the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell

Dont ask, Dont tell should be abolished....a warrior is a warrior is a warrior ...no matter who they like or date

What Donna said.

I concur

Bigotry should not be an acceptable quality in our own warriors. We should have a professional army that acts professional.

You're implying the armed forces doesn't have its share of fundie wackjob signing up to fight "god's war."

Those are the ones you'll recognize screaming they've been oppressed because the world isn't 100% Jesus-geared.

Perhaps religion should be a don't ask don't tell. Just for the sake of good manners if nothing else.

Peter that is my whole point priorities suck in America...

The religious, "don't ask don't tell" idea sounds good. It is a very personal thing (worship) and faith, ones private and personal beliefs, and way of relating to/with God. Yup, sounds like the way to go.

Religious/Spiritual preference? Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

I wonder if the military is afraid of Gays fighting or the fact they have some very intolorant people in their ranks and somebody will act out, kill somebody and they will be held responsible.

Our warriors might have to re-learn who it is they are to kill and who is on their side - oh well.

Yay! Time to support ALL of the troops.

yeah - Support the Troops !!!

Yes! ALL the troops!

Peter,
The whole thing is people have priorities all mixed up..
It's not just one group(military) its all groups...if you take the rule out more people will join. Same with the Priests(Iam Catholic I can do this) if they let them be married there would be more. Plus if a Priest is going to counsel on marriage shouldn't he have experience in it...
We need to fix America and its people before we can fix another country and their people.
Like I have said before Other Countries just sit back and watch us We Americans are destroying ourselves. There is so much Hate instead of Love one Another around.. If we did just that things would change.

We need to support our troops but they should not have been there in the first place. We need to choose are battles Wisely...

Angel,

You really pack a lot of meaning in one medium comment. Impressive.

(Lots of sound thinking there, too.

Well I been around !!
Thank you

Seems to me "at the right time" is key here. Right now Obama is fighting an up-hill battle trying to get a win - any kind of win. He is criticized for everything he does and his real wins are purposely reinterpreted as losses by the right wing. To tackle the homophobic military problem at this time would be suicide for him, given that the majority of right wingers are homophobic. Can't you just see Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and O'Reilly going after that one!

Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and O'Reilly are waiting to go bonkers, and tell lots of nasty stories, I'm sure.

Since the right wing is gonna attack no matter what he does, he may as well do what all those voted him in to do, and never mind the right wing flap.

Wasn't the original an executive order by Clinton? Couldn't Obama just rescind it with another executive order?

That's what I thought, but am unsure.

I have read that it will be January. I am convinced that Don't ask will end.

Certainly hope so.

"Teed up" is an amazingly stupid buzz phrase. :)

I thought it was a stupid compromise at the time and I'd love to see it go away entirely. I'm sorry that the military has a problem.

I thought the policy was originally set up so gays and lesbians couldn't be asked about their preferences and didn't have to tell, if they didn't want to. I thought it was supposed to protect those who didn't want to be thrown out of the military for their preferences.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Who knows what the change will all end up being. That's why they want to be careful.

Why should they be thrown out of the military for their preferences in the first place?

That was when the military found out that someone was gay or lesbian and they were released(unjustly so) And, the new "Don't ask, don't tell" was supposed to protect them from this injustice.

Three problems with the "protection" of DADT:

1) You can be gay but the military cannot have it brought to their attention. If a letter or some other form of protest is received, an admission of "guilt" means you're out, no matter how distinguished your career or how many years you've served.

2) Discovery of an "alternate lifestyle" can and has led to fights, blackmail (again, DADT) and death.

3) The fact that being openly gay makes one "illegally" enlisted. To have that disagreeable designation attached to someone serving his/her country honorably is a stain on all branches of the military.

I can't wait for it to go away.

I'm waiting for more change! We have a lot of stupid things to roll back.

yeah

Frankly, the ONLY time I care if someone is gay is when I am asking a lady for a date.
I will say this, I did not have any ideal about how many gay women are out there.

LOL!!!!!!!!!

Tip: Not a good idea to try to pick up a date in any bar with the words "clam" or "stick" in it.

or "the sand box" (from past personal experience.)

My sister was not overtly anti-gay, and for the most part considered it as something wrong, but never did anything to go against it, meaning, although she thought it was not right, she would never vote for anything that caused any people to loose their jobs, etc...as she did not like to see people suffer.

When she went into the military, she learned how very, very many in the military were homosexual. She learned how skilled, dedicated, and courages they were, and she came out of the military with a whole different understanding.

She thought Don't Ask, Don't Tell was such a cop out, and it angered her to see people working so stridently against gay people who were fighting and dieing in the military, to preserve and honor the freedoms of the very people who worked against them.

Homophobia is just that. A phobia against something which is feared. It's no different than the other phobias (fear of heights, spiders, enclosed spaces, etc.) and can be just as paralyzing. Men, in particular, have a dread of homosexuals, generally fearing they will "catch it". A lot has to do with their own sexual identity problems or disorders.

Education is -one more time- key to understanding. The military is doing nothing to educate themselves or the recruits. The old boys at the top are to blame for this. Time they grew up.

Peter
I just want the stupidity to stop.
They do not screen for men who abuse women and children.
They do not screen for men or women who are racist
Put some rules in place.
Stop discharging gays for just being gay
No big official policy change needed
How many officers have actually been discharghed for having affairs with non-com females, or men for being abusive to female service members.?

Not as many as should have been.

Just stop the insanity, stop the discharges.

"be all you want to be..."! LOL

exactly =)

be with who you wanna be with =D

Exactly! (:

yeah

If the Military NEEDS bodies " Don't Ask Don't Tell" will not be the only issue they will overlook!

They did it for Blacks, Women in the field, under consideration is women on submarines! Supply and demand that is the sad truth of manning our armed forces.

just b4 the 2nd term....