The majority of the politic stuff i bring up is from what I hear on The Daily Show but this issue has always been important to me. In fact, it is one of the points I look for Obama to change. While John McCain has felt "If it ain't break, don't fix it." Obama has expressed being opened to the idea of repealing it. Campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor issued a statement saying, "As President, Senator Obama would work in consultation with our military leaders to submit legislation to Congress repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell' and advocate for its passage."Congress has gathered to talk about it, it is their first hearing in 15 years. Patrick Murphy said something smart about gay and straight officers being professional. Another senator (Carol) said that in the future, they will be embarrassed about the hearing. Jon Stewart of course said, "why wait now?" Stewart also brilliantly compared the "what will happen to homphobes? will they be banished from the military because of the 'extreme San Fransisco' Leftists" to what happened to the racists when Jackie Robinson was admitted to the MLB.The reason I believe the policy should be removed or changed is because it is ridiculous. Yes, it doesn't matter if an officer is gay, but to remove them is ridiculous. Officers have to be professional, way can't GLBT officers be professional? They have been in the past. GLBT has been in the army for years, especially in WWII. WWII is the entire reason why there is a large GLBT population in San Fransisco! And it is shame that during WWII, gay people were sent to Concentration camps and at the same time, gay US officers that were 'outted' were put in prisoner camps and dishonorably discharged. A Zogby poll conducted for the Palm Center in 2006 surveyed 545 military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, found that only 37% of the respondents opposed openly gay military service.
The majority of the troops out there are young and the newer generations are much more open and less homophobic. And to bring up AIDS is ridiculous because heterosexual people are just as susceptible to AIDS and proof by society and media, South Park recently out measured how people care more about cancer than AIDS these days. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness and anti-gay activist, claims that a case of "black lesbian" gang rapists who prey on new recruits. Othman O'Malley satires this a bit in the article link (CBS) below. Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah talks about how she almost died in 911 and how her partner of 11 years may have be left with nothing and fights for our rights. I am glad that congress is finally have common sense and the 'anti-gay' speakers are starting to loose their points and their 'evidence' and 'examples' are shattering.AlterNet
Time Magazine
CBS
ArmyTimes
