Shoshanna Johnson shuts down a bigoted JAG-off

I adore this woman, and I want to see more of her.
Long and the short: Larry King had Army Specialist Shoshanna Johnson (former POW, you may remember her fellow soldier Jessica Lynch), Dr. Phil, and JAG officer Tom Kenniff to discuss the massacre at Fort Hood. Kenniff immediately jumped on the “well of course he did this, he’s Islamic and he’s a terrorist!” express train to demagoguetown.

(Transcript here).
Watch in awe as Johnson and Dr. Phil tear this guy a new one. Apart from the obvious inflamatory anti-Islamic rhetoric that Shoshanna helped shut down, she also makes a point to defend people with mental illness and PTSD — pointing out that Major or not, an Army psychiatrist is still a human being and if he had to sit around listening to stories like hers all day, he didn’t necessarily have to be shot himself to be traumatized by his job.
She did an amazing job standing up to this guy (who, as a lawyer, is trained in how to talk over and shut down the opposition) and was a real credit to her cause. With veterans issues becoming more prominent as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on, I hope CNN brings her on more often to add a much-needed perspective to the debates. Frankly, I could hear her say “that’s crap” to inflammatory bullshit any day of the week.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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