony Tough and the Crazy Brave"

Opening line of "Full Metal Jacket". "F'n Wook" is the epitome of Phony Tough, ready to wipe the floor with anybody 1/2 their size if the object of their ire is looking the other way.

[Starry Messenger]

19. k&r

[Brickbat]

23. You might want to put a trigger warning in your OP subject line.

[sufrommich]

24. The article about this on HuffPo says the

Facebook page (now taken down) had 10,000 "likes".

[marshall]

27. Do Facebook pages really need to be outed?

Aren't they already out by definition? It's the Facebook page itself that outed the behavior.

[SunSeeker]

29. Buck McKeon is an accomplice to these rapes.

Jackie Spear should be head of the House Armed Services Committee instead of McKeon. I consider him an accomplice to the crimes for turning down her request for a hearing on her legislation to address military rapes. He's got no business being in Congress.

[freshwest]

30. +1

[Ilsa]

33. The House is too busy with idiotic hearings to get any real

work done that makes a difference in people's lives.