Navy’s Tailhook Incident

Investigation of the Tailhook scandal has been grossly mismanaged by Navy officials, and their futile efforts disprove the Navy’s claim that they can police themselves. I believe that the main reason this story hasn’t been swept under the rug by the Navy is that Reps. Barbara Boxer and Patricia Schroeder have kept the issue alive by calling for an independent investigation.

This morning (June 28) I read Robert Mosbacher’s statement that women voters should “be appreciative” of President Bush’s concern for women’s rights. I resent Mosbacher’s patronizing instructions. His spin on President Bush’s concern for women’s rights won’t work. President Bush has shown a callous disregard for women’s reproductive freedom, and his Administration supported the reprehensible dismissal of Anita Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment.

The Tailhook scandal has been slowly playing out over a period of months. George Herbert Walker Bush’s acceptance of Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III’s resignation doesn’t signal to me Bush’s fundamental respect for women’s rights; it’s a simple case of yet more political games being played by the patrician good old boys who run our country.

JENNIFER MERK, San Diego