Apparently some of our best soldiers are less “fabricky” than others. They threaten the “fabric” of our troops.
But, if GAGGED their “fabricity” remains intact, thus that they are often decorated and rise within the ranks of our fine armed services.
Are you fucking kidding me?
I hear the case that came before the Supreme Court was not the one considered likely to be the “best” legalese case for overturning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and this is not exactly a defeat.
Screw that.
Cohesion? More like Adhesion, adhesive tape over our soldier’s mouths. They are already there, serving, fighting, dying, backing each other in units across the globe.
The very fact Clinton enacted this travesty in the first place is an affront to every young man and woman willing to fight for our supposed “freedoms.” Is being gagged a freedom? If homosexuality was evidenced outwardly, by say, skin color would it stand? “Shh, don’t tell people you are black, just smear on more of the white-face son, and go be good cannon fodder…“
Obama said myriad times in his campaign that he would repeal this utter bullshit.
November 29, 2007: “As president, I will work with Congress and place the weight of my administration behind enactment of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which will make nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military. I will task the Defense Department and the senior command structure in every branch of the armed forces with developing an action plan for the implementation of a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And I will direct my Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to develop procedures for taking re-accession requests from those qualified service members who were separated from the armed forces under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and still want to serve their country. The eradication of this policy will require more than just eliminating one statute. It will require the implementation of anti-harassment policies and protocols for dealing with abusive or discriminatory behavior as we transition our armed forces away from a policy of discrimination. The military must be our active partners in developing those policies and protocols. That work should have started long ago. It will start when I take office.” (Senator Barack Obama to the Human Rights Campaign)
April 11, 2008: “Barack Obama said he’s confident he could end the `don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy for gays in the military, but he won’t make it a criteria for serving on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. … Obama said ending the policy, which was instituted during Bill Clinton’s administration, is something he could `reasonably’ get done if elected.” (“Obama: I’ll end don’t-ask, don’t-tell,” Daily News)
November 25, 2008: “A member of Barack Obama’s transition team is denying media reports that the president-elect has decided to delay efforts to repeal `Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ until 2010. An Obama transition team spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the decision on how to approach repealing `Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ which prohibits gays from serving openly in the military, would be made after more experts have joined the Obama administration. `These decisions will not be made before the full national security team is in place,’ the spokesperson said.” (“Obama team denies it will delay `Don’t Ask’ repeal,” Washington Blade)
January 14, 2009: “In a response to a question on the Web site Change.gov asking whether Obama would get rid of the `don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said: `You don’t hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But it’s “Yes.”` Gibbs on Wednesday expanded on his answer, saying, `There are many challenges facing our nation now and the president-elect is focused first and foremost on jump-starting this economy. So not everything will get done in the beginning but he’s committed to following through’ with ending the policy against being openly gay in the military.” (“Obama aide: Ending `don’t ask, don’t tell’ must wait,” CNN)
Really? Fucking Really?
I will work with Congress and place the weight of my administration behind enactment of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which will make nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military.
You must be featherweight, sir, no one seems to be feeling a thing.
I’ll end don’t-ask, don’t-tell.
Ah, the loophole, you tricksey bastard, you never said when!
These decisions will not be made before the full national security team is in place.
Umm, wait, you kinda did. Or is there a Republican you have yet to seat?
You don’t hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But it’s “Yes.”
So, Mr. Commander-in-Chief, are you good for your word?
The answer is obvious.
Its not like its NOT been obvious in so many other aspects of your brief and ever more right-leaning Presidency.
Would you like another definition of torture, sir?
Punishment by gagging perfectly wonderful servicemen and women for being who they are.
GAGGING them.
“Fabric… cohesion…” sounds eerily familiar?
You may as well make blacks wear white paint to serve.
Fuck THAT!
.
In his book Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America, Frank writes that gay service members have been forced out of service since the Revolutionary War. The first recorded case was in 1778, when Lt. Gotthold Enslin was kicked out of the Army in a ceremony in which an officer’s sword was broken over his head after he was caught in bed with another soldier.
Set against 230 years of military history, Frank said, Monday’s [Supreme Court] ruling is a blip on the radar.
“I wouldn’t think too much of this,” he said. “The court has a tradition of deferring to military and congressional judgment.”
He believes that President Barack Obama, though slow out of the gate on ending the ban as promised during his campaign, “still wants and needs this — and it should be played out not in the courts, but at the White House and in Congress.”
There appears to be some movement on the issue in Congress, where California Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher has convinced 150 of her House colleagues to co-sponsor a bill that would end the ban. The Obama Administration, meanwhile, has made no specific move toward ending it and has declined to step in to stop the dismissal of gay service members, such as West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran Lt. Dan Choi. He is being processed for discharge from the Army after publicly disclosing that he is gay.
In an open letter to the president, the New York National Guard member took issue with the idea that his sexuality was a detriment to good order and discipline in his unit.
Much to the contrary, he wrote, “I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me.”
More than 230 service members have been kicked out of the military under the policy since Obama took office, according to the Service Members Legal Defense Fund.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."