Word: ralstons
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...Force General Joseph Ralston sought to become the nation's No. 2 military officer last year, he pledged to the Senate to be "very candid and forthright" while harnessing "traditional values" to help curb sexual misconduct in the military. But last week Defense Secretary William Cohen released Ralston from that vow, declaring that Ralston's secret, adulterous relationship 13 years ago wouldn't "automatically disqualify" him from becoming the nation's No. 1 military officer this fall...
...Cohen thought. The Defense Secretary's assertion, while technically justified under military law, hit Capitol Hill like the heat-seeking missiles Ralston once fired from his F-105 Thunderchief fighter over Vietnam. Some lawmakers immediately charged that Ralston was getting a free ride for behavior that has sunk the careers of several officers and drove First Lieut. Kelly Flinn out of the Air Force last month. "It is very clear that the Pentagon is selectively enforcing its rules on sexual conduct," said Democratic Representative Nita Lowey of New York. "We cannot have one set of rules for the big boys...
Thus no sooner had the nation met Ralston than it prepared to say farewell. Within 24 hours of the disclosure, the Pentagon was distancing itself from the man Cohen had anointed as his choice to replace Army General John Shalikashvili, and was scrambling to find a replacement to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before the Senate leaves town in August. Worries about a double standard aside, many military experts said the uniformed services desperately need a leader with impeccable credentials in the realm of sexual ethics. In the wake of Cohen's dispensation, even Colin Powell...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Having become the poster boy for the Pentagon?s double standard on sex, Air Force General Joseph Ralston withdrew from consideration as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff rather than face a hostile and microscopic Senate examination of his past. He insisted to the end that his adulterous affair deserved different treatment than that suffered by a flock of other military officers. "My regret is that the public discussion surrounding my potential nomination blurred the facts in a number of recent cases," Ralston said. He will continue in his post as vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs...
Poll: Was Cohen Right to Pardon Ralston...