for whom he had suggested execution, I'd be right with him.

As far as whether the military is or isn't an equal opportunity employer, of course it is - it has to be - any employer who actually wants "the best" has to be. Too many of the best employees are in marginalized groups.

But employers need to be more than equal opportunity employers. They also need to treat all employees equaly on every basis except the way they do their jobs. Not just at the time of hiring, but in perpetuity. Check out this -
https://www.cpr.org/2023/09/28/jacquie-abram-hush-money-book-suicide-awareness/

One quote - "Because here's the thing, even though I was in a very dangerous spot mentally, it wasn't because I didn't know how to fight the racism that I was experiencing. I knew how to fight, but I was exhausted. I was racially tired of having to fight and claw my way to success only to have changes in leadership. Now you're dealing with someone new and that sends you plummeting back down to the beginning again."

I've seen this happening to my BFF, and hated it, but didn't have the wrods to explain it. Chandra is not making it up.

I've long said that selling the idea that people in marginalized groups are good, not evil, not incompetent may tdo more harm than good. Evenhatred is easier for people to acknowledge than envy.

It's a wake up call for me to realize that racism is still alive and well in this country today, the treatment of the Tennessee Three and the revelation that the KKK is still active there was depressing as hell. I grew up in a pretty diverse community, went to school with a diverse population of other kids. My Sunday school teacher was Black and she was friends with my mother since her little boy was in my mother's class. And that was obviously a few decades ago. I remember learning about the Civil Rights Movement in 9th grade Social Studies. The fact that racism is still a fact in this country, thanks to TFG along with his other egregious prejudices, is something that needs to be ended once and for all - again.

As a veteran, I can see why the military would be atractive to anyone who has seen this - stuff - happening. The military's rank system is such that they can't demote you unless they can prove misfeasance or malfeasance. So if you run into a racist or sexist or just plain hateful commander, it may be miserable, but it doesn't threaten your life and livelihood. And getting moved around a lot, you know it won't be permanent.

And one is female. Both of them are career military. Also, the male cousin is married to a woman who serves in the Pentagon - and she was there on 9/11. He says he's a "moderate," but his wife is "one of us."