I was not able to watch the Congressional hearings today on ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but despite the possible delay for yet another "commission study" on implementing an end to DADT, the top military brass appears to have just cut the far right opponents of a repeal off at the knees. Including John McCain who previously said he'd rely on the recommendations of the military leadership on the issue of repeal, but now is singing a different song. Doesn't it ever dawn on these idiot politicians that their statements are on video tape and that their former statements can be quickly thrown in their face to show that they are liars? Perhaps McCain is indeed getting senile. What is so crazy about the entire debate is that now we have the top military leadership saying that DADT needs to be repealed - which is in agreement with the majority of Americans (see the chart below) - yet Congress still cowtows to the Christianist lunatic fringe. It goes without saying that queen of the homophobes, Elaine Donnelly, is on the verge of wetting herself before going into convulsions (Pam Spaulding has Donnelly's latest rant here. Oh, and did I mention that Donnelly has no military experience herself?). Meanwhile, Family Research Council spokesperson and board member Peter Sprigg said that he believes that Lawrence vs. Texas (the Supreme Court decision that struck down the sodomy laws) was "wrongly decided" and that "gay behavior" should be criminalized. How let the patients out of the aslyum?*
Below the chart are some highlights from the New York Times on today's developments:
Click image to enlarge*
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top two Defense officials called on Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military for the first time in its history.
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“No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said it was his personal belief that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.”
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But both Admiral Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told the committee they needed more time to review how to carry out the change in policy, which requires an act of Congress . . . Admiral Mullen is the first sitting chairman of the Joint Chiefs to support a repeal of the policy.
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In the interim, Mr. Gates announced that the military was moving toward enforcing the existing policy “in a fairer manner” — a reference to the possibility that the Pentagon would no longer take action to discharge service members whose sexual orientation is revealed by third parties or jilted partners, one of the most onerous aspects of the law. Mr. Gates said he had asked the Pentagon to make a recommendation on the matter within 45 days, but “we believe that we have a degree of latitude within the existing law to change our internal procedures in a manner that is more appropriate and fair to our men and women in uniform.”
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On one thing, they agreed: many gay men and lesbians are serving honorably and effectively in the military today, despite a policy that has driven thousands of others out of the services. But Mr. Levin said the military should act in this matter as it has in others, as a force against discrimination. And Mr. McCain said the military culture was so different from civilian life that the rules for its members, too, must differ. Mr. Levin cited an overwhelming view on the part of the public, as seen in polls, that the law should change.
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“The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it,” Mr. Gates told the committee. “We have received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly. However, we also can only take this process so far as the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress.”
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Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, asked the admiral on Tuesday if he was aware of whether the policies of many NATO allies in Afghanistan, allowing open service, had had any deleterious effect.
The admiral said that he had spoken to many of the NATO partners and that they had reported seeing “no impact” on military performance. Polls now show that a majority of Americans support openly gay service — a majority did not in 1993 — but there have been no recent broad surveys of the 1.4 million active-duty personnel.
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