I suspect it’s difficult for supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to come up with a rationale for their position. They probably realize they can’t come right out and say, “I don’t like gay people,” or “Dobson told me I have to take this position,” so they’re left with varying degrees of incoherence.
Take John McCain, for example.
In an April 16 letter to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), McCain says the law, passed in 1993, “unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline.” Senator McCain goes on to incorrectly assert that the U.S. Supreme Court “has ruled that the military may constitutionally discharge a service member for overt homosexual behavior.” […]
“Most importantly, the national security of the United States, not to mention the lives of our men and women in uniform, are put at grave risk by policies detrimental to the good order and discipline which so distinguish America’s Armed Services.”
This is breathtakingly dumb and is the latest evidence of just how far McCain has slipped into “crazy base world.”
First, McCain cites a Supreme Court ruling that doesn’t exist. Strike one.
Second, McCain calls gays an “intolerable risk” to military morale, cohesion, and discipline. Really? According to a recent Zogby poll of active personnel, 73% of military members say they are comfortable around lesbians and gays. For that matter, more than one in five U.S. troops already knows a gay person in their unit, including combat units. So where’s the “intolerable risk”? Strike two.
Third, McCain emphasizes “national security” as a rationalization for discrimination. In what way, exactly, does it improve our national security for, say, Bleu Copas, a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist who joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks, to be thrown out of the military for being gay, despite his role in helping translate intercepted messages from possible terrorists? Are we more or less safe with Copas as a civilian? Strike three.
There isn’t even a political upside to any of this for McCain. A recent Newsweek poll asked Americans, “Do you think gays and lesbians should or should not be able to serve openly in the military?” It wasn’t even close — 63% said they should, 28% disagreed.
The troops don’t care; Americans don’t care. And yet, there’s John McCain — the “maverick” — with his absurd defense for the indefensible.
Maybe McCain should take another look at a recent op-ed from former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), who backed the DADT policy in 1993, but who has since come to realize his mistake.
24 nations, including 12 in Operation Enduring Freedom and nine in Operation Iraqi Freedom, permit open service. Despite controversy surrounding the policy change, it has had no negative impact on morale, cohesion, readiness or recruitment. Our allies did not display such acceptance back when we voted on “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but we should consider their common-sense example.
I dare a DADT supporter to explain to me why foreign militaries are strong enough to allow gays to serve openly, but the United States military, the finest in the history of the world, is too weak. Please.
The first U.S. Marine seriously wounded in Iraq was Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who lost his leg when he stepped on a land mine. Because Alva is gay, McCain apparently thinks Sgt. Alva had no business joining the U.S. military. That somehow, his sacrifice was in vain because he shouldn’t have been allowed to wear a uniform in the first place.
As the campaign progresses, McCain regresses. By January, I expect him to be dragging his knuckles, grunting, and carrying a club.