"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Thursday, July 24, 2008

DADT

Since the hearings are going on this week, I decided not to wait until Friday for this one. A strong piece from NRO:

“Don’t Ask” should yield to equality: Sexual orientation should be irrelevant while inappropriate sexual conduct — gay, straight, or otherwise — should be punished. Our enemies are Islamofascists who murder Americans, not gay patriots who unravel terrorist plots and introduce jihadists to Allah.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a Clinton-era relic. It belongs in the Museum of the 1990s, wedged between the Nirvana CDs and shares of WorldCom stock.


DADT is what soured me on Clinton. I don't necessarily buy the "Democratic-controlled congress" bit, although Sam Nunn was a major cheerleader for the effort -- as though the measure had no Republican support, when it seems that it has been the Republicans who most want to maintain it, and it was the right wing that pushed for it to begin with. One irony here is that before his death, Charles Moskos was using the same arguments against DADT that he had used to support it.

This should be a no-brainer, even for an organization as brainless as the U.S. Congress: get rid of it. It's counterfunctional and no one wants it anyway (except Elaine Donnelley, who knows nothing about the military anyway).

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