As Lt. Dan Choi and about 100 LGBT activists staged a “don’t ask, don’t tell” protest Sunday afternoon across the street from the White House, six plain-clothed civilians chained themselves to the White House gates.In the video, Choi explains that the current policy results in enforced closets for gay soldiers. What do you think about that? Is it a problem?
Choi, who has twice been arrested after handcuffing himself to the White House gates and has now been court ordered not to enter a certain perimeter around the White House, was joined by a handful of other speakers, including former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, Servicemembers United executive director Alex Nicholson, and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director Aubrey Sarvis.
The protest came on the heels of a letter leaked late Friday afternoon in which Department of Defense secretary Robert Gates urged House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton “in the strongest possible terms” to delay legislative action on repeal until the Pentagon completes its assessment of how to implement repeal.
There's also a reference to the fact that Democrats generally favor repeal of this law while Republicans do not. Why is that? Why do the Republicans have to be such nay-sayers?
I couldn't help but remember some previous discussions we've had in which we talked about the conservative / liberal divide. Conservatives, generally speaking, are against gun control, for capital punishment, racist against blacks and now we can add against gays in the military. Liberals are the opposite. I know that's a sweeping generalization, but is it true?
Opinione had a post about this the other day, but I wasn't sure what he meant by this.
Some of these soldiers look like should be in Key West and San Francisco, instead of a forward operating base in Afghanistan.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
MikeB: “Conservatives, generally speaking, are against gun control, for capital punishment, racist against blacks and now we can add against gays in the military. Liberals are the opposite.”
ReplyDeleteIf that is what you think, but don’t go calling all/most gun activists conservative. I certainly don’t fit that bill.
So why are you liberals so racist against whites anyway?
“Conservatives, generally speaking, are against gun control, for capital punishment, racist against blacks and now we can add against gays in the military. Liberals are the opposite.”
ReplyDeletePretty much true.
Again, look at AZ. The very same folks who sponsored and voted for relaxing gun laws to nothingness also sponsored and voted into law that police can detain people for nothing more than skin color.
And it wasn't liberals who voted to cut off monies to the CDC because they didn't like the results of scientific studies showing the increased risk of gun ownership.
--JadeGold
The Grand Prince tried to reply to your comment on his blog, but the author and owner of the blog could not post a comment on it.
ReplyDeleteIl Principe is in favor of repealing Don't Ask Don't tell. Although the military has been in the forefront of social change in America, with blacks and women serving in the military, the gay issue has been politized since the end of the Cold War.
I haven't posted here for a while, so it's hard to catch up with the threads, but for all the denial of racism regarding the AZ Law, you only have to look at the white supremicist connections of the reps who concieved it.
ReplyDeleteMyself, I likes white people. They may be a minority, but heck, white people eat dinner at my house all the time and as long as they keep their place, they's fine with me!
As far as Gays In The Military...I have a lot of gay friends. Most of them served in the military and look back at that time as a very happy period in their lives and their discovery of their sexual identity.
Most of those people served before and in the Vietnam War. The crux of the issue now is that Gay people want to be treated like any other citizen. They want to live their lives in the open. They want to be accepted for who they are instead of having to live a lie.
This is progress!
But the struggle for equality is always uphill. As the level of conciousness is raised, the level of opposition becomes more vocal and outraged. It was the same for racism. It is the same for religion.
You cannot stop the evolution of conciousness, but the last gasps of resistance are always ugly.
America will join the rest of the civilized world and accept gays in the military, as have the Brits, the French, the Dutch and yes, the Russians. We just jave this little fundamentalist backlash to "the other" to deal with.....
Micro, Thanks for the comment. I hope you're right about the evolution. Sometimes I wonder.
ReplyDelete"Although the military has been FORCED BY CIVILIANS TO BE in the forefront of social change in America, with blacks and women serving in the military,"
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to correct your misconception.
democommie, it is all a matter of perception. While blacks from the south were still being forced to drink out of seperate water fountains, they were on more equal footing in the military. although I am no civil rights expert by any means, a brief look at history and it appears the military has been a bit more equal. when I served in the navy, we were drilled that we are all blue.
ReplyDeleteBlue because of the uniforms at sea and not because we had blue balls!!