November 24, 2009, - 2:54 pm
Schlussel in the News: Baby Mamas in the US Armed Forces; Not a Chick Issue
Recently, I noted the incident of a baby mama in the Army who wants to get out of serving so she can take care of her kid. I called for a ban on single mothers in the military.
Yesterday’s edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal discussed the issue of single moms in the U.S. armed forces and quoted my piece.
Because of the enormous stress that deployment puts on kids and parents, some argue that single moms should not be allowed to serve in the military.
Conservative pundit Debbie Schlussel recently called for a ban on single mothers in the military because they are “useless soldierettes” and their absence is harmful to their children, she said. Schlussel said deploying single moms “exacts more costs and bureaucratic BS than it’s worth.”
She points to the case of Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, the Oakland, Calif., Army cook who was arrested because she refused to deploy with her unit once her child care arrangements fell through. Hutchinson’s attorney said officers advised the single mom to place her 10-month-old son in foster care while she was deployed. The Army has not confirmed that statement.
Disturbing to me is that the newspaper’s article is labeled “Chick Chat.” Um, single mothers in the military isn’t a chick issue. It’s everybody’s issue. It’s the issue of the other soldiers–male and female–who must make up the slack. It’s the issue of U.S. taxpayers who bear the burden of helping in the babymama’s kids child care and the kids’ increased likelihood of a life of crime, drugs, and failure as a result of being an illegitimate kid with no father and being sent to a gazillion caretakers while mommy is off into the wild blue yonder.
Tags: Alexis Hutchinson, baby mamas, baby mammas, babymamas, babymammas, ban single moms, Memphis Commercial Appeal, single moms, single mothers, single mothers in the military, Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, women in the military
Will any thing be done about it? Not in today’s America. You mean well Debbie but I think you’re just shouting in the wind. No one’s listening in Obama’s Washington.
NormanF on November 24, 2009 at 3:51 pm