:Enormous Consequences - Not

The Christofascists of the far right "family values" organizations and the bigoted, antiquated fossils in the Department of Defense are wetting themselves over Judge Phillips' injunction against discharges under DADT. While the Liar-in-Chief's (a/k/a Barack Obama) DOJ has filed a notice of appeal and will seek a stay of the injunction, for the time being the stay remains in effect and no gays can be discharged under DADT. To listen to the Christianists and Robert Gates, et al, one would think the world was ending. In point of fact, I suspect that their real worry is that absolutely no problems will occur during the duration of the stay, whatever its ultimate length, which in turn would demonstrate that their hand wringing and doomsday talk would shown to be nothing more than a fabriicated lie not supported by real world experience. Of course, if real life experience reveals no problems associated with gay troops, many fence sitters will side against the Christianists and fossils and their anti-gay jihad will be lost. To follow up on this concept, The Palm Center has established a new website to track Gates's "Chicken Little" prediction about gay troops in the U.S. military. Here are highlights from a press release from the Palm Center:
*
The Palm Center has established a website to track Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s prediction that last week’s historic decision to suspend “don’t ask, don’t tell” would have “enormous consequences.” The website, www.enormousconsequences.com, includes all reported instances of harm to unit cohesion, discipline and privacy that have arisen during this period of open gay service. Palm scholars will update it regularly.
*
Given the prediction of short term consequences, the absence of training, and the widespread presence of openly gay troops in the ranks, Palm Center scholars decided that it was essential to begin tracking these consequences immediately. Last week, a Pentagon official, Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley, said that suspending the ban would “cause significant disruptions to the force in the short term."
*
Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin said that “Secretary Gates’s prediction of ‘enormous consequences’ is no incidental, throwaway line. The assertion that these consequences would arise has been the justification for ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for 17 years. Now that the ban has been suspended, we are searching vigilantly for such consequences, and we will use the new web site as a hub for reporting what we find.”
*
Christopher Neff, Deputy Executive Director of the Palm Center, added, “This is about dealing with the facts on the ground. Thus far, the Services appear to have successfully adjusted to this temporary period without ‘don't ask, don't tell.’ I think the takeaway should be to give them credit, not to say that the sky is falling.”

*

DADT has NEVER been about morale and/or unit cohesion. Rather, it has ALWAYS been about religious based discrimination and the goal of the Christianists to enact laws that discriminate against LGBT citizens which they can then point to as a justification for their own religious based bigotry. The absence of any significant problems while Judge Phillips' stay is in place will place a spotlight on the sorry lie that under girds DADT.