From The Advocate:
The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, one described in 1993 by President Bill Clinton as “an honorable compromise” that eventually destroyed thousands of careers, ended Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., nine months after Congress repealed the law.The announcement is long overdue but welcome nevertheless. Lest we diss President Obama and the Democrats in Congress unduly, this announcement would not have come under the presidency of John McCain.
Though September 20, 2011 may be remembered as much as a nonevent for the nation’s armed forces as it is a landmark day for equality, an official military memorandum on the end of DADT distributed Monday is striking nonetheless:
“From this day forward, gay and lesbian Soldiers may serve in our Army with the dignity and respect they deserve,” Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and Army officials wrote (see a PDF of the letter here). “For over 236 years, the U.S. Army has been an extraordinary force for good in the world. Our Soldiers are the most agile, adaptable and capable warriors in history — and we are ready for this change.”
According to ABCNews, when the repeal of DADT passed in the US Senate in December of 2010, McCain made the following statement:
“I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage,” he said.No, Sen. McCain, you are wrong; today is a day for rejoicing. Gays and lesbians have long served bravely and honorably, and you well know the truth, but now they can be honest and forthright without fear of being thrown out of the military.
“Today is a very sad day,” McCain sighed later.
And, President Clinton, it was never 'an honorable compromise.' How could the policy that 'destroyed thousands of careers' of faithful service members ever be called honorable?
Yes, it was a mistake from the get go, Mr. Clinton.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet McCain has broken all his molars from gritting his teeth!
McCain will need crowns and maybe even root canals!
ReplyDeletesusan s., back in the day when Clinton announced the decision, I was not an advocate for LGTB issues, but even then, I could see the policy was not only wrong, but stupid.
Remember, it was supposed to be an improvement over the previous policy that forbad service altogether. And it was supposed to be "Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" but they never practised the last bit. It was used for witch hunts, even though it wasn intended to provide cover.
ReplyDeleteLots of Dems voted for it. Lots of Dems voted for DOMA (1996). And let's remember until Lawrence v. TX in 2003, in many states, it was illegal to have sex with a same-sex partner.
We've come a long way...
IT, so true. The Dems acted like a bunch of scared rabbits on far too many occasions.
ReplyDeleteTBTG! :-D
ReplyDeleteGentlemen of the armed services: I'm single.
ReplyDelete(Hey, gotta take advantage....)
JCF, yes.
ReplyDeletePaul, are there military bases near you? Think of the benefits!
McCain is such a wanker (pardon my intemperate language, Mimi, but really).
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, it is indeed a good day, one long overdue.
Wanker is allowed, Cathy. We borrowed the term from the English, but I don't know that it has the punch over here that it has in England
ReplyDelete