Secret Service woes show hiring should be based on qualifications

Here’s an article from the link: http://tbo.com/secret-service-woes-show-hiring-should-be-based-on-qualifications-20141004/ y Douglas MacKinnon | Tribune Staff Published: October 4, 2014 Thanks to Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” oppressive white males — at least momentarily before we are shouted down — are allowed to touch upon the ultra-politically correct subject of hiring based on diversity as opposed to qualifications. As the incompetence of Julia Pierson, who just resigned in disgrace as head of the U.S. Secret Service, became more evident, Brzezinski dared to wonder if political correctness instead of qualifications inserted Pierson into that position and then kept her there in the face of mounting controversies. Brzezinski told her male panelists she was openly speculating on the subject because they might be “afraid to touch” it. Good guess. I don’t know a male anywhere who is not completely in favor of equal rights for men and women. It is the liberal definition of “equal” that has some men not only scratching their heads but, depending upon the profession, concerned for their lives or well-being. I have two male friends who are police officers, two male cousins who are firefighters and several male friends who serve in combat units in the military. Every single one is strongly in favor of equal rights for men and women. The one and only request that they have is that because of the dangers and physical demands of their jobs, they believe the women hired or enlisted should be required to pass the exact same physical fitness tests they are required to take. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less. Male firefighters I have spoken with honestly worry that if some of the women in their firehouses aren’t strong enough to carry the hose or lift a ladder, how will they be able to carry them or a civilian out of a burning building? The same concern regarding the lack of strength is on the mind of a number of male police officers and male members of our military. They just won’t voice it aloud for fear of retribution from the left. Political correctness is often the enemy of common sense and truth. But when it strays across the line to create safety and protection issues, maybe it’s time to revisit certain hiring practices. As reported by CNN, The Washington Post and other news outlets, the male intruder who made it all the way into the White House knocked down a female Uniform Division Secret Service agent on his way into the mansion. Naturally, political correctness demanded that the female agent’s gender be defended immediately, so some in the media quickly added that “gender had nothing to do” with the husky male getting by the female agent. Some reported that the female agent got back up and “tackled the suspect.” Nice, except that is not what happened. As was later accurately reported, the suspect was in fact “tackled” by an off-duty male agent from the Presidential Protection Division and not the female agent he overpowered. The editors at The Washington Post were apparently so bothered that this male suspect knocked down a female agent that it even censored its own reporting. When the Post first reported the incident, it pointed out the suspect overpowered a “female” agent. Soon thereafter, it struck the word “female” from its own reporting. On this topic, back in 2005 when a powerful male inmate overpowered a 51-year-old slight female deputy in an Atlanta courthouse, took her service weapon and proceeded to use it to execute a judge and three other people, much of the media bent over backward to avoid reporting the fact that the overpowered deputy was a woman. Why? That fact was relevant. As stated, every man I know believes in actual equal rights between men and women. At least when it comes to the hiring or enlistment practices for our police and fire departments and the military, shouldn’t the physical fitness requirements also be equal? If Mika Brzezinski is still employed and has not been ostracized by her fellow liberals for sacrilege against the Nanny State for asking a logical question, maybe we can run it past her.