Wednesday, December 15, 2010
House Passes 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal
More frolicking from the Lame Ducks...they passed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'(DADT) repeal 250 to 175 in a so-called 'standalone bill'. which means nobody added any earmarks or amendments to it.
That's why it failed in the Senate last time, because it was tacked on to a defense appropriations bill by the Democrats.
"Now is the time for us to act," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California. "We should honor the service of all who want to contribute" to America's security. "Repealing 'don't ask, don't tell' makes for good public policy."
The alternative argument,of course is that the military is not intended as a laboratory of social justice, especially in war time.
"The United States military is not the YMCA. It's something special," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California. This is "a liberal crusade to create a utopia."
The commandant of our Marine Corps, General John Amos agrees with combat vet Hunter.
"When your life hangs on a line, on the intuitive behavior of the young man ... who sits to your right and your left, you don't want anything distracting you," Amos told reporters at the Pentagon.
"I don't want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda (hospital) with no legs," he said.
He added that "mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines' lives. That's the currency of this fight."
I can see both sides of this issue, and I'd like to see more studies done by the military on how it might affect things and let them, not politicians decide how to implement it best. And please, readers, don't make the easily refuted argument that this is a 'civil rights issue.'
My first instinct would be to say that since there are already gays serving in the military who are successfully separating their off duty lives from their on duty lives and SecDef Gates has already placed restrictions on DADT that have significantly cut the number of military discharges involved, we might want to keep things as they are for awhile and look at this a little closer...at least until the Lame Duck Congress is history.
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I'm a firm beleiver that if one wants to be the best at something they should study the best and try to emulate the what ever it is that the best do. Now with this in mind the best trained, best led, and most technologically savy militaries on the planet are Russia, China, and Israel.
America would do well to study these militaries and try to emulate them. This does NOT mean we will do every thing exactly as they do. Some things they do may not apply to our situation but it gives us an excellent guide as to how we should approach things.
Now with this in mind we need to ask ourselves "what is the position of the Russians, Chinese, and the Israelis on gays serving in the military?" Like I said, if you want to be the best, study the best. In other words how do the best militaries on earth approach this issue.
The answer appears to be the Russians and the Israelis allow gays to serve openly in the military. The Chinese do not.
The primary argument against gays serving in the military seems to be that things like "unit cohesiveness" and things of this nature would be adversely affected. In light of how two of the three best militaries on earth are approaching this issue, this argument does not appear to be valid.
There is another thing that should be considered. From the time of its founding over two hundred years ago up until recent decades, America has been heavily influenced by the Judeo-Christian concepts found in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Scriptures. A cursory review of these scriptures indicates that God does not look favorably upon same sex sexual behavior.
When America adhered to these Judeo-Christian principles she was blessed by God. This made America unique among the nations of earth. Even special. As America has drifted away from these principles in recent decades, the country has begin to lose these blessings from God.
This is something we might want to think about before we repeal DADT. Things like restrictions on homosexual behavior and support for Israel are vestiges of the nations Judeo-Christian heritage. As we continue to strip these things away, we will likely continue to lose the blessings from God that we have enjoyed. At one time this nation was unique, even special. Now not so much.
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