The CIA isn't the only government
agency looking to tap into woke
rhetoric in order to recruit
people.
Looks like the US Army has taken
a lesson from them and
they've come up with a series that
they've referred to as the calling
where they feature the personal
stories of soldiers
from diverse backgrounds.
So, let's take a look at Emma's
story and
we'll discuss why this is an issue.
[MUSIC]
>> This is the story of a soldier
who operates your nation's
Patriot Missile Defense Systems.
[MUSIC]
It begins in California, with
a little girl raised by two moms.
Although I had a fairly typical
childhood, took ballet,
played violin.
I also marched for equality.
I like to think I've been defending
freedom from an early age.
[MUSIC]
When I was six years old,
one of my moms had an accident that
left her paralyzed.
Doctor said she might never walk
again.
But she tapped into my family's
pride to get back on her feet.
Eventually standing at the altar to
marry my other mom.
I'd spent my life around
inspiring women.
But what had I really
achieved on my own?
I needed my own adventures,
my own challenge, and after meeting
with an army recruiter, I found it.
A way to prove my inner strength,
and maybe shatter some stereotypes
along the way.
[MUSIC]
I'm US Army corporal Emma Malone
Martin, and I answered my calling.
>> All right Cenk, so real quick, I
want to get your thoughts on that.
Or am I being a little too harsh in
watching a video like that and
rolling my eyes?
Not because of her personal story,
but specifically how her personal
story is being used to recruit
people to the military.
>> Of course,
the part that was most jarring was
that part right there.
>> [LAUGH] Yeah. >> Where she's
like, I had two moms,
and now, boom.
That's why I launched missiles now.
>> No, no.
But Cenk, it's not just missiles.
She operates the Patriot, the
Patriot Missile Defense Systems.
>> No, because when those
missiles land, they're more
patriotic than the other missiles.
>> Right, of course.
>> Okay. >> Absolutely.
>> And so look, guys,
we need a military.
I get it.
But this glorification, by the way,
that also is clearly meant to lure
children in with this cartoon and
anime type of,
scene which they do for
actually five different stories and
they get the younger people are now
more progressive.
That's why they're doing this,
the CIA did the same thing.
We covered that a little while ago.
And now there's the US military
going, we understand you kids
are progressive.
Would you like to come kill people
with us with other people who have
two moms?
Hm, okay.
>> Yeah.
>> And so one more thing about that
Anna, just real quick.
It's one thing if we actually use
our defense department for defense,
then I say what great, two moms,
three moms, do a mom and a dad,
who cares, go, that's awesome.
I don't care about that at all.
I love that it's more
inclusive, right?
And you're defending our
country and I love you for it.
But that's not what we use our
military for.
We largely use it for
offensive reasons, where we go and
bomb other countries for basically
because of our own corruption.
>> Yeah, for natural resources.
>> Yeah. >> For business interests,
and very rarely these days for
national security concerns.
Even though it'll be sold to the
American people as a national
security issue, or an effort to
spread democracy because we're
allegedly worried about human
rights. And of course,
we engage with governments,
we work with governments.
We have aligned ourselves with
governments that have been vicious
to their own people, that have
committed human rights abuses,
not only to their own people,
but to the civilians that live in
countries that they're at war with.
So, I mean, that whole. The problem
with these types of ads,
right, is that it does two things
simultaneously. So, they use this
woke rhetoric to both recruit, but
more importantly to rehabilitate
the reputation of the US military.
To essentially cover up what the US
military actually represents to
all countries abroad, right? It
covers up our military aggression.
And just to make specific points,
referring to the video that you
watched, Patriot Missile Defense
System. They're obviously using
these labels and using this
rhetoric to make a deadly weapon,
a weapon of mass destruction,
appear to be something that's not
that big of a deal. That's actually
a wonderful thing. It's a Patriot
missile defense system.
Also, I find it fascinating that
they're talking about the story of
a soldier who was raised by two
moms, who wouldn't have been able
to openly serve in the military as
lesbian soldiers until 2011. 2011,
During the Obama administration,
that was when the military finally
repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
If you were in the military
as part of the LGBTQ community,
it wasn't until 2011 that you can
openly serve. You have to hide your
sexual identity. So, ads like this,
that use this kind of language,
again, attempt to launder
the reputation of a military that's
been incredibly vicious toward
the very people that they're
pretending to celebrate in that ad.
Also she says she marched for
equality. I'd like to think I've
been defending freedom from
an early age. But does the US
military really defend freedom?
Does it? >> Yeah, look, to be fair,
you remember that a time that
Nicaragua invaded us and
our military was so brave in
fighting off. We nearly lost, but
our brave soldiers fought it off.
No, all we've done in my lifetime
is attack other countries, attack,
attack, attack, Afghanistan, Iraq.
When you include the bombing,
Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan,
you name it, attack, attack,
attack attack, and then we call it
Department of Defense. >> Exactly.
>> What defense? What are you
talking about? What defense?
And by the way, if it was actually
the Department of Defense, it would
actually block things. Because I
know what right wingers will say.
Yeah, what about 911?
Yeah, exactly my point.
What about 911?
Why didn't they defend us?
>> Right.
>> They didn't defend us.
They didn't do defense at all.
They said but why?
because it's built
to be department of offense.
So, they didn't even bother
defending us.
They let planes run right into
the World Trade Center.
The first one and
then a long time later,
a second one.
They didn't defend us at all.
They let a plane run right
into the Pentagon.
No defense at all.
They're not bothering to do
defense. All they're doing is
attacking countries abroad.
So, look so the right wing will
then another reaction will be yeah,
look at this is so woke and
stupid man.
Okay, all right.
Well, wait a minute,
now let's look at the other side.
Why a woman who has two moms will
be a war soldier.
What's your logic?
>> Yeah, yeah,
they 100% believe that.
So the right wing comes at it from
a different perspective and
I think it's important.
I got a little loose hair there.
It's really important for you to
keep that in mind, right, because
where we're coming from is not,
this is a bad ad because we should
not be inclusive in the military.
It's a bad ad because it
uses progressive language.
Or language that they believe will
appeal to progressives,
when in reality, the very
organization that's attempting to
recruit people, is guilty of
the very things that this soldier
is celebrating in her story, right?
Is guilty of abusing
the very things,
the very people that this soldier
is celebrating in her story.
This is the final thing I want
to mention that it got
under my skin while I acknowledge
that I'm not the arbiter
of what a strong woman is.
I have my own ideas of what
strength is.
I have my own ideas of what it
means to crush stereotypes or
shatter stereotypes for women.
I would just say that in my
opinion, a strong woman who
shatters stereotypes is willing to
question the very agency,
organization, entity that she has
agreed to work for.
Someone who's willing
to question power and to be sure,
the US military is incredibly
powerful, incredibly well funded,
and has an entire propaganda, and
narrative surrounding it.
And so, I hate the way that they
presented this as, she was just
a college girl sorority girl and
she realized she wasn't doing
enough, she hadn't accomplished
enough on her own.
So she needed a new adventure
everyone.
She needed to do
something different.
And so she joined the military and
that made her a real woman,
a strong woman.
That's what made her shatter
the stereotypes.
>> Right, that's a great point.
Last word here goes to one of our
viewers.
Peter low frequency wrote in on
YouTube Super Chat.
I got so I'm sorry.
Graham Henry did on this story.
The Department of Defense was
called the Department of War until
1947.
That's a great point.
That's true.
Shortly after the last war where
the US was actually defending,
coincidence?
So, [LAUGH] we do
a lot of propaganda here in America
aided and abetted by media that
helps the powerful, right?
So it's not torture,
it's enhanced interrogations, and
it went from Department of War,
to Department of Defense,
just when we stopped doing defense.
And since then we haven't done any
defense at all, all we've done is
attack countries like Vietnam and
all the Middle Eastern countries
that I alluded to.
And back to the right wing, the
other reason that they are upset is
because of the culture wars.
And all these people said, Cenk,
you say all these young people
are progressive.
Yeah, I'm saying it because I can
read a poll.
No way, no way this country's,
50/50 center-right country,
center-right country.
And all of a sudden Nike is doing
ads with Colin Kaepernick.
Why? Because they realized all
the young are progressive and
they all back Kaepernick.
Now, the CIA and
the United States Military,
two different ad campaigns saying,
my God we're the most progressive
organization in the world.
Come kill with us, right?
So it turns out,
it looks like the United States
government realizes all the young
people are progressive and that's
what's driving the right wing nuts.
They're like, No, we wanted power,
now we're out of power.
Yes, you are.
But anyway,
when you get this propaganda,
buyer beware.
They don't actually care about
your moms.
They care about sending you abroad
to start new wars.
>> So, David Roy on Twitter says
that he disagrees with our take and
I respect that.
I want to read the full tweet,
disagree on your army ad take with
US Military dangerously inundated
with evangelicals.
It's good to see a more inclusive
military reaching out to
diverse people.
So, the criticism isn't about
the military reaching out to
a diverse group of recruits.
That's not what the criticism is.
The criticism is in regard to
the military,
in this case the Army, representing
itself as an organization or
a government agency,
part of the military that is
inclusive when in fact it is not.
In fact, we also need to address
that soldiers, female soldiers
who have accused other
soldiers of sexually abusing them,
of raping them, often get their
accusations brushed under
the rug or completely ignored.
What these types of ads do is
pretend as if there's nothing
terrible going on within the army
right now.
It completely covers up the reality
of the US military and makes it
appear as if it's this wonderful
inclusive place to be where you can
go to better yourself and
I have a problem with that.
>> I'm actually going to give
the last word to our members now.
So, just be anti racist wrote in in
our member section.
The real commercial for
our military should be documented
war footage, the soldiers laying in
Walter Reed, and the coffin is
being brought home off the planes.
Yeah, that's right.
Our government banned all of that.
That's right.
You don't want people to see what
the military is actually up to.
So, they will not allow you to take
video or pictures of
their coffins coming home.
It's not exactly what I would call
respecting the troops.