Republican Jackass of the Week Part 1

We have two this week.

First, it's Georgia's Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss.

While sexual assaults in the military are currently at staggering levels, this guy shrugs it off and runs to the old "boys will be boys" excuse.

Says Saxby: "The young folks coming into each of your services, are anywhere from 17 to 22. Gee whiz, the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur." That's actually what he said, into a mic, for the world to hear, in front of cameras and other magical recording devices, to top military officials at a Senate Armed Services Committee.

See? Don't think of it as a violent criminal assault.

Think of it as just a bunch of guys responding to hormones.

Gee whiz.

Except, of course, the officer in charge of the Air Force's sexual prevention program who was arrested for assault is 41. And the manager of the sexual harassment and assault response program in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, recently arrested for a domestic assault, is 42.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has called military sexual assaults "a scourge," and promised to make addressing them a top priority. A recent Pentagon report estimated as many as 26,000 service members may have been assaulted in 2012.

But hey, brush it off as "hormones."

You're a Jackass. Our Republican Jackass of the Week, Part One. The certificate's in the mail.

Tomorrow it's the regularly scheduled Friday Jackass of the Week.