As Twitchy reported, Salon ran a hit-piece on Sen. Tom Cotton over the weekend saying that Cotton claimed to have served as a U.S. Army Ranger when he, in fact, wasn’t a Ranger at all, only a graduate of Ranger school — he’d never served in the 75th Ranger Regiment (nor had he claimed to have). As one commenter pointed out, that stance was a odds with Salon’s own piece about the school’s first female graduates, whom they called Rangers.
Salon called these women Rangers for completing Ranger school.https://t.co/lzTLkTtItr
— Cheeseburger George (@CheeseburgerGe1) January 25, 2021
National Review’s John McCormack has been doing some digging and has an excellent piece up at National Review. He notes that practically everyone hailed the first female Rangers at the time:
In 2015, when Shaye Haver and Kristen Griest became the first women in history to graduate from Ranger School, they were widely hailed by the press and Congress as America's first female Army Rangers. https://t.co/bPnF9TnLqU
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 25, 2021
He writes:
Until 2015, a woman had never graduated from Ranger school. When two women, Shaye Haver and Kristen Griest, graduated that year, they were widely hailed as the first female Army Rangers.
A bipartisan resolution with 38 cosponsors was introduced in the Senate in 2015 honoring Griest and Haver as “as our Nation’s newest United States Army Rangers.” The resolution passed the Senate by unanimous consent. An identical House resolution honoring Griest and Haver as “as our Nation’s newest United States Army Rangers” had 32 cosponsors, including veterans Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
“History will be made on Friday when these two female soldiers graduate as @USarmy Rangers,” Gabbard wrote on Twitter.
Over the weekend, Colorado Democratic representative Jason Crow, who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment and was elected to Congress in 2018, joined the progressive pile-on of Cotton. “Hey @SenTomCotton, unless you wore one of these berets you shouldn’t be calling yourself a Ranger,” Crow tweeted. “Truth matters.” On Monday, National Review sent an email to Crow’s spokesman asking if the Colorado congressman thought it was wrong to refer to Shaye Haver and Kristen Griest as Army Rangers. Crow’s spokesman has not yet replied to the request for comment.
Rick Merritt, who served 25 of his 36 years in the Army in the 75th Ranger Regiment, says @Salon's hit on Cotton is “absurd,” “unfair,” and “almost slanderous.”
"It’s a fact that he is a Ranger, just like I’m a Ranger," Merritt tells @NRO.https://t.co/Zlm7Pyn7Za pic.twitter.com/Nq7ORotHcv
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 26, 2021
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 26, 2021
But most amazing of all, Newsweek, about which we’ve already written today, went back and stealth-edited its piece from 2015 to align with Salon’s narrative after being contacted by Cotton’s office.
Stolen Valor: @Newsweek strips America's first female Army Rangers of their honor in order to support a smear of Tom Cotton.https://t.co/Zlm7Pyn7Za pic.twitter.com/FGZQHAdIDz
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 25, 2021
Receipts: pic.twitter.com/A2qb2BySKQ
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 26, 2021
So just like that, “will become Rangers” is now, “will be allowed to wear the coveted Ranger tab on their uniforms.”
@Newsweek strips any remaining credibility it once had. Ridiculous!
— pixiegirl66 (@pixiegirl661) January 26, 2021
Over 30 female soldiers have earned their tabs since 2015.
— J.T. Gilgo (@JTGilgo) January 26, 2021
Are they Rangers or not, Newsweek?
Related:
Washington Free Beacon looks into the researcher who helped with Salon’s ‘saddest hit piece ever’ on Sen. Tom Cotton https://t.co/JN2Olk2jgL
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 26, 2021
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