WP Column Trashes Elaine Donnelly

Regular readers know that I despise Elaine Donnelly, President of the so-called Center for Military Readiness, a Christianist created organization with two goals: (1) demonize gays constantly and keep them out of the military, and (2) push women from the military, apparently so that they remain in the home barefoot and pregnant. Would that Donnelly would take her own advice on the latter issue (although she looks so frigid, I suspect getting pregnant might be a challenge even if she were younger). Fortunately, at the hearings on DADT yesterday, Donnelly seems to have been at her most loopy and and came across as a nut case - which in my opinion is definitely the case - and spouted off lunatic statements notwithstanding her 100% lack of ANY experience in the military herself. Donnelly represents the true face and mindset of today's Christianists. People truly need to understand how crazy and consumed with hate these folks truly are and not just for gays - fortunately Donnelly helped educate the Armed Services Committee yesterday. In today's Washington Post, Dana Millbank lets Donnelly have it. Here are some highlights:

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Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military. The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee made just such a miscalculation yesterday. Holding the first hearing in 15 years on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, lawmakers invited a quartet of veterans to testify on the subject and also extended an invitation to Donnelly, who has been working for years to protect our fighting forces from the malign influence of women.

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Donnelly treated the panel to an extraordinary exhibition of rage. She warned of "transgenders in the military." She warned that lesbians would take pictures of people in the shower. She spoke ominously of gays spreading "HIV positivity" through the ranks.

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Her written statement added warnings about "inappropriate passive/aggressive actions common in the homosexual community," the prospects of "forcible sodomy" and "exotic forms of sexual expression," and the case of "a group of black lesbians who decided to gang-assault" a fellow soldier. . . . . Inadvertently, Donnelly achieved the opposite of her intended effect. Though there's no expectation that Congress will repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and allow gays to serve openly in the military, the display had the effect of increasing bipartisan sympathy for the cause.

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Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) pointed a finger at Darrah and glared at Donnelly. "Would you please tell me, Miss Donnelly, why I should give one twit about this woman's sexual orientation, when it didn't interfere one bit with her service?" Donnelly said something about "forced intimacy." Shays cut her off. "You're saying she has no right to serve her country because she happens to have a different sexual orientation than you."

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It was tempting to think that Donnelly had been chosen by Democrats to sabotage the case against open military service for homosexuals. But Republicans had consented to the witness panel, . . . . But it was Donnelly, founder and president of the Center for Military Readiness, who amused lawmakers the most.

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She further explained the "absolutely devastating" effect of homosexuals "introducing erotic factors" and made a comparison to Sen. Larry Craig's adventure at the Minneapolis airport. She said admitting gays to the military would be "forced cohabitation" and a policy of "relax and enjoy it." Murphy puffed his cheeks with air to calm himself. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) said she was "shocked." Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) said she was "embarrassed." Shays said it was "scurrilous" of Donnelly to talk about the menace of homosexual misconduct, because it would be punished the same way the military punishes heterosexual misconduct.

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Donnelly said something about her respect for the service of gay veterans. "How do you respect their service?" Shays demanded. "You want them out." Donnelly seemed to have unified the lawmakers -- against her. The next questioner was Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a retired Navy vice admiral. "I couldn't ask it better than you did," he told Shays.

Conservatives Urge Congress To Maintain Gays In Military Ban

Living in an area that is home of the largest naval base in the world, not to mention numerous other military posts (the Army, Navy and Airforce all have bases in Hampton Roads, and there are plenty of Marines as well), the drivel putout by Elaine Donnelly and company would be farcical if it did not harm real people. Go to ANY gay club in the area and you will see many dedicated gay military personnel who are honorably and diligently serving their country - misbeguided as it may be under the cretinous Chimperator - and causing NO problems with unit morale. Indeed, the biggest source of harm to morale in this region is the rediculous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy foisted on us by Slick Willie (as Hillary stood silently by and did nothing for the gays she claims to support). Truth be told, DADT's sole true purpose in my view is to stigmatize gays and lesbians in an effort to maintain a mindset that gays are somehow less worthy and/or love our counrty less. Someone truly needs to tell Ms. Donnelly to take an icicle and shove it up her frigid Christianist ass. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com on the Christianist manufactured controversy:

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(Washington) A conservative lobby group is urging Congress to reject legislation that would repeal "Don't Ask, Don' Tell", the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act which would repeal the decade old DADT has bipartisan support and hearings are expected to be held this year. Americans For The Military, part of the conservative Center for Military Readiness, is circulating a petition online to pressure members of Congress to maintain the ban.

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"Forcing a sexual agenda on the armed forces would hurt discipline and moral ... As an American I ask that you uphold this law to help to protect and preserve our military." In an online video, Center President Elaine Donnelly called for an "online army to support the troops".

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Last week the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released data showing that the Army and the Marine Corp, under pressure to increase their numbers, have sharply raised the number of recruits who have felony convictions. (story) The information, released Monday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, shows that the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.

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Meanwhile, under DADT two people every day are dropped from the military for being gay. In the 10 years that DADT has been in force more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of thed policy, including 800 with skills deemed 'mission critical,' such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists.

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Last month, Lawrence J. Korb,former Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan, told a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee and the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee to "get rid of outmoded social restrictions," such as DADT. Last year former Secretary of Defense William Cohen and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili also called for the ban to be repealed.

The Other Iraq Surge

Here's an interesting story (http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=300) that suggests that the military is beginning to run out of patience with Chimperator Bush and his regime - they are voting with the wallets so to speak and shifting political contributions from the GOP to the Democrats. Hopefully the trend described continues to grow:

[T]he presence of U.S. troops in Iraq appears to be causing a surge of another sort—and one that's not positive for President Bush or the Republican Party. Since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, members of the U.S. military have dramatically increased their political contributions to Democrats, marching sharply away from the party they've long supported. In the 2002 election cycle, the last full cycle before the war began, Democrats received a mere 23 percent of military members' contributions.* So far this year, 40 percent of military money has gone to Democrats for Congress and president, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Anti-war presidential candidates Barack Obama and Ron Paul are the top recipients of military money.

"People are saying now enough is enough," said Lt. Col. Joyce Griggs, an intelligence officer who said she spent two months in Baghdad earlier this year, speaking for herself and not the Army. "If you're a soldier, you're going to do your job, do what you're commanded to do. But that sentiment is wide and deep." Griggs, who voted for George H.W. Bush but not his son the current president, contributed to Obama's presidential campaign this year, she said. Among the military forces, she's not alone in her support for the Democratic senator from Illinois.

Civil servants in defense-related positions are also increasing their donations to Democrats. "My breath is taken away by the disregard of constitutional rights by this administration," the defense official said. "I decided that I would still not do any political things at work. I don't even have political discussions when I'm at the office. But I decided I needed to do more. We can't have people not doing what needs to be done."

(Christianist) Center for Military Readiness

A post on Pam's House Blend got me wondering about the actual credentials of Elaine Donnelly, President of the so-called Center for Military Readiness (pictured at left and looking like someone just passed gas nearby) and a long time foe of gays serving in the military. With increasing pressure on Congress to review the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, CMR will be pulling out the stops on its anti-gay crusade. Thus, the true agenda of the organization becomes very relevant, particularly since it has been my experience that often these anti-gay alleged "experts" are not in fact experts when it comes to having actual credentials. To make matters even worse, all too often, our lazy, half-assed news media provides platforms for these people yet NEVER asks about their actual credentials (or lack thereof) which obviously would have a direct bearing on the weight one should give to their opinions.

Checking the CMR website, Ms. Donnelly's background is as follows:

She attended the University of Detroit and Schoolcraft College, resides in Livonia, Michigan with her husband, Terry, and is the mother of two grown daughters. She is a former member (1984-86) of the Pentagon’s Defense advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DaCOWITS), and the 1992 Presidential Commission on the assignment of Women in the armed Services.

As one who put in quite a few years as a GOP activist in the 1990's, I know all too well that appointments to these types of bodies depend more upon (A) how much money one (or one's spouse) has given to the GOP, or (B) what group is pushing for your appointment so that you can be its mouth piece. Therefore, from the information on the CMR web site, I have to wonder whether Ms. Donnelly has any real credentials. The site simply fails to provide enough information to document that she does have any legitimate background other than her opposition to (1) women in the military and (2) gays in the military.

A look at the CMR Board of Advisers only adds to my sense of ill ease. Among the members of the Board of Advisors are:

BEVERLY LAHAYE, the Chairman, former President, and founder of Concerned Women for America;

PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY, President of Eagle Forum who began her self-worship cult by opposing the Equal Rights Amendment that would have given women full equal rights under the U. S. Constitution;

WILLIAM A. & PRUDENCE FIELDS, who have performed in musical theater and at the 1984 and 1988 Republican National Conventions, as a bass-baritone and mezzo-soprano (Prudence has been the county chairman in eight political campaigns, and is a long-time activist in Eagle Forum.);

KATE WALSH O'BEIRNE, the Washington Editor of National Review; and

ALLAN C. CARLSON, PH.D., formerly affiliated with Family Research Council and author of numerous anti-gay books and articles.

True, the CMR Board of Advisers includes many retired military personnel, the majority of who have been retired for 20 to 30 years, if not more. No doubt these individuals are "window dressing" to make the organization appear to have some legitimacy. However, based on the names listed above, it is pretty obvious where the real direction of CMR originates. I believe it is fairly safe to say that CMR is largely an affiliate of Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and Eagle Forum. If only the news media would so indicate before Ms. Donnelly is allowed to make her anti-gay screes.