After mismanaging sexual assault and rape cases at the US Air Force Academy for years, then mismanaging the reaction to a sudden flurry of media coverage of same, the Air Force is bending over backwards to try and show that it’s taking the matter seriously — new cadet rules, new leadership at the AFA, and so forth.
But the first actual legal action taken in the matter — the case being prosecuted against cadet Douglas Meester — gives every indication of being much more to demonstrate a general air of toughness than an attempt to see true justice done. Despite the advice of the hearing officer that the evidence did not make it likely a guilty verdict would be returned on the worst charges, recommending those charges be dropped and the other charges handled non-judicially, the current AFA interim commander has taken the unusual step of overriding the hearing officer and pushing the case forward anyway.
Rarely, when the pendulum swings in one direction, does it fail to swing too far back in the other — especially when there’s politics involved. I’d hate to think a culture of cover-up could only be swapped out for a culture of show trials.