First, from the rapidly fading Ann Coulter, this, via Joe.My.God (with my reactions in bold):
"Only eight Republicans in the entire U.S. Senate supported eliminating Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (There are a lot more than Republicans in the Senate; in fact, the majority are Democrats.) It's safe to assume that no one on the stage supported this sexualization of the military, except maybe one of the nut candidates polling at 3 percent. (Ann's diving into the "if it's gay, it must be about sex" mantra; there are and have been gays serving all along, and somehow no one's having sex in the trenches. Fail on this one. Double fail on this one: no one on that stage wanted to be torn limb from limb.) This is not an anti-gay position; it's a pro-military position. (No, it's an anti-gay position. Coulter has as much experience with military life as Elaine Donnelley.) The basic idea is that sexual bonds are disruptive to the military bond. Soldiers, sailors and Marines living in close quarters who are having sex with one another, used to have sex with one another or would like to have sex with one another simply cannot function as a well-oiled fighting machine. (It's all about sex, Part II.) A battalion of married couples facing a small unit of heterosexual men would be slaughtered." (See The Sacred Band of Thebes).
Either she's an idiot or a liar. I'm voting for liar.
And sure enough, here comes Chris Barron. This is laughable. (Also via JMG):
Ann's position on this clear, and so is GOProud's. We respectfully disagree. We aren't the pod people here at GOProud. Unlike the left and their RINO enablers we don't believe that every person who opposes DADT repeal is anti-gay. Indeed Ann has done more for gay people -- courageously speaking out at CPAC, for example -- then most of the gay organizations here in D.C.
I might point out that aside from repeal of DADT, GOProud's positions are consistently anti-gay. So I guess they don't disagree all that much. And I seem to remember that her "courageously speaking out at CAPC" was pretty insulting to gays.
And a clear lose on establishing an enduring precedent for DADT's unconstitutionality: the 9th Circuit not only dismissed LCR's appeal, but vacated the District Court's ruling in toto. From Lambda Legal:
"We are deeply disappointed that the Ninth Circuit chose to erase the factual findings and legal conclusions reached after years of litigation and a lengthy trial that thousands upon thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members' constitutional rights were violated for 18 years by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" Davidson said. "The end of antigay discrimination by the military was required by the Constitution, not just by political considerations."
"It is wrong to require the more than 14,000 service members who were unconstitutionally discharged to start from square one in obtaining the military benefits they lost, getting their military records corrected, and fighting government efforts to collect educational loans they were prevented from working off, among other harms," he added. "The work to end the damage done by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is far from done and we call on the administration to provide justice to those our country has wronged."
Here's more on that from Aravosis again.
On the other side of the coin, there's this:
After months of legal review, the Department of Defense announced Friday that military chaplains may officiate in same-sex wedding ceremonies of service members in states where gay marriage is legal. Such ceremonies can be performed on military bases, officials wrote in a Friday memorandum.
In connection with repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford L. Stanley wrote in the DoD memo:
"A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law. Further, a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion or personal beliefs. Finally, a military chaplain’s participation does not constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by DoD."(A PDF of the memo is available here.)
John Aravosis seems to have the rationale nailed down.
I'm waiting for Ann Coulter's head to explode. Chris Barron's, too.
"Only eight Republicans in the entire U.S. Senate supported eliminating Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (There are a lot more than Republicans in the Senate; in fact, the majority are Democrats.) It's safe to assume that no one on the stage supported this sexualization of the military, except maybe one of the nut candidates polling at 3 percent. (Ann's diving into the "if it's gay, it must be about sex" mantra; there are and have been gays serving all along, and somehow no one's having sex in the trenches. Fail on this one. Double fail on this one: no one on that stage wanted to be torn limb from limb.) This is not an anti-gay position; it's a pro-military position. (No, it's an anti-gay position. Coulter has as much experience with military life as Elaine Donnelley.) The basic idea is that sexual bonds are disruptive to the military bond. Soldiers, sailors and Marines living in close quarters who are having sex with one another, used to have sex with one another or would like to have sex with one another simply cannot function as a well-oiled fighting machine. (It's all about sex, Part II.) A battalion of married couples facing a small unit of heterosexual men would be slaughtered." (See The Sacred Band of Thebes).
Either she's an idiot or a liar. I'm voting for liar.
And sure enough, here comes Chris Barron. This is laughable. (Also via JMG):
Ann's position on this clear, and so is GOProud's. We respectfully disagree. We aren't the pod people here at GOProud. Unlike the left and their RINO enablers we don't believe that every person who opposes DADT repeal is anti-gay. Indeed Ann has done more for gay people -- courageously speaking out at CPAC, for example -- then most of the gay organizations here in D.C.
I might point out that aside from repeal of DADT, GOProud's positions are consistently anti-gay. So I guess they don't disagree all that much. And I seem to remember that her "courageously speaking out at CAPC" was pretty insulting to gays.
And a clear lose on establishing an enduring precedent for DADT's unconstitutionality: the 9th Circuit not only dismissed LCR's appeal, but vacated the District Court's ruling in toto. From Lambda Legal:
"We are deeply disappointed that the Ninth Circuit chose to erase the factual findings and legal conclusions reached after years of litigation and a lengthy trial that thousands upon thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members' constitutional rights were violated for 18 years by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" Davidson said. "The end of antigay discrimination by the military was required by the Constitution, not just by political considerations."
"It is wrong to require the more than 14,000 service members who were unconstitutionally discharged to start from square one in obtaining the military benefits they lost, getting their military records corrected, and fighting government efforts to collect educational loans they were prevented from working off, among other harms," he added. "The work to end the damage done by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is far from done and we call on the administration to provide justice to those our country has wronged."
Here's more on that from Aravosis again.
On the other side of the coin, there's this:
After months of legal review, the Department of Defense announced Friday that military chaplains may officiate in same-sex wedding ceremonies of service members in states where gay marriage is legal. Such ceremonies can be performed on military bases, officials wrote in a Friday memorandum.
In connection with repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford L. Stanley wrote in the DoD memo:
"A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law. Further, a chaplain is not required to participate in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance with the tenets of his or her religion or personal beliefs. Finally, a military chaplain’s participation does not constitute an endorsement of the ceremony by DoD."(A PDF of the memo is available here.)
John Aravosis seems to have the rationale nailed down.
I'm waiting for Ann Coulter's head to explode. Chris Barron's, too.
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