The military brass has been sending some mixed signals on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, appeared on CNN and gave some promising signs that a shift is coming saying "this is a policy that should be reviewed." I know, it's not great but it's something.
Meanwhile, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he is focused on and will "give the President my best advice, should this law change, on the impact on our people and their families at these very challenging times."
That implies some are still thinking backwards. In my opinion it will have no impact on families whatsoever and the burden of proof on their part has never been met.
So what do you guys think? Have you followed this issue at all? If you need to play catch up, you can find all the developments here.
– Andy
military has nothing to do with law, no? wasn’t this one of the big problems? >.>
It continues to be absurd that the military is dictating to civilian leadership their (the military’s) administrative policy.
As a former soldier in the military, I understand this policy. It isnt used as discrimination, its used as a life protection policy. The military is a group of war hardened trained killers who don’t want anything messing up their work/home lives. Sometimes the gays have to back down and get their manicured claws out of everything. If you are gay in the military, basically the law says, don’t bring your personal life to work. Straight soldiers cannot show affection or walk hand in hand with their spouses in uniform anyway. There is no way that gays should be given this allotment either.
Frederick, I salute you for your service to the country, but frankly, you’re full of shit! How many times have I seen news clips of trained killers suprising their children at school after having been deployed for a year or more? Shouldn’t gay soldiers have that same privilege? And I don’t think the average military service person would take kindly to being referred to as a trained killer anymore than the cop who has to fire his or her weapon in order to protect themselves or someone else. A bad policy is a bad policy!
No, forcing a group of individuals to accept something that could damage cohesiveness is bullshit. If you have never worn a uniform, have never lived under UCMJ (military law), then you have no idea what it is your talking about. If you decided to be gay in the military, then its YOUR choice. Don’t make it everyone else’s.
DADT is a better practice than the former policy which justified witch hunts. If you were even suspected of being gay, then you were discharged. DADT prevents that. So, dear blogger, do us all a favor a stick with what you know.
No, Frederick, I haven’t been in the military. But when you allow yourself to be subjugated and told that you’re not as good as the straight guy standing next to you, that’s wrong. Whatever your motivations were for joining the military knowing you had to hide your identity, that’s your cross to bear. But if only one person dies from an attack that could have been stopped if a gay language translator hadn’t been dismissed, that’s one death too many. The U.S. Military needs to get on board with gay tolerance and stop the homophobia. DADT is bad policy, and THAT’S WHAT I KNOW!