GOPer & DoD big trade fire
Sen. Tom Cotton and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin got into a heated exchange over the Pentagon’s “woke” efforts to address “extremism” in the military.
The back-and-forth came as the Arkansas Republican grilled Austin, the first black Pentagon chief, during an Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, asking him to answer “yes or no” to a series of questions.
Asked if the military was a “fundamentally racist organization,” Austin said: “I won’t give you a yes-or-no answer on that, Senator, because it deserves more than a yes or no. The military, like any organization, will have its challenges, but I do not believe it is a fundamentally racist organization.”
Cotton interrupted and asked whether service members should be treated differently based on race or sex.
“Again,” Austin said, “this question deserves more than a yes-or-no answer. I do not believe that, and that is why we have diversity, equity and inclusion focus in the military.”
Cotton said: “The military for decades has been one of the institutions in this society where you are most likely to get ahead based on your own performance, on your own merit, irrespective of the color of your skin or where you came from or who your parents were.”
“I absolutely agree with that, and I am an example of that. But I would also say that—,” Austin said, before Cotton cut in to ask if he agreed with a quote from Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist” that says, “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.”
“I’ve not read that, and I certainly don’t agree with what you just said,” Austin said, adding as Cotton interrupted again that “it’s always important to have the full context of anything that you’re being asked to evaluate.”
Asked if troops who are subjected to “trainings drawing on critical race concepts” should report them to authorities, Austin said, “They’ve always had that ability to do that, and I would recommend that in the future.
“I would also say that diversity, equity and inclusion is important to this military now,” Austin added, “and it will be important in the future.”