John McCain has been a politician so long that he has apparently forgotten how to be a soldier. His recent tirade about the military’s gay policy compelled Admiral Mullen to remind him that the military is not a democracy and that it is “incredibly bad precedent” to ask soldiers to vote on policy. Admiral Mullen was dead right. A military commander is not supposed to be a Parliamentarian, he is there to enforce orders, and in wartime these are mostly unpopular orders. Today’s generals are mostly weak and mealy-mouthed, and McCain’s talk only encourages them to make further excuses for failure. Consider Marine General Amos, a generally weak and ineffective commander who claims that lifting the ban will cause him to be even more weak and ineffective. Now, that’s a question for you to debate. If General Amos’ fighting capacity or his ability to be an effective soldier is in any way weakened by gays in the military, it’s a strong indication that he wasn’t much of a soldier to begin with. Somehow, I can’t imagine General Patton saying that he would not be able to invade Sicily because he had gay soldiers in his command.
Neil Thex, Mesa
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Dale Whiting posted at 9:51 am on Sun, Dec 12, 2010.
Accuracy,
Let's fix up your statement by deleting the confusing double statement.
"When asked about the repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban: Buck-passing former President Bill Clinton blamed his former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell for misrepresenting the policy against gays serving openly in the military. [omit double statement]
But, Clinton has admitted he adopted the policy to prevent an absolute ban on gays in the military."
"This week’s Senate block left a doubtful future for the repeal of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy by the White House-backed legislation. A Clinton-era ban which President Barack Obama call a "discriminatory law"." End of Quote.
So you appear to agree that both Clinton and Obama are thinking alike. Where 17 years ago DADT was the best Clinton could do to prevent a ban on service, and today, where repeal after 17 years of DADT policy abuse has occurred, repeal in favor of open service, following the lead of most every other western country, is the right thing to do.
But since when have Neo-Conservatives focused on doing the right thing? Traditionally that has been a Liberal notion.
Accuracy posted at 10:43 am on Sat, Dec 11, 2010.
When asked about the repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban: Buck-passing former President Bill Clinton blamed his former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell for misrepresenting the policy against gays serving openly in the military. But, Clinton has When asked about the repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban: Buck-passing former President Bill Clinton blamed his former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell for misrepresenting the policy against gays serving openly in the military. But, Clinton has admitted he adopted the policy to prevent an absolute ban on gays in the military.
This week’s Senate block left a doubtful future for the repeal of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy by the White House-backed legislation. A Clinton-era ban which President Barack Obama call a "discriminatory law".
Dale Whiting posted at 5:53 pm on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Accuracy,
Have you ever known someone who was Gay or Lesbian? If so, have you ever worked along side any of them? Those of us who have known same sex attracted veterans know that it was and will be no big deal when they can stop secreting themselves from social activities and stop worrying about being outed, leading to discharge.
Once you have gained this experience, you may opine as to whether nor not allowing Gays and Lesbians to serve openly is or is not a good idea. Just recall and ACCURATELY know that none of the Armed Forces [the vast majority of all Western Armed Forces] where Gays and Lesbians do serve openly characterize this as other than NO BIG DEAL. Only the Casey's, Amos's and McCain's in this world fear what they do not know and in fearing expressed bigotted opinions! Would you have most of the readers of this web site consider you a bigot? I sure hope not.
But we have more readiness and disciplinary problems associated with women serving on active duty than with any other classification of personnel. Those manly soldiers Sarah Palin appears to be so fond of cannot keep their hands and other parts of their bodies under control! And unfortunately as these manly types are being outed, not much is being done to discharge them!
Accuracy posted at 11:52 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Repeal of President Clinton’s "don't ask, don't tell" hangs in the balance.
Democrats endorsed repealing "don't ask, don't tell," and the U.S. Senate blocked it. On Thursday afternoon Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying he wanted to limit the debate, called for a cloture vote on "don't ask, don't tell" and an attached defense authorization bill. It was voted down in the Senate.
The Democrats’ 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law was signed by President Bill Clinton as a policy banning gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. But, Adm. Michael Mullen endorsed repealing the law and said the military could adapt to the change with minor risk to fighting ability.
Now, the stand-alone bill will have to be passed by the House and go through conference committee. Advocates of retaining President Clinton’s "don't ask, don't tell" (led by Sen. John McCain) can still come up with serious reasons to delay the vote this year.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:55 am on Fri, Dec 10, 2010.
Neil,
The piece begins with a faulty assumption, i.e. that John McCain ever knew how to be a soldier [Navial Aviator.]. He was darn near kicked out of Anappolis, graduated very near to the bottom of his class, crashed a total of five aircraft [practically a career record] before being shot down over Hanoi, signed a war crimes confession while his father was in his chain of command. So what gives you any idea that John was ever a decent soldier?