In last night’s CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates, perhaps the most memorable, gripping moment came towards the end, when the face on an elderly gentleman appeared on the screen.
“My name is Keith Kerr, from Santa Rosa, California. I’m retired brigadier general with 43 years of service, and I’m a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Command and General Staff Course, and the Army War College. And I’m an openly gay man.
“I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”
Ouch. Gen. Kerr’s question included two subtle points — that a gay person can serve honorably in the military, and that if Republicans trusted the professionalism of our men and women in uniform, they’d want to end the existing ban.
One by one, Republicans took turns trying to defend the indefensible, with responses ranging from offensive to ridiculous. Mike Huckabee said it would put military “morale…at risk.” John McCain, denying reality, said that the status quo “is working.” Duncan Hunter said most of the troops are “conservatives” with “Judeo-Christian values,” whose “principles” should be protected. Mitt Romney said we can’t let gays volunteer for military service because “we’re in a middle of a war.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Gen. Kerr, who was in the audience for the event, whether he was satisfied with the responses. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t.
“With all due respect, I did not get an answer from the candidates,” Kerr said, adding, “We’re talking about doctors, nurses, pilots, and the surgeon who sews somebody up when they’re taken from the battlefield.”
At which point, the Republican audience began booing the 43-year military veteran. It was an interesting contrast — at Democratic debates, veterans get standing ovations. At Republican debates, veterans get booed if they’re gay.
Apparently, the most important angle to the exchange, according to the right, is that Kerr supports Democratic presidential candidates.
The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s National Military Veterans group.
Retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr was named a co-chair of the group this month, according to a campaign press release. He was also active in John F. Kerry’s 2004 campaign for president.
Far-right blogs are apoplectic about these revelations, calling Kerr, among other things, a “Hillary plant.”
I’m not sure what the fuss is about. Kerr asked a legitimate question about a political issue. Candidates answered it. Kerr defended his position, and the conservative audience booed him. Who cares if he supports a Democratic presidential candidate? It wasn’t a partisan question.
For what it’s worth, CNN is apologizing.
The executive producer of the debate, CNN Vice President David Bohrman, said the cable network had taken some precautions, verifying Kerr’s military background and that he had not contributed to any presidential candidate.
“We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates,” Bohrman said. “We never would have used the general’s question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate.”
Whatever. It seems to me the problem here is that Republican presidential candidates want to discriminate against able-bodied, patriotic Americans, who are prepared to put their lives on the line during a war for their country. Conservatives can’t explain why this policy makes any sense at all, so they’re attacking an honorable, 43-year military veteran for daring to raise the subject in the first place.
Booing Kerr isn’t the answer; allowing equality in our ranks is.