The New York Times quoted Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, to help explain why the Obama administration is unwilling to begin the process of repealing DADT. Perkins asserted that "the administration is not willing to go there … because I think the American public isn't there."
Elaine Donnelly, president of the Centre for Military Readiness, pointed to a different rationale in a recent interview with National Public Radio. Donnelly admits that American culture may have changed, but she wrongly claims that "military culture has not changed. [DADT] is just as valid now as it ever was."
Perkins and Donnelly's statements may have been true when President Bill Clinton tried to end the ban on gays in the military in 1993, but they are no longer true today.
In 1993 only 44% of the American people supported ending the ban. This number steadily increased in the intervening years — 62% favoured lifting the ban in 2001 and 75% favoured its repeal as of last year.
More importantly the men and women in uniform also no longer favour this discriminatory, costly and counterproductive policy. In 1993, 75% of service men and 55% of service women opposed lifting the ban. But service members' opinions have come full circle in the last decade and half. A December 2006 Zogby International poll [PDF] found that 73% of military personnel say they are comfortable interacting with gay people.
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- groups:
- News, News and Politics, Politics, Gay, 2 more
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- bansheewail
- added this
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Alexander the Great promoted homosexuality in the legions. He figured that if his fighting men loved eachother, then they would fight harder. He was right. Those Roman fruit-loops kicked a whole bunch of ass from Bavaria to China and Africa to Russia.
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- bansheewail
- 4 months ago
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Come on...step up Obama. We voted you in for a reason. Listen to the people, not to your advisors.
The world is criticizing you anyway. Legalize hemp, allow homosexual marriage, etc. Humans are created equal and if they have the courage to fight for a country that scorns them, let them. They have bigger balls than the old goats in congress.
Cowards.
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- betruelarue
- 4 months ago
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Mmm.. Roman love was a little more complex than that. Men could love each other, but couldn't be truly married or have "true love" if I remember correctly... but they did encourage infatuation and enamoration between the soldiers to steel them in battle.
Its a bit of a different game now... it's not all about the passion we fight with, it's about operating as one, cold, calculating unit. That's where you can see modern military success. Tangling emotions into a situation can be disastrous to a mission, or even fatal.
However... the military needs to state -WHY- DADT is still in effect. There actually could be a plausable reason; unobservable torment from other soldiers? A record of gays in the military having inappropriate conduct with other soldiers? What is it? Because until there's a reason, all it seems like it a "comfortability" law, which would be highly discriminatory on very petty grounds that have nothing to do with troop safety or conduct, but that gay soldiers just wig everyone out. And even if all of the former "problems" were true, couldn't they be dealt with on a case-by-case basis? Gays being highly promiscuous, to the point of being unable to control themselves, which this would seem to suggest, is a stereotype.
Unfortunately, I'm guessing that's why they haven't given a statement; there's no standing legal reason for it to be in effect.
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- JosephJinx
- 4 months ago
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"You don't need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight."
~ Barry Goldwater -
I'm actually starting to agree with Bill Maher, Obama does need a little Bush in him. That, or at least get the balls he mysteriously lost back.
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People need to get a life.
Geeeeezz.....-
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- AnnaleeNoir
- 4 months ago
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