Army general loses star for calling female staffer 'sweetheart'

I agree with you that he should have known better and probably needed someone to pull him aside and have the "hey, sir..." conversation.

Yeah. As someone who has been a civilian for a long time now, the General should have known better and it's his fault for using that language.

Do you not see those as two entirely different actions?

They're inextricably tied, and a lack of integrity is the issue.

It seems a little pious to say every questionable comment someone makes is a lack of integrity; judgement perhaps, but not integrity. I think if the General lied about what he said then that's a different story. If you say something dumb and hurt someone's feelings, own it, apologize for it, and move on. This litigious society we want to reward only contributes to this type of problem.

I wasn't saying the comment was an integrity issue, I was saying the lying was. His comment speaks more to his command climate and personality, which while they can potentially be disqualifying isn't indicative in and of itself. Lying about it is certainly indicative. And he didn't lose a star anyway, he just didn't receive the next one he was expecting.

SSG Jessica Bautista - Exactly my points.

SSgt Christopher Brose My point is that a general should know better. You don't kick a puppy for pissing on the carpet.

SSG Jessica Bautista - Of course you don't kick a puppy for peeing on the carpet, but you do certainly scold adolescent dogs when they do it. If "sweetheart" is a kick, then that staffer really is a snowflake. Or baby perhaps, if you like the puppy analogy.

SSgt Christopher Brose It wasn't just the "sweetheart", and you acknowledged that in another post. Let's not be disingenuous here.