The military’s top uniformed officer has spoken out in supportof the repeal of the DADT policy:
The military’s top uniformed officer on Tuesday made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”
The comments by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the stage for the military’s yearlong study into how the ban can repealed without causing a major upheaval to the fighting forces.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Mullen before the Armed Services Committee, announced plans to loosen enforcement rules involving the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has been in effect since 1993.
The military’s top uniformed officer on Tuesday made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”
The comments by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the stage for the military’s yearlong study into how the ban can repealed without causing a major upheaval to the fighting forces.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Mullen before the Armed Services Committee, announced plans to loosen enforcement rules involving the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has been in effect since 1993.
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) (hissssss) was quoted as saying, “has this policy been ideal? No it has not. But it has been effective.” Effective against what? Is the assumption that soldiers will be attracted to someone of the same sex? If this is where you’re headed then by your logic, Sen. McCain, we should stop letting heterosexual men and women serve in the same company. Let’s just remove women from the military completely — she didn’t make that great of a running mate anyway. While we’re at it, senator, let’s just go completely maverick and go back to segregation of the armed forces.
Some Republicans said now was a bad time to make a change, because of the multiple conflicts we are trying to manage. They’re right. Why would we want more people to join during a time of conflict?
And… a bit of history regarding McCain: In a 2008 election year interview with the (now defunct) Washington Blade, McCain said, regarding DADT:
“I promise to give full consideration to any legislation that reaches my desk. On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I’m going to defer to our military commanders. So far they have told me it’s working. I’m willing to have the policy reviewed to make sure that’s the case, but at the end of the day, I’m going to rely on the commanders who will be impacted by a change in the law.”
I’m guessing flip-flopping is only a bad thing if a Democrat does it, right?