Friday, July 22, 2011

Military certifies repeal of “don’t ask” policy

The Obama administration announced Friday that the military had made all necessary preparations to allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces, setting the stage for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 60 days.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented President Obama with a formal certification Friday afternoon at the White House that the military’s ability to fight and recruit would not be harmed by the overt presence of gays in the ranks.

The certification marked the final hurdle in a nearly two-decade-long campaign by gay-rights groups and civil-rights advocates to integrate the armed forces. Under a law passed by Congress and signed by Obama in December, the 18-year-old “don’t-ask, don’t-tell” policy will now automatically vanish in 60 days.
Read the rest here

I take note of this because I am sure it will be discussed actively in many quarters of the blogosphere. But someone is going to have to explain to me very slowly how this is big news with everything else going on. Or how who someone is sleeping with (provided we are discussing activities between consenting adults that don't interfere with job performance) effects the readiness of the military. How many policemen do we want in our bedrooms? Unless someone's rights are being violated, disgusting and sinful behavior aught to be province of the Church, not the state.

File this news story under "who cares?"

7 comments:

Ingemar said...

It matters because until recently the military was the last bastion of anti-homosex. The fact that you (and conservatives in general) do not care shows that those who don't want the normalization of the abnormal gave up without a fight.

Anonymous said...

It has to do with espirit de corps which Commander in Chief Obama may call de corpse. One wants to be proud of comrades. That is hard to do when their sexual conduct produces the yuck factor. It is disappointing to read that an Orthodox priest just does not care.
Statmannnathy

Teena Blackburn said...

So, soldiers have been free to be proud of their comrades through centuries of rape, fornication and consorting with prostitutes-you think this is profoundly worse?

Anonymous said...

Hey Teena, try decaf. Who said that soldiers should be proud of such misdeeds? Not I. But I still do not admire sodomy. Statmann

The Anti-Gnostic said...

I have no problem with this. The more frivolous and distracted the government's military the better.

The Anti-Gnostic said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Anti-Gnostic said...

John - the explanation is, Don't Ask-Don't Tell becomes Never Shut Up.

The military was the last meritocracy in government; now that's gone. It's female helicopter pilots, affirmative action generals and Out, Loud and Proud platoons from here on out. Like a diversity-obsessed NASA that can no longer launch rockets.

Straight white males will move on to scale the next peak: a few years of taxpayer-funded training then head off to Xe and other merc outfits. Why fight and die for freaks who despise you and mock your values?

The pattern is pretty clear: let in the women and sodomites, and the straight white men clear out. This applies to the military as well as the AKC, Broadway and the Episcopal Church.