Santorum Santorum Says of the Day: Reacting to news that the Pentagon will ease gender restrictions on front line roles that previously excluded female service members, Rick Santorum told CNN’s John King he had “concerns” that “people” may go against the interest of missions “because of other types of emotions.”
Asked to clarify, Santorum dug himself deeper, saying he was speaking of “men’s emotional issues, not women.” Asked to clarify that, the GOP presidential nominee said he feared men “may be more concerned with protecting someone who may be in a vulnerable position, a woman in a vulnerable position.”
But wait, there’s more: In additional to his concern with “emotional issues,” Santorum also worries women’s “physical strength and capability” may be lacking as well. ”[Y]ou may be out there on a mission where it’s you and a woman,” he told ABC News, “and if you’re injured, the ability to transport that person back [would be limited].”
Except that, due to needs on the ground, women are already doing many of the jobs they are now “officially” allowed to do — the lifting of the ban is mostly a formality.
And women remain banned from combat jobs, which limits their ability to advance to higher ranks. To put things in perspective, out of the 250,000 jobs banned to women, only 14,000 of them have opened up under the new policy.
But Santorum’s opinions on Women’s Rights should be nothing new to anyone who has read his 2005 book, It Takes a Family. In it, the former Pennsylvania Senator writes that supporting the family provides working mothers with “a convenient rationalization for pursuing a gratifying career outside the home.”
[ap / abcnews / c&l / progressive.]
i love that his squirrely attempts to backpedal are even worse than the original statements.
blah people, indeed.
