angus
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« on: December 03, 2010, 11:28:42 PM » |
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The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing today on the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. and our military commanders were not united. In short, Marine Commandant General Jim Amos, valiantly holing on to traditional values, and Air Force chief of staff General Norton Schwartz, fearing the worst, told a Senate panel today that they do not recommend Congress change the law to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.
On the other hand, the recommendation of Army chief of staff General George Casey was a bit more nuanced. “Implementation of the repeal of DADT would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of war,” he said, adding later that it was feasible.
Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead was straight-up comfortable with the whole idea. "Five hundred men, one boat. What could be better?" Okay, I'm paraphrasing. He actually said it was a "non-issue." (I love that name, Gary Rough head. He was destined to lead a post-sexual orientation navy, doncha think?) He agreed with the findings of a Pentagon report issued this week that found a majority of the force had positive or at least neutral perceptions about repeal. And General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed as well. “It is my view that implementation of a new department policy would involve manageable risk in regards to military effectiveness, even during the high tempo of wartime operations.”
Anyway, they all say that the integration is inevitable. Even Schwartz, who noted that "full implementation of repeal should not occur until sometime in 2012." It's just a matter of whether it's now or later.
Admittedly, in this lamest of lame duck sessions, the lame legislators in our lame system will have other concerns to keep them awake at night. Or maybe not. In either case, all of this may be tabled. It just got me thinking of some lyrics that may best describe the system. And in the democratic spirit of this excellent forum, I offer you the choice among these musical favorites of the mulleted generation. Let your voice be heard. If you're not old enough to know what a mullet is, or if you don't recognize any of these songs, or if you just don't give a fuck about your government's position on this issue, then that's okay as well. Just vote other and offer up a lyric of your own.
Thank you.
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