A group of Democratic Senators introduced legislation to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military.
Personally, I am eager to see this antiquated policy repealed and hope that it has the votes it needs to pass. However, the article states that "neither Lieberman nor Levin said they were assured of having 60 votes to push it through the Senate" which is worrisome.
Here's an op-ed from one of the bill's sponsors (who is the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee), Senator Carl Levin, if you're interested.
This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 426: Congressional Politics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
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7 comments:
Ron, I don't for a second question the bravery of your service just like the courage of many other Americans in the military. And no, I do not have military experience myself(although I do have family members currently serving). However, I do not need to be in the military to understand the discrimination that Don't Ask, Don't Tell creates.
Your comment "you want other lifestyles in the military, fine give them their own ship, tank regiment" is concerning to me. That presumes that people who are gay and in the military are not professional so they need to be isolated. I think this is a false assumption. I assume that even though you are straight and there were women in the military during your time of service, you were able to conduct yourself in a professional manner. Why should it be any different for gay soldiers?
The argument I have heard most frequently against the repeal of DADT is that it would harm "unit cohesion and morale." And, sure, it might take some time for adjustment, but just as the military was able to handle racial integration (even if it took time), it can acclimate to gays serving openly in the military.
Not only should this policy be repealed just because it is discriminatory, but when we deny people the opportunity to serve in the military, we miss out on very talented people. People like Lt. Dan Choi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthMCIqc72A&feature=related
Why is it always assumed that gay soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors cannot conduct themselves with the same class and valor as their straight counterparts?
Why is it assumed that they are more preoccupied with sex than with defended their oath to their country?
It will be interesting to see where Congress goes with DADT, but I think I will let Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speak my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X83IdnqOSdk
I think that this should be up to the Military to decide if don't ask don't tell should be repealed. If Ron is correct that most do not want it repealed, then it should not be repealed. I think that anyone outside the military including myself really does not know what it is like. This completely different from race black and white people are not different, however obviously being gay is different from being straight. This policy does NOT prevent gays from serving it just stops them from openly practicing their lifestyle or discussing it.
I for the life of me don't understand why people would need to tell others about their orientation anyway, i don't go around telling people I'm straight. I think whatever you want to do with your life is fine but really their is no need to tell others about it because for the most part people you dont know really want to hear about it either way. I think in every other walk of life gays should NOT be treated differently , however the military is different and they should be the ones to decide if this is something they want to change.
I too served in the Military. My experience is different from Ron's. From my experience, there was a lot of grabbing, teasing, towelsnapping, and dirty tricks. Funny thing was the married folks that have been away from their spouse for 6 months were the worst offenders. When I was about to go on leave to get married I got gangtackled by a bunch of married guys and was subsequently taped to the overhead and dyed my genetalia blue with machinist ink.
I knew a couple of gays and lesbians that I served with, and they were very low key. They never caused any problems. The REAL problem is rape, and sexual assault to women servicemembers. The four years I served, there were at least a dozen cases of sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, innapropriate fraternization and adultery. Two of which involved my Commanding Officers.
...and that doesn't even include the unreported cases, which I know also happened and the female was intimidated or coerced not to report.
So my reply to Ron is, while I may never have been shot, I did walk in your shoes. I was in the Port of Yemen refueling. In order to hook up the fuel lines I needed to get into body armor and carry a sidearm. As I looked down at the Yemenese port guards, if they didn't like the way you looked they wouldn't hesitate to draw a bead on you with their AK-47s. The really scary thing was the USS Cole was the ship that relieved the ship I was on, and I worked in the port engine room. The same space that was hit on the Cole.
My last Commanding Officer recieved his orders to the Naval Nerve Center at the Pentagon just before I got my discharge. He was killed on 9/11.
When I look back on my service, never in my duties did I ever say to myself,"Gee I hope the guy my life depends on is not a fag." I was more concerned that they did their job. Whether or not the person next to me was gay or straight didn't matter. What mattered was they could shoot straight. What mattered was they were professionals. What mattered was they were competant at the job they were trained to do.
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