On the failure (yet again) of Congress to end anti-gay discrimination in our military

[thatcrazycajun]

As of June 2009, according to the Palm Center, these nations allow their homosexual citizens to serve in their military forces openly: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. 22 in all.

So far as I know, none of these nations has suffered invasion or destruction due to their military being adversely affected by the policy. If freakin' Israel, a tiny nation on eternal alert and surrounded by enemies, can integrate persons of minority sexuality into their armed forces successfully, don't you DARE try and tell me the best-equipped, best-trained, best-funded military force in world history can't.

And John McCain thinks we should listen to objections from the homophobes in the military before repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? Did Harry Truman ask his white soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines whether they approved before he ordered them to serve alongside black ones in 1947? Hell to the NO, he didn't! He was Commander in Chief, he knew racism as military policy was wrong and he ordered them to bloody well hop to...and we all know the entirely non-fatal outcome.

This is not about conducting some goddamned "social experiment." There's no need to even if it were. The evidence is in, years' worth of it...and the ones who want DADT kept on the books are on the wrong side of both morality—real morality, not the kind the fundies preach—and history on this one. Bill Clinton knew that 17 years ago, but let Sam Nunn, his GOP colleagues and the Bible-thumper groups run the table when he should have used his legendary political skills to shove it through.

This is about ending a grievous and ongoing wrong to innocent, competent, freedom-loving Americans who are offering to lay down their lives for their nation...and being rewarded by said nation spitting in their faces. This is about letting them stop violating the very honor code they were taught at West Point, Annapolis, Parris Island and Colorado Springs every single day of their professional lives by living a lie. This is about not idiotically depriving our armed forces of man- and woman-power they desperately need while trying to fight two separate wars abroad and staff hundreds of bases here and around the world.

And this is why we need to elect Democrats with spines and balls in six weeks to get in the Congress and repeal this evil piece of law. It should have ended decades ago...and it needs to end now.

Comments

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Find me a Democrat with spine and balls who's running for office and I will likely vote for them, but I don't know of any offhand,

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Well, there's Al Franken and Alan Grayson for role models, and my own Pete DeFazio and Jeff Merkely consistently make me feel at least represented even if the thinly populated states in the middle get to outvote them and give me the opposite of what I wanted.

If you live in the Jay Inslee, Adam Smith or especially the Jim McDermott district, you're definitely in the part of the solution not part of the problem camp. And Washington's two Senators have at least some spine and ovaries. Nothing for you to be ashamed about. It's those other, more eastern states that are messing things up.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

We're in Inslee's district, and mostly I've been pretty pleased with him. And definitely with Washington's current senators. I've put money when I can into other people's campaigns in other areas, where it tends to be closer, but finding candidates I like enough to fund has been difficult. Grayson's been getting most of my recent pennies.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Because somehow it's considered good public relations to paint our troops as if they were a bunch of whining cowards who pee their pants at the thought of having to take showers in the same room with homosexual soldiers. That totally promotes the image of the United States Armed Forces as an awe-inspiring model of courage and honor.

Hmph.

If I were in charge, I'd establish an all-gay "Spartan Force" on a par with the SEALs. A few years of them showing us how it's done, and the rest of the troops would be in awe. New recruits would be say of the most formidable, the most decorated veterans, "Wow--he fights like a gay guy!"

[terriwells.livejournal.com]

Like the Tuskegee airmen did for African-Americans, right? That would be very cool. (I am trying very hard not to make any comments about them designing their own group patches, though I know if they did, they would look totally awesome).

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Because somehow it's considered good public relations to paint our troops as if they were a bunch of whining cowards who pee their pants at the thought of having to take showers in the same room with homosexual soldiers. That totally promotes the image of the United States Armed Forces as an awe-inspiring model of courage and honor.

Paging the Rev. Fred Small.

[maugorn.livejournal.com]

Preach it, Brother!

And it's time to start telling all of our elected officials and candidates not only that this is an issue that can elect or de-select them, but that they should ACT on it too.

If enough Republicans get the calls and letters telling them to grow up and act like leaders and fix this, they will start to crack. It hasn't happened yet, because too many of their fringe have created the illusion that they are important. It's time for everyone to stop listening to the crazy cat people who are suffering from tannin poisoning and to START listening to some sense.
And it's up to us to not only demand that, but to show some righteous anger about it.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

i was just discussing this last night - the problem seems to be not so much spinelessness as that the democrats won't put aside their individual agendas and line up behind something, whereas the republicans have gotten really good at presenting a unified front

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I tell you, I'm extremely tempted to call into Senator McCain's office and call him not just a coward, but one of the celebrants of the 9/11 attack because had we not discharged the Arabic translators for being gay, it's quite possible we would have been forewarned of the then-impending attack. I know this because I've met the Arabic translators who worked at the Pentagon! They were discharged for Serving While Gay (or Lesbian).

Israel's army

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Is not 60+% composed of Southern Macho Rednecks, though.