The More Things Change, The More Things Stay The Same
In many ways the military is ahead of the curve on civil rights issues. It was integrated before the rest of America and now LGBT Americans will get to be full members of the U.S. military. In many ways though, the military is also behind the times. Women can still not fully serve (they are denied certain roles) and rape is a big problem that the military has not been dealing with.
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how some people think that everyone enjoys their crude humor. Do you remember how GOP
gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino would forward racist and sexually graphic emails to a huge distribution list? The Virginian-Pilot has uncovered a series of videos that a Navy commander would show to crews on a ship.
In one scene, two female Navy sailors stand in a shower stall aboard the aircraft carrier, pretending to wash each other. They joke about how they should get six minutes under the water instead of the mandated three.
In other skits, sailors parade in drag, use anti-gay slurs, and simulate masturbation and a rectal exam. Another scene implies that an officer is having sex in his stateroom with a donkey.
They’re all part of a series of short movies produced aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Enterprise in 2006 and 2007 and broadcast to its nearly 6,000 sailors and Marines. The man who masterminded and starred in them is Capt. Owen Honors – now the commander of the carrier, which is weeks away from deploying. The videos, obtained by The Virginian-Pilot this week, were shot and edited with government
equipment, many of them while the Enterprise was deployed supporting the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan.
Of course, people complained at the time but they were ignored.
A female sailor who was assigned to the Enterprise at the time said she and a number of other women on board were offended by the videos. She said some crew members complained about them, and in fact, Honors acknowledged it on camera. In one movie, he says, “Over the years I’ve gotten several complaints about inappropriate materials in these videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels.”
The things that bother me is that taxpayer money was used to make these videos and that sailors were forced to watch them. If you want to be 50-year-old frat boy on your own $, more power to you. Perhaps if the GOP was really concerned about wasteful spending they might look into things like this. Somehow I doubt they will.
The video is below. If you watch, you’ll see that Cpt. Honors absolutely knows that these videos are inappropriate but does them anyway. He seems proud of it.
Tags: U.S. Navy
Inappropriate is too mild a term to describe that video. Cpt. Honors should be fired immediately and sent to the psychiatric ward. What a disgusting human being.
I think the video is getting some attention in the MSM now. I heard a story about it on NPR this morning. The Navy had responded that they banned making these videos in 2007, but obviously this didn’t hurt Honor’s career since he was promoted.
One issue I have besides the content of the videos is the atmosphere it creates. I doubt someone being sexually harrassed would feel comfortable going to Honor with their problem since he’s an insensitive jerk.
One thing that bothers me from the article is some people saying they enjoyed the videos. So what. The question is their appropriateness and some people said they were offended but afraid to come forward.
You can’t attack the wasteful spending angle because it didn’t cost any money. It seems like a silly waste of news space for something already discontinuned. I just wouldn’t watch. I would get up and leave.
I don’t get the forced to watch argument when it is clear that those who may be offended could leave. BTW I agree that this is not professional.
I skipped through parts, but it seems like typical DL fare so you should have no complaints.
His complaint about going through other channels is silly. You are supposed to go through channels.
I wonder if he did something else and this is someone’s way of hitting back at him. Why file an IG complaint 3 years later?
FYI Pandora the majority of Pilot readers disagree with your assessment. 54% considered it harmless fun.
I think it is clearly unprofessional and inappropriate. Mental ward, no. pandora should just pretend it is a DV video. Being cut off from the world for months at a time is enough of one.
So appropriateness is determined by an unscientific poll of newspaper readers. Good one. Just to be clear, David thinks AOK for a Navy officer to use government resources to make a video of himself dropping F-bombs, pretend to masturbate and make gay jokes.
Harmless fun?
This from a man who is constantly screaming about society’s moral decay. Careful, David, your hypocrisy is showing.
I don’t think a blogger who hasn’t served a day determines it. Especially one on one of the saltier sights that calls people gay and uses the f-word. As for “David thinks AOK”, no read the comments. The navy said stop. I agree with that. What I don’t agree with is using Pandora’s sensativity as a measure to fire people or put them in “mental wards” for making jokes and trying to lighten the mood in the middle of a war.
The fained over reaction by people who would watch the same thing on HBO is what I think is silly. This is not even worthy of news. It is three years old and dealt with.
No Pandora, just understanding of the facts. I wouldn’t watch the closed circut tv when he had his weekly broadcast. I just don’t think something that you hear on stage in comedy shows for money should be viewed as insanity worthy of firing. You tell him to quit. He did. The issue is over. The guy can always have a career in Vegas after he retires. It is not appropriate for a naval officer when some people would involuntarily view it because it would be playing in their work station. We don’t disagree there. Your over reaction is where we do.
As I said 54% of readers say it is harmless fun. He is within the mainstream. That hardly qualifies as insanity.
Gotta go. Have a happy new year.
Thankfully you don’t get to decide what is news, David. But I get that this is no big deal statement is your MO. You trot it out quite often.
This story will go away soon if it evens gets more play. It may because it gives an excuse to broadcast the stuff for a day.
So, since I was not in the Navy, I am not able to recognize that sharing a video that would get you fired from most workplaces is only handslap worthy from the Navy. I think Honor is going to be in big trouble because he violated one of the cardinal rules: don’t publicly embarrass the boss. Now Navy officials will be playing defense on their past actions. Never a good place to be.
“I don’t think a blogger who hasn’t served a day determines it.”
Following that logic…
He doesn’t think a man who hasn’t gone through pregnancy determines it.
Oh, snap!
“I don’t think a blogger who hasn’t served a day determines it.”
Served what? I mean I worked in fast food in high school, but I never worked as a server. So does fast food count or must you have worked as a server for tips? And does part time count?
I think you need to qualify this standard?
All kidding aside, Dave your attitude is vile and offensive. The liberals do far more for veterans than the Republicans.
The Republicans are good at flag waving and exploiting the photo opps. but they never step up to actually support veterans.
I am a bit tired of the attitude of the wingnut right that anyone who does not agree with them is a traitor, which is the next logical step in what you said.
As a blogger who HAS served in the military, these videos are obscene. Capt. Honors should be forced to resign. This is a modern-day version of Tail Hook. And yes, David, he did use government resources to make these videos, so it was a misuse of taxpayer money.
The Navy weighs in to say that the videos were clearly inappropriate.
Wonk Room tweets:
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI BREAKS NEWS THAT U.S. NAVY CAPT. OWEN HONORS WILL BE RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND
Good riddance.
Is anyone but David surprised by this outcome?
Those comments are really ironic David coming from you – who gets HIGHLY offended if I refer to you as the “Uncle Tom” that you are….
so, with that in mind, take your own advise – just get up and leave, Im only trying to lighten the mood…..
and 54% of readers think the use of Uncle Tom IS mainstream
so, how’s the shoe fitting on the other foot there David??
and civil rights, and the repeal of DADT – you are such a clown
I think HONOR is paying the price for trying to be one of the “boys”.
And that’s too bad.
He seems like a good commander.
I would have followed him into battle.
If it’s not incoming, it’s outgoing. And the only difference is who gets greased. And sometimes, that doesn’t make a difference at all.
Honor is paying the price for bad judgment. Even if he thinks that he’s hilarious, by the time he made the video above he knew he was crossing the line. That’s why he was so defensive on the video.
Honor was trying to be “one of the boys.” that’s his problem. We don’t want an army of boys. We want a Navy full of professional men and women.
How is he a good commander? He is not an 18 year old enlistee is watching porn with his buddies. He sets the example for the young sailors, and he failed. The young people in the military will follow their leader.
Ask yourself this, what would George Washington do? Never mind, he would never have acted this way in front of his troops.