Joint Chiefs Show Their Homophobia - And Their Disrespect for Obama

Some readers who did not see the entire SOTU speech last night have asked whether or not the Joint Chiefs of the nation's military applauded anything last night as Obama delivered his message. The photo immediately below shows their reaction when President Obama mentioned that he would be working in the coming year to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Obviously, it's not what one might call an enthusiastic reaction. The majority of Republicans acted similarly.

As to whether they applauded at any point last night, the answer to that yes indeed they did - when it involved potentially more military conflict, more spending of funds in losing wars, and wasting the lives of more young Americans. In fact, they gave a standing ovation as shown below. Remember, out Joint Chiefs are most happen when the military is engaged in killing people and breaking things in other nations.
The U.S. military is supposed to support and defend the nation and the U.S. Constitution. DADT makes a mockery of the Constitution's advertised guarantee of freedom and equality for all. That is, unless one is an LGBT American, in which case we are second class citizens. DADT is akin to a Jim Crow law for gays and Obama needs to have a serious conversation with the Joint Chiefs which ought to include giving them a swift kick in the ass.
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Meanwhile, what do U.S. civilians think? The Washington Post has these statements:
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Obama called for the repeal amid a growing chorus of support from across the political spectrum. A June Gallup survey found a majority of liberals and Democrats support a repeal, as do 58 percent of conservatives and 60 percent of weekly churchgoers. Despite growing support, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Wednesday, “When it comes to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ frankly, I think it’s worked very well and we just ought to leave it alone.”
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Retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also weighed in on Wednesday by reiterating support for a repeal. “As a nation built on the principal of equality, we should recognize and welcome change that will build a stronger more cohesive military,” Shalikashvili said. “It is time to repeal ’don’t ask, don’t tell’ and allow our military leaders to create policy that holds our service members to a single standard of conduct and discipline.”
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Living in an area with a large military presence, one gets to see senior military up close from time to time. Unfortunately, many senior military commanders are used to making subordinates kiss their asses and seem to think that they defaecate chocolate - much like the senior Catholic Church hierarchy. The pompousness and bigotry in both groups is disgusting.