Poll Question: Gays in the Military
Posted on | February 11, 2010 | 46 Comments
“A new CBS News/ New York Times poll finds that the wording of the question is key when it comes to determining whether Americans support allowing gays to serve in the military.”
– Kevin Hechtkopf, CBS News
Q. How would you feel if you turned on the TV and saw a Navy admiral flouncing down Castro Street in full uniform in the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, right next to Dykes On Bikes and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence?
I doubt CBS and the New York Times would phrase the question that way, but that’s what the proposal to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” boils down to. Of course, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is problematic in its own right: If a soldier is deployed to a combat zone and wants to go home, all he has to do is say, “I’m gay!”
All of this, you understand, is a result of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign promise to gay-rights radicals, even though sodomy is still defined as a court-martial offense under Article 125 in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Colin Powell and Sen. Sam Nunn forced Clinton to accept the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” compromise, but to the radicals, all compromises are merely temporary ceasefires, a prelude to further aggression.
The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.
Comments
46 Responses to “Poll Question: Gays in the Military”
Leave a Reply
The Full Metal Jacket Reach-Around Award
This spot rotates to honor those who link us in shameless obedience to Rule 2 of How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog.
Hit the Freaking Tip Jar!
HEADLINES
Recent Posts
- The Joys Of Travel
- At The Patrick Murray Campaign Office Opener Part 1
- Sarah Palin Calls MSM Reporters ‘Impotent, Limp, and Gutless’
- ‘Recovery Summer’ Sure To Go Viral
- Meet Team Joe
- Delaware Castle Under Siege
- Will Libertarians Decry The Boston Tea Party?
- Dodging Federalism
- VRWC in the Last Frontier
- Paco Enterprises Takes Us All To Task
Really Should Subscribe (RSS)
Cool Twitter Dudes
Hot Air Greenroom
The Other Other McCain
Top Referers
Categories
- Abortion (36)
- Ace of Spades (21)
- Aghanistan (7)
- Al Sharpton (2)
- Alabama (64)
- Alan Colmes (3)
- Alaska (27)
- Alyssa Milano Should Re-Tweet Me (1)
- American Power (7)
- American Spectator (2)
- Andrew Breitbart (23)
- Andrew Sullivan (16)
- Ann Althouse (1)
- Ann Coulter (4)
- Arizona (47)
- Arkansas (3)
- Art (3)
- Atlas Shrugs (21)
- Barack Obama (152)
- Barbara Espinosa (9)
- Baseball Crank (1)
- Blame Erik Telford (12)
- Blogging (159)
- Books (5)
- Brazil (1)
- California (27)
- Camp of the Saints (2)
- Canada (6)
- CBS (2)
- Celebrities (67)
- Census (4)
- Charles Johnson (21)
- Charlie Rangel (3)
- China (1)
- Chris Cassone (9)
- Christine O'Donnell (5)
- Coffeebeaners (3)
- Colorado (5)
- Computers (2)
- Congress (111)
- Connecticut (5)
- Conservatism 101 (12)
- Corruption (26)
- CPAC (51)
- Crime (68)
- Culture (32)
- Cynthia Yockey (7)
- Da Tech Guy (36)
- Daily Kos (4)
- Daley Gator (1)
- Dan Riehl (33)
- Dave Weigel (3)
- David Brooks Fisking Day (9)
- David Harsanyi (1)
- David Letterman (1)
- David Nolan (1)
- Day By Day (2)
- Delaware (7)
- Democrats (66)
- Dennis Prager (1)
- Dr. Helen (1)
- Drops In The River (1)
- Economics (110)
- Ed Driscoll (1)
- Ed Morrissey (3)
- Education (36)
- Election (182)
- End The Fed (5)
- Environmentalism (10)
- Europe (4)
- Evan Sayet (2)
- Family (12)
- Farce (55)
- Fausta (2)
- Fear and Loathing at CPAC 2010 (2)
- Fear and Loathing in Pasadena (7)
- Fear and Loathing in the French Quarter (12)
- Fear and Loathing With Ann Coulter in Las Vegas (16)
- Feminism (10)
- Fiction (1)
- Fireworks (1)
- Fishersville Mike (3)
- Florida (38)
- FMJRA Award (30)
- Football (15)
- Foreigners (43)
- Fox News (6)
- Freedom Works (1)
- Gateway Pundit (2)
- Gays (34)
- George Will (1)
- Georgia (16)
- Germany (2)
- Glenn Beck (18)
- Global Warming (13)
- GOP (5)
- Grandpa John (4)
- Great Britain (4)
- Greece (2)
- Haiti (1)
- Harry Reid (16)
- Hawaii (2)
- Health Car (6)
- Health Care (88)
- Hillary Clinton (2)
- HillBuzz (2)
- History (11)
- Hollywood (14)
- Hot Air (8)
- HUD (1)
- humor (116)
- Illinois (19)
- Immigration (34)
- Indiana (5)
- Inspectors General (3)
- Instapundit (20)
- Iowahawk (1)
- Iran (4)
- Israel (25)
- J.D. Hayworth (18)
- James O'Keefe (1)
- Jason Mattera (2)
- Jihad Watch (4)
- Jill Stanek (1)
- Jim Moran (4)
- Joe Miller (13)
- John McCain (14)
- Jon Stewart (1)
- Jonah Goldberg (2)
- Joshua Trevino (1)
- Journalism (27)
- Jumping in Pools (1)
- Kathy Shaidle (1)
- Kentucky (13)
- Kill Truck (2)
- Labor Unions (1)
- Left Coast Rebel (3)
- Liberals (24)
- Libertarians (2)
- Little Miss Attila (9)
- Louisiana (3)
- ManBearPig (4)
- Marco Rubio (16)
- Marriage (3)
- Maryland (5)
- Massachusetts (49)
- Matt Lewis (1)
- Matthew Yglesias (1)
- Mattie Fein (2)
- Media Bias (48)
- Melissa Clouthier (4)
- Mexico (1)
- Michelle Malkin (15)
- Military (12)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mitt Romney (2)
- Moderate Voice (1)
- Movies (5)
- Mrs. Other McCain (17)
- MSNBC (25)
- Music (17)
- Nancy Pelosi (18)
- National Offend a Feminist Week (14)
- NBC (2)
- Netherlands (1)
- Neutral Objective Journalism (38)
- Nevada (28)
- New Jersey (1)
- New York (27)
- New York Times (18)
- No Sheeples (5)
- North Carolina (6)
- North Dakota (1)
- North Korea (1)
- Obi's Sister (3)
- Ohio (7)
- Oklahoma (1)
- OnLineTaxRevolt (1)
- Operation Blame Erik Telford (4)
- Pakistan (6)
- Patrick Murray (10)
- Paul Ryan (2)
- Pennsylvania (36)
- Peru (1)
- Piece of Work in Progress (7)
- PJTV (14)
- Planned Parenthood (5)
- Political Byline (3)
- Politics (62)
- Polls (3)
- Power Line (4)
- Progressivism (45)
- Protein Wisdom (5)
- Pundit & Pundette (1)
- R.S. McCain School of Journalism (2)
- Racism (55)
- Red State (7)
- Religion (33)
- Republicans (159)
- Rick Moran (2)
- Ricochet (2)
- Right Online (7)
- Rule 1 (10)
- Rule 2 (8)
- Rule 3 (1)
- Rule 4 (3)
- Rule 5 (90)
- Rule 6 (6)
- Rush Limbaugh (5)
- Russia (2)
- Saberpoint (2)
- Sarah Palin (54)
- Scandal (67)
- Science (15)
- SEIU (2)
- Senate (115)
- Sex (67)
- Shoe Leather Fund (43)
- Sissypuss the Blog Kitty (7)
- smittypalooza (2)
- South Carolina (44)
- Sports (6)
- Supreme Court (26)
- Sweden (2)
- Tabitha Hale (5)
- Talk Radio (1)
- Taxes (4)
- Tea Party (122)
- Tennessee (2)
- Terrorism (46)
- Texas (9)
- Thaddeus McCotter (4)
- The Blogmocracy (1)
- The Flemish Menace (22)
- Thomas Sowell (2)
- Timothy Geithner (4)
- Turkey (1)
- Uganda (3)
- Ui2 (1)
- Uncategorized (236)
- Uncoverage (2)
- Unions (2)
- Valley of the Shadow (14)
- Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (13)
- Vermont (1)
- Video (112)
- Villainous Company (1)
- Virginia (2)
- VodkaPundit (5)
- Weimar America (7)
- West Virginia (2)
ADVERTISE HERE
blog advertising is good for youHelp America Fight the Terrifying OBAMA ZOMBIES!
Blogroll
- A Conservative Shemale
- Ace of Spades HQ
- Adrienne's Corner
- All-American Blogger
- American Glob
- AmSpec Blog
- Andrea Shea King
- Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
- Around the Sphere
- Athens & Jerusalem
- Atlanta Tax Protest
- Atlas Shrugs
- Barney Quick
- Bartholomew's Notes On Religion
- BatesLine
- Bear Creek Ledger
- Bearsears Patriots
- Becky Brindle
- Below the Beltway
- Blog de KingShamus
- Blueshelled
- Bob’s Bar & Grill
- Bride of Rove
- Caffeinated Thoughts
- Calvin Freiburger Online
- Carol's Closet
- Cassy Fiano
- Cat House Chat
- Catholic Tide
- Caught Him With A Corndog
- Charles G. Hill
- Chris Cassone
- Clever S. Logan
- Cold Fury
- Common Cents
- Conservative Girl With a Voice
- Conservative Watch News
- Conservatives For Palin
- Crazy For Liberty
- Creative Minority Report
- Cubachi
- Cynthia Yockey
- Dad 29
- DaTechguy
- Dateline Zero
- DC Damsel
- Don Surber
- Dr. Flap
- Dr. Helen
- Dustbury
- Dyspepsia Generation
- Ed Driscoll
- Effing Conservatives
- Election Dissection
- Ennui Pundit
- Eric Reasons, IT Genius
- Eye of Polyphemus
- Fausta’s Blog
- Fire Andrea Mitchell
- Fishersville Mike
- Five Feet of Fury
- For What It's Worth
- Founding Bloggers
- Free Will
- Gateway Pundit
- Gay Patriot
- Girl on the Right
- GM's Place
- Goldfish and Clowns
- Grandpa John's
- Granny Rant
- GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD
- Haemet
- Hit & Run
- Hot Air
- Hot Air Green Room
- Hugh Hewitt
- I Own The World
- Ignorant Me
- Inside Charm City
- Instapundit
- Is This Blog On?
- Jammie Wearing Fool
- John William Perry
- Jules Crittenden
- Jumping in Pools
- Just A Conservative Girl
- KillTruck
- KURU Lounge
- Laura Elizabeth Morales
- Lead and Gold
- Lee Hernly
- Legal Insurrection
- Libertarian Republican
- Liberty Pundits
- Lisa Graas
- Little Miss Attila
- Live Action
- Maj. Steven Givler
- Makes My Brain Itch
- Marathon Pundit
- Martin Eisenstadt's Blog
- Media Fade
- Michael Leahy
- Michelle Malkin
- Mind Numbed Robot
- Moe Lane
- Monique Stuart
- Morally Right
- My Thoughts on Freedom
- Naked Villainy
- Nation of Cowards
- Never Yet Melted
- Newsreal Blog
- Nice Deb
- No Runny Eggs
- No Sheeples Here
- noot's observatory
- Not One Red Cent
- Obi's Sister
- Obi`s Sister
- Ollieander
- Ordered Liberty
- Outside the Beltway
- Paco Enterprises
- Pax Parabellum
- Piece of Work in Progress
- Pierre Legrand's Pink Flamingo Bar
- Pileus
- Pinup Girl
- Pirates Cove
- Point of a Gun
- Political Byline
- Political Pit Bull
- Politicaljunkie Mom
- Protein Wisdom
- Public Secrets
- Pundit and Pundette
- Rachel Lucas
- Reaganite Republican Resistance
- Recovering Liberal
- Red Dog Report
- Red State
- Red State Eclectic
- Red, White & Conservative
- Republican Redefined
- Rhetorican
- Rhymes With Right
- Ric's Rulez
- Ricochet
- Riehl World View
- Right of Course
- Right Pundits
- Right Turns Only
- Right View From the Left Coast
- Right Wing News
- Right Wing Nut House
- Ruby Slippers Blog
- Saberpoint
- Scared Monkeys
- Serr8d's Cutting Edge
- SI VIS PACEM
- Sissy 'put moi in your blogroll' Willis
- Skepticrats
- Smash Mouth Politics
- So It Goes In Shreveport
- Soylent Green
- St. Blogustine
- Story Balloon
- Suzy Rice
- Taking Hayek Seriously
- Tel-Chai Nation
- Tequila & Javalinas
- The Anchoress
- The Blogmocracy
- The Camp of the Saints
- The Classic Liberal
- The Daily Conservative
- The Daily Ramble
- The Daley Gator
- The Hay Ride
- The Indentured Servant Girl
- The Izzy Report
- The Jawa Report
- The Lonely Conservative
- The Minority Leader
- The Minority Report
- The Nose on Your Face
- The Pink Flamingo
- The Real Mike
- The Republican Mother
- The Right Sphere
- The Saint Angilbert Press
- The Snark Factor
- The Sundries Shack
- The Tiger on Politics
- The Underground Conservative
- The View From LL2
- Three Beers Later
- Thunder Tales
- Tigerhawk
- Tom McLaughlin
- Tory Anarchist
- Track-a-’Crat
- TrogloPundit
- Ui2 — Informed Dissent
- Uncoverage
- Urban Grounds
- VA Right
- Valley of the Shadow
- Vets On The Watch
- VodkaPundit
- Vox Day
- Watcher of Weasels
- Western Experience
- Word Around the Net
- World's Only Rational Man
- WyBlog
- Yankee Phil
- Zingstrom's Blog
Adsense


February 11th, 2010 @ 7:10 pm
The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.
That will make Troy ‘Ramrod Room’ King happy.
February 11th, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
I am going to use the method of the military and asking every, single one of my potential employees if they are gay or straight and assigning tasks accordingly.
You know, when it is okay to do that.
February 11th, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
Please read the above comment and insert the word “START” before “asking.”
Mmmkay, thanks.
February 11th, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
Its ‘mmmkay’ with me PM….by the way: love your hair products.
February 11th, 2010 @ 7:53 pm
Firstly… when DADT is repealed the military will START asking every single one of its potential employees if they are gay or straight and assigning tasks and posts accordingly.
After all… they do that now for women.
I don’t think that those pushing for the repeal of DADT have really thought this through and I don’t think that gays are going to like the changes.
February 11th, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.
Don’t joke. I can easily foresee a future where engaging in homosexual activity is the only way to *prove* you’re not a bigot.
February 11th, 2010 @ 8:05 pm
If a soldier is deployed to a combat zone and wants to go home, all he has to do is say, “I’m gay!”
Actually I’m told by my military friends that true or not, such a declaration is most likely to be met by “That’s nice, now get back to work.” from the sergeant.
February 11th, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.
That will make Ron ‘Bumpkis’ Reagan, Jr. happy.
February 11th, 2010 @ 9:45 pm
CBS/NYT, the branches of military already have regulations regarding when & how they wear the uniform off-bases & in civilian areas, especially while marching in a political rallies.
My response would have been that that particular soldier, sailor or Marine should be punished for disrespecting the uniform
February 11th, 2010 @ 9:49 pm
Man, nothing gives Conservatives a boner like denying others equal treatment, even the men and women of the armed forces. You know, those freaks that defend our country…
What I love most about this issue is that it is the dinosaur wing of Conservatives that want to fight DADT tooth and nail.Luckily, a new generation of open-minded Conservatives will make the troglodytes obsolete.
“The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.”
Yeah Stacy. That’s like saying that the civil-rights crowd in the 60’s wouldn’t be satisfied until being African -American was compulsory. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that idea was floated around by the John Birch society during that time. Reminds me of the excuse Reagan gave for not making MLK day a national holiday–something to the effect that if he did that “it would not stop there”.
Oh Conservatism, such a rich heritage of bigotry hidden behind a thin veil of faux concern for America’s social fabric…
February 11th, 2010 @ 10:05 pm
y4e
Perhaps you could help me here.
Is the military’s job merely to kill our enemies or provide a feel good self- actualization environment for everybody?
Before you start tearing down one policy, might you make sure the policy you envision won’t impact the military’s readyness, effectiveness, and morale?
Being as we have openly male and openly female soldiers segregated in situations where their co-ed nakedness may impact military readyness, effectiveness, and morale, what of the openly gay male, or female, or bisexual, or transgendered?
What to do?
February 11th, 2010 @ 10:15 pm
I was in the service at that time and as I recall Colin Powell was against ending the ban and was a late supporter of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. My recollection is that the compromise was forced after Clinton issued an order that essentially implemented the policy and then congress enacted it into law.
Beyond that you know who supported ending the ban on gays in the military? Barry Goldwater.
February 11th, 2010 @ 10:23 pm
One other thing – I ran three STD clinics while I was in the Navy. I happen to know that in 1987 one of the Commanding Officers of a destroyer was gay or at the least bisexual. I recieved his STD contact report from the state of California and had to treat a Marine at MCAS El Toro. Over the years I know I treated at least 100 gay service members for STDs (as well as many thousands more that were straight). Their sexual orientation had no impact on their ability to do their jobs. The problem all comes from the other side. People who feel threatened by gays.
February 11th, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
There’s no objection to women being forced to shower behind mirrors, knowing that, at any time, some heterosexual male could be sitting behind one of those mirrors drinking her in, right?
That’s why it’s non-objectionable to force men and women to be in intimate circumstances with other men and women who view them as objects of sexual desire.
Who could possibly have any objection to that?
(And, of course, this completely ignores the work-place problems created by romances, failed romances, attempted romances which are an inevitable result of close proximity. There’s a REASON why males and females are kept separate in sleeping quarters at sea (and elsewhere). Our common experience tells us that it’s just a “good idea.”)
February 11th, 2010 @ 11:15 pm
The primary mission of the armed forces of the US is “to deter and,if necessary, to fight and win conflicts in which our vital interests are threatened,” not “to coddle conservative social preferences at the expense of national security.”
February 11th, 2010 @ 11:28 pm
“The primary mission of the armed forces of the US is “to deter and,if necessary, to fight and win conflicts in which our vital interests are threatened,” not “to coddle liberal social preferences at the expense of national security.”
There. All fixed now.
February 12th, 2010 @ 12:13 am
“Is the military’s job merely to kill our enemies or provide a feel good self- actualization environment for everybody?”
If you can reduce equal rights to mere “feel good self- actualization” then Conservatives are more disturbed than I thought. Obviously, your prejudices trump reason. Seeing as it is the military’s job to kill our enemies then why treat some of the servicemen whose job it is to do that killing as second-class citizens subject to Conservatives antiquated attitudes?
Here’s a secret: there are currently gay men and women serving in our military. Are you proposing that allowing our servicemen and women to be who they are without fear of recrimination will hurt morale?
Conservatism never misses a chance to suppress someone else when it makes them feel good. Huey goes so far to suggest that repealing DADT threatens our national security. Desperate a bit?
Our country is better than that…
February 12th, 2010 @ 12:58 am
That’s a BS argument. Every other NATO military has integrated gays with minimal issues. Israel has always had gays in their military with no problems. There is absolutely no reason that gays can’t be integrated into the American military. What it sounds like to me is that you are afraid that if you were propositioned you wouldn’t be able to say no.
February 12th, 2010 @ 1:10 am
Yeah, that’s right, that’s what they want! THEY WANT IT TO BE ILLEGAL TO NOT HAVE BUTT SEX! THEY WANT TO OUTLAW CHRISTIANITY AND FORCE OUR CHILDREN TO HAVE SEX! RAWWRRR THE SKY IS FALLING OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD
Grow up. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe gays have the right to serve in the military. It’s not surprising you don’t, Stacy.
You never served. But like most conservatives who never served, you still arrogantly believe you’ve done more good for this country than gays who wore the uniform.
February 12th, 2010 @ 1:14 am
Other NATO militaries don’t really have integrated situations, do they? Not any more integrated than men and women.
All of you on either side of this can fuss at each other, but what will HAPPEN without DADT is that any gay or lesbian entering the military will be required to declare orientation and will then be restricted to assignments where accommodation can be made. Think stateside or big overseas bases with the facilities to ensure privacy issues. The girls will be humping M-16’s at a FOB in Afghanistan and the gays will be at Ramstein or Okinawa.
Life will go on.
And Ivy League schools will find a new reason to ban ROTC.
February 12th, 2010 @ 2:26 am
We all know that there are Liberals in the military right now, although we are not allowed to ask them if they are Liberal, so long as they don’t reveal it, they are able to serve right alongside the rest of us. Even if there weren’t a rule, many if not most would hide their Liberal orientation out of shame, or fear of ostracism and ridicule by those who find them disgusting or just outright weird, but I for one feel that if they are allowed to serve openly and proudly, military readiness would be impaired because many of their fellow soldiers, knowing their true nature, would never really trust them. What’s that you say? DADT is about GAYS in the military, not LIBS? My bad. That’s silly, I don’t get it, why wouldn’t Gays be allowed to serve? I mean, as long as they’re not Liberals, of course.
February 12th, 2010 @ 2:47 am
Since when did anal sex become equated with equal rights? Why not polygamy? Perversion and being lost about one’s sexual identity has nothing to do with equal rights and everything to do with a need for pscyhological evaluation.
Being sick and twisted due to whatever child trauma or dysfunctional beliefs is no excuse to force your mental illness on others.
Any homosexual that propositions a heterosexual especially in the military should be thrown out.
Kevin Jennings is an example of why the dysfunctional lifestyle of homosexuals should not be normalized in our society. He openly praised and pulled for a Pedophile, openly taught and recommended pedophilia books for children. Homosexuals are a very small minority that intermingle and jump over into bisexuality and back to heterosexuality. They’re largely confused individuals.
Can any of you defend Keving Jennings as a Safe School Czar appointed by Obama?
February 12th, 2010 @ 2:58 am
We can become like Rome and die like Rome. Equating immorality with equal rights is rubbish and only fools whine and shout hatred againt others that stand for normalcy in society. Allowing immorality to seep into every area of our lives, forcing others to accept immoral behavior as “normal” when it clearly is not physically, emotionally, or evolutionally scientific is stupid and disastorous for a nation.
To go down this road is to damn our nation in the future. Europe is already far gone. The blindness that seeps into an immoral society allows it to be usurped and people become slaves either from within or by forces without.
History has proven this time and again. Homosexuals can spew their hatred all they like and faux rhetoric of homophobia. The truth is that history repeats itself and if this nation, like others allows the desires of lost men to overtake their culture, then it will eventually fall. And for what? Anal Sex?
For higher AIDS rates? For higher death rates? For higher STDs, alcohol and drug abuse? Higher suicide rates? For shorter aged lives?
The nation that rejects G_d, eventually is rejected. None of us should take this lightly. Its not a matter of “equal rights.” That is a lie. If it is not a lie, then accept polygamy and every other physical desire known to man to be included.
February 12th, 2010 @ 7:28 am
“The gay-rights crowd won’t be satisfied until homosexuality is compulsory, with penalties for non-participants.”
Charles Beaumont “The Crooked Man”
The story YoungBlueSmurfEyes won’t read.
February 12th, 2010 @ 7:38 am
I Cry Discrimination!
I was Profiled, my friend was Discriminated Against in the mid ’90s.
My GAY male friend, my Not-Gay male friend and I, a Not-Gay female went clubbing one night in NYC. Upon arrive to the club, the Gay female doorperson immediately denied entrance to my Not-Gay male friend but allowed my Gay male friend and I, a Not-Gay female entrance.
I’m Not-Gay and was allowed inside however my Not-Gay friend was denied entrance.
Out of all the political identified groupings, Gaydom is the most exclusive, intolerant, discriminatory, and profiling group out there.
The Gayists are worse than the Racists, the Sexists, the Class-Warfarist, the Environmentalists, and the Islamists combined.
February 12th, 2010 @ 7:43 am
” People who feel threatened by gays.”
Not threatened, just sick and tired of the antiquated, highly-sexist and misogynistic Female-Facing Minstrel Shows.
February 12th, 2010 @ 7:52 am
DADT is not about gays in the military. This is the elephant in the room.
The gays in the Army crowd insist that there are tens of thousands of homosexuals already in the service. So it isn’t like if you are gay you cannot serve your country with honor.
The point of overturning DADT is to refashion marriage in a non-democratic way. DADT is based on the finding that homosexuality is incompatible with military service. Once that is gone, then the lawsuits will begin to treat same-sex partners in the same way as married partners. Either there is a “domestic partnership” which will then cause problems/lawsuits about unmarried different sex partners, or there will be a Federally recognized marriage so that all the other rules don’t have to be changed.
Personally I don’t care about homosexuals being in the military (and I DO have a dog in hte fight, I am a West Pont graduate) and I think that gays should marry – why should they be exempt from suffering? – but I believe strongly that those changes should ONLY come about through democratic processes.
Repealing DADT may just be a “shout out” from President Obama to one of his constituencies, but it wouldn’t be the first time that he hasn’t fully thought through the extent of his policies. Of course, there is always the option that the upending of the social construct through non-democratic means was his intent to begin with.
February 12th, 2010 @ 7:58 am
Y4e sez:
“Conservatives are more disturbed than I thought.”
“…your prejudices trump reason.”
“…Conservatives antiquated attitudes?”
And then y4e actually asks a question:
“Are you proposing that allowing our servicemen and women to be who they are without fear of recrimination will hurt morale?”
What they signed up for (as volunteers) was to BE servicemen and women,and nothing else. If a candidate for service feels like “being who they are” is more important than their duty, they have no business joining.
February 12th, 2010 @ 8:49 am
Recognizing the predictable outcome of allowing gays to openly serve in the military isn’t “homophobic.” It’s a recognition of reality.
Looking at the lesser military forces around the world and determining that any rush to “be like them” is a rush in the wrong direction isn’t a blow to national security. It’s an effort to maintain our current level of unparalleled dominance in that area.
Leftists, in this as in all other areas of thought, consider all opposing opinions to be invalid and all who hold opposing opinions to be evil.
Thankfully, the time for this kind of blackmail is rapidly disappearing.
February 12th, 2010 @ 8:54 am
“If a candidate for service feels like ‘being who they are’ is more important than their duty, they have no business joining.”
Absolutely.
And if a candidate for service feels like “being sure that everyone else is just like me” is more important than their duty, ditto.
A “candidate for service’s” sexual orientation is irrelevant. Either he/she is qualified to contribute to mission accomplishment, or he/she isn’t. Either he/she chooses and commits to the duty, or he/she doesn’t.
The idea that a “candidate for service” is somehow entitled to serve only with those of an age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, race, hair color, music preference, etc., that the candidate is “comfortable” with is psychobabble social engineering horseshit.
Supporters of “don’t ask, don’t tell” or any other policy designed to bar individuals from the military on ANY basis other than their ability to get the job done are demanding that their personal prejudices trump the national defense. They are, in two words, anti-American and un-patriotic.
February 12th, 2010 @ 10:33 am
Knapp: Sigh. There are many factors which make a service member suitable for service which are beyond the narrow confines you set forth (i.e., “ability to get the job done”). Many people have the “ability to get the job done” but have other characteristics which render them incompatible with mission parameters, whether in the military or private life.
The effect a person has on others plays an important part in how well the GROUP does its job, regardless whether the INDIVIDUAL is imminently qualified to “get the job done.” Refusal to take this into account is myopic beyond reason.
Further, the simple dynamics of potential romances while deployed (or attempted romances or failed romances) cannot be ignored. Common human experience informs us that keeping the genders separated to the degree possible, especially in intimate circumstance, prevents even GREATER outbreak of these inevitable conflicts than routinely occur between heterosexuals. ADDING the same issues between homosexuals and homosexual/heterosexual rejection — especially when it is NOT accompanied by physical segregation — is simply foolish. The fact that other countries have followed a foolish path is no warrant for us to do so.
Will it cause a breakdown of our military to abandon this policy? No. Neither would a complete rejection of gays in the military. Would it cause our military to be unable to fulfill its mission objectives? No. Our service members are professionals. But, neither would getting excluding gays from military service cause our military to be unable to fulfill its mission objectives.
So, attempting to frame the debate in terms of how it will affect our national security is simply absurd. Every argument which is advanced can be answered with: “Yes. But, the same is true if you exclude gays from the military altogether — WITHOUT the problems allowing them to serve causes.”
February 12th, 2010 @ 6:02 pm
“Every other NATO military has integrated gays with minimal issues.”
How do you know there are minimal issues. Maybe this is another situation where complaining is a career kiler.
February 12th, 2010 @ 6:20 pm
Huey,
You write: “Yes. But, the same is true if you exclude gays from the military altogether — WITHOUT the problems allowing them to serve causes.”
If there was any evidence at all that “allowing them to serve” causes any problems, you might have a point.
Feel free to present any such evidence. I’ve been looking for, or at least open to, such evidence for more than 20 years now (I started looking for that evidence as a junior Marine infantry NCO when I received a “rumor mill” communication to the effect that one of my best troops might be gay) and haven’t found it yet.
February 12th, 2010 @ 6:36 pm
Whether it “will” cause problems, is moot. We won’t know until and unless the change is implemented.
This is the reason for a rejection of social experimentation in the military.
I listed many reasons for not allowing gays to openly serve. You may disagree with my conclusions, but you can’t say that they aren’t rational objections.
When alternative life-styles are mainstreamed, you have predictable results:
If you don’t think that having openly gay people serve with heterosexuals, especially in intimate circumstance, won’t cause problems, then I can’t convince you otherwise.
When being “gay” was socially unacceptable, it was even less acceptable for there to be same sex sexual harassment. Now that being “gay” is socially acceptable, the predictable result is that there will be a rise in same sex sexual harassment. Being “gay” doesn’t prevent one from being willing to use positions of power for sexual favors.
http://www.tesh.com/ittrium/visit?path=A1×97x1y1xa5×1x76y1×2449x1×9by1×244ex1y5×1cbddx5×1
If you think that it’s a good idea to ADD problems to the military, beyond those it already has, then, that’s your decision. I choose otherwise.
February 12th, 2010 @ 9:03 pm
“Whether it ‘will’ cause problems, is moot. We won’t know until and unless the change is implemented.”
“We won’t know?” Au contraire. We already do know.
The US won the Revolution, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II without a policy barring homosexuals from military service.
Since implementing that policy, the US hasn’t declared war, but its undeclared engagements have been very mixed — a draw in Korea, a loss in Vietnam, victories in Grenada, Panama and Kuwait, losses in Somalia, Iraq and probably Afghanistan.
February 12th, 2010 @ 9:33 pm
Thomas: If you think a comparison of homosexuals in the service 200 years ago when an openly gay person would be subject to severe sanction by his peers and superiors, spat upon by society at large, never given command if his sexual preferences were known — to openly gay soldiers TODAY, you are completely unserious about this discussion.
February 12th, 2010 @ 11:23 pm
[...] second post I found disturbing was Poll Question: Gays in the Military. First the question itself is insulting – Q. How would you feel if you turned on the TV and saw a [...]
February 13th, 2010 @ 4:31 am
“Thomas: If you think a comparison of homosexuals in the service 200 years ago when an openly gay person would be subject to severe sanction by his peers and superiors, spat upon by society at large, never given command if his sexual preferences were known — to openly gay soldiers TODAY, you are completely unserious about this discussion.”
I’m actually thinking not of 200 years ago, but of 235 years ago, whena gay man taught the Continental Army how to be an army and saved the American Revolution. He was subsequently promoted to Inspector General of the army, made an American citizen by act of Congress, and had a holiday named for him.
But please, don’t let actual history get in the way of your post-Azusa-Street-Revival ponderings on how history must have actually played out because you wish that’s how it actually was.
February 13th, 2010 @ 12:32 pm
Thomas: Really. You really attempt to equate the example of a Prussian officer who sold his services to the U.S. to establish that U.S. mores of the time would accept him as an OPENLY GAY soldier?
Really?
This guy?
“In 1776, Steuben’s career at Hohenzollern-Hechigen ended in scandal: he was alleged to be a homosexual and was accused of improper sexual behavior with young boys.[2] Whether or not Steuben was actually a homosexual is not known, but the rumors compelled him to seek employment elsewhere.[2] Steuben tried employment in several foreign armies including Austria, Baden, and France.”
You did read the part where his career ENDED because of his alleged homosexual conduct, right? And where he tried, but failed, to find employment elsewhere? And, where his homosexuality was never established?
Um…how, EXACTLY is that instructive of how OPENLY GAY soldiers were treated 200 years ago — you know — the SUBJECT OF THIS DEBATE?
He may or may not have been “gay.” He certainly, at no point, OUTED HIMSELF. He, at no point, served as OPENLY gay, as such would subject himself to dishonorable discharge, and, if circumstances warranted, he could have been IMPRISONED.
Again. Just unserious, man.
February 13th, 2010 @ 12:35 pm
Oops. When I said his career “ended,” that was his career BEFORE he sold his services to the U.S. where he served with great distinction and played an important role in the successful prosecution of the war.
Had he been “openly gay,” he would not have served such an important role. He kept his private life private — as was the custom of the time.
February 13th, 2010 @ 6:07 pm
Huey,
I’m not the one who demanded a comparison of “homosexuals in the military 200 years ago … to openly gay soldiers today.” You are. If you wanted the “openly gay 200 years ago” factor in there, you should have specified it instead of omitting it.
“Baron” von Steuben was not openly gay, but he was WIDELY BELIEVED to be gay. That cost him his job in Germany, but in America he was commissioned as an officer in the Continental Army, promoted to Inspector General, made an American citizen by act of Congress, and honored with a holiday in his name. QED, evidence is lacking for prejudice against homosexuals in the military which you assert existed 200+ years ago.
The US military’s ban on homosexuals dates from the post-WWII period. We managed to do without any such ban for ~170 years while emerging clearly victorious from every major conflict we engaged in except one (the War of 1812).
The burden of proof for the necessity of a regulation which covers a period of general degradation of the nation’s military capacity should be on those who support that regulation, not on those who support the environment that covered 170 years of military glory.
February 13th, 2010 @ 6:49 pm
“My GAY male friend, my Not-Gay male friend and I, a Not-Gay female went clubbing one night in NYC. Upon arrive to the club, the Gay female doorperson immediately denied entrance to my Not-Gay male friend but allowed my Gay male friend and I, a Not-Gay female entrance.
I’m Not-Gay and was allowed inside however my Not-Gay friend was denied entrance.
Out of all the political identified groupings, Gaydom is the most exclusive, intolerant, discriminatory, and profiling group out there.”
Really? I’m just curious, how did the gay bouncer know that your other male friend WASN’t GAY?
What is he? Telepathic? LoL. What a flagrant lie. So transparent.
February 13th, 2010 @ 8:40 pm
Thomas: Unserious. Completely, totally, unserious.
It was a criminal, jailing, put behind the bars, drum out of the service offense to be homosexual during the time you tout as “not having a ban.”
There wasn’t a “ban” against most things which were criminal. There wasn’t a need.
They were crimes.
Then applying a “cause and effect” formula to the institution of the ban to our “mixed success” in our wars is a non sequitur of the highest order.
Let’s see. You argue that, somehow, the institution of a “ban on homosexuality in the military,” — something which, even at the time of the outright ban, was a criminal offense — led to our “mixed success” in wars following banning this criminal offense.
Wow. You mean that homosexuals who were found to be homosexuals and could be drummed out of the service and jailed were flocking to the service before the UCMJ was altered to “ban” them? And, that, since they were no longer flocking to the institution which now, in addition to promising to put them in jail after dishonorably discharging them, explicitly told them “you’re not welcome here,” they decided that they would no longer join the U.S. Military and, therefore, WE LOST SOME WARS?
Oh. My. God. Just HOW unserious are you?
I don’t know how widespread rumors about von Steuben’s sexual preferences were.
He wasn’t openly homosexual.
That’s what this thread was about.
I thought you knew that.
February 13th, 2010 @ 8:53 pm
Thomas: There are legitimate reasons to deny gays military service which have nothing to do with the intrinsic worth of individual gays. Individually, gays are as worthy of any in society.
They, too, are people and worthy of all respect.
This thread ain’t about THAT. It’s about allowing them to serve openly in the service.
If we acknowledge that grown-ups have sex and that doing so sometimes causes problems, then why on this green earth do we want to ADD the problems which allowing gays (who also, being grown ups, have sex and attempt to have sex, have unrequited love (with gays and non-gays), have break-ups, etc.) would ADD?
It just seems a foolish choice made for foolish reasons.
Others can differ in their conclusions, of course. But refusal to address the legitimate arguments of opponents doesn’t make them go away.
February 13th, 2010 @ 11:17 pm
“It was a criminal, jailing, put behind the bars, drum out of the service offense to be homosexual during the time you tout as ‘not having a ban.’”
No, it wasn’t.
It was a criminal, jailing, put behind the bars, drum out of the service offense to commit sodomy during the time I (correctly) tout as “not having a ban.”
It was also a criminal, jailing, put behind the bars, drum out of the service to commit adultery during that time (and it still is). Did that constitute a “ban on heterosexuality?”
The ban on homosexuality is part of a bundle of post-WWII religious conservative social engineering projects.
Not the only one by a damn sight, of course. It was in this period that the words “under God” were inserted in the Pledge of Allegiance (1954) and “In God We Trust” was adopted as the official motto of the United States (1956).
Half a century of historical revisionism doesn’t change the facts. Those who claim that a ban on gays in the military in any way reflects the actual history of the United States are no different than the people who airbrushed Trotsky out of Russian political photos.
March 20th, 2010 @ 6:11 am
I was in the military for 4 years…gays overall is a problem you will always have your exceptions…even between man and woman there is always problems…even in the military they are always getting pregnant, in the police dept they have problems between the sexes…you can minimize the problem just keep it the same it was before, it worked, why mess a good thing. If the Jews are happy with the gays in their units, so be it…we don’t know all they do at night when they sleep together!!! easy and handy sex?