This post is unrelated to the "Climate Change and National Security Issues" series I'm trying to put together here, but perhaps in a way there is a attenuated relationship. Maybe. Maybe not.
It appears that there is a lot of resistance from one party on dealing with ending the Bush Era Tax cuts for those making $250k and greater. I had the joy of watching via The Young Turks (www.theyoungturks.com) Rep. Michelle Bachmann (MN-8) go on about how ending the Bush era tax cuts would hurt plumbers who work with one or two family members. I'm not a wizard at tax law (seeing that I have not taken tax here in law school and probably will not), but I'm pretty sure that Rep. Bachmann is confusing personal tax with business tax. But as Rep. Prior in Bill Mahr's "Religiulous" stated: "There's no IQ test for Congress." Oh if it wasn't for the constitution...
In other news the GOP bloc in the Senate is seeking to block the ratification of the START Treaty between the United States and Russia. The basic idea of START, as a progeny of the earlier START I and START II treaties is to reduce the size of each nation's nuclear capacity. While the true number of nuclear warheads is still up for debate for those of us without TOP SECRET clearances; one can easily assume that each nation has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world over at least a couple of thousand times.
Somehow the idea of eliminating those weapons makes plenty of sense to me. But the GOP is terrified at the idea of reducing the amount of the destructive weapons that were within the reach of one moron from popping off into the night. Without naming names, the general consensus is that by reducing the number of nuclear weapons we currently have in our arsenal, we are weakening our ability to defend the US with the old Cold War theme of "Self Assured Mutual Destruction."
The problem is that it is no longer a nuclear standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that holds the world in a death grip of fear. The real problem is radical terrorism, unstable states, warlords with too much power that are threats to the modern civilization we all enjoy.
The true motivation besides reducing the numbers of nuclear weapons in our arsenal is to limit the ability for terrorists or unstable nations to have the opportunity to gain access of nuclear material that can be upgraded for use in weapons. That's the main fear. By having greater oversight in the actual numbers in each nation's arsenals and by reducing those weapons available, it cuts down on those opportunities for terrorist organizations to gain access to nuclear material.
But I guess the GOP only likes to raise the spectre of terrorism only when it suits their political purposes.
I could go on about how the GOP is attempting to block unemployment benefits for the thousands of unemployed Americans who need help. Or how the Senate is not moving forth in repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT). But I have to be somewhere in a few minutes.
Well, at least Rep. Ron Paul (TX) is seeking to protect the dignity of Americans travelers from the 4th Amendment violator in airports across the US.
More to be posted.
Showing posts with label DADT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DADT. Show all posts
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Blocking DADT. Glad to see the GOP still lives in the world of make believe
The GOP in late September prevented a military appropriations bill from reaching the floor of the Senate. The next question is why the GOP who fully supports American military expeditions in the Near East and Central Asia would block a bill that would allot funds to the military to complete its mission? The reason was because the House in its version of the bill inserted a provision that would have repealed the Department of Defense’s “Don't’ Ask, Don't Tell” (DADT) policy.
Permitting gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals to serve openly in the US military probably causes sleepless nights for GOP senators. Perhaps it is more terrifying than the idea of health care reform for American citizens. Whether these august Senators have nightmares that repealing DADT would lead to an out of control Village People music video spreading through the military is only empty speculation.
Senator Saxby Chambliss gave us an insight on what truly lurks in the fears of these GOP Senators that blocked the bill. Sen. Chambliss warned that repealing DADT would lead to “alcohol abuse, adultery, fraternization, and body art” and the military must “exclude persons whose presence in the armed forces would create unacceptable risk to the armed forces’ high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion...the presence in the armed forces of person who demonstrate[s] a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards.”
Since the GOP has excellent rapport with the armed services, the opinions of Sen. Chambliss and other GOP senators must reflect the sentiments of the senior officers of the military.
On February 2, 2010, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen stated that it was the right thing to do by permitting gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US Military. Adm. Mullen is the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the military.
To date, approximately 13,000 servicemembers were processed out of the military for their sexual orientation since DADT was introduced in 1992. Many of those losses are linguists, pilots, lawyers, doctors, and individuals with important skills to complete a variety of missions. Two recent examples that come to mind are Lt. Dan Choi, an Arab Linguist and Maj. Mike Almy. With the involvement of the US in the Near East that Arab Linguists should be worth their weight in gold.
They are: unless they are homosexuals.
Yet, the GOP hawks believe that honorable individuals who had the courage to step forward and raise their right hand and swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic” should not be permitted to serve because of their sexual orientation. Including Sen. Chambliss, who did not serve since he received a deferment for “bad knees.”
As a former commissioned officer in the Navy, I think it is a needless waste of resources to continue to separate homosexuals from the military. It is a disservice to the Nation to prevent those who are openly homosexual from serving. According to the Truman Report, approximately 19% of the US populace is suitable to volunteer for military service. Outdated opinions on homosexuality that prevent the military from allowing qualified people to volunteer does more damage than good for national defense. Having served with homosexuals during my time in the Navy, I can say that they did not undermine good order and discipline, despite Sen. Chambliss’s fears.
But it seems as if Sen. Chambliss and his colleagues want to bully homosexuals; no different than the despicable individuals who bulled Tyler Clementi from Rutgers and Raymond Chase from the University of Rhode Island to the point those two young men took their own lives.
Permitting gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals to serve openly in the US military probably causes sleepless nights for GOP senators. Perhaps it is more terrifying than the idea of health care reform for American citizens. Whether these august Senators have nightmares that repealing DADT would lead to an out of control Village People music video spreading through the military is only empty speculation.
Senator Saxby Chambliss gave us an insight on what truly lurks in the fears of these GOP Senators that blocked the bill. Sen. Chambliss warned that repealing DADT would lead to “alcohol abuse, adultery, fraternization, and body art” and the military must “exclude persons whose presence in the armed forces would create unacceptable risk to the armed forces’ high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion...the presence in the armed forces of person who demonstrate[s] a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would very likely create an unacceptable risk to those high standards.”
Since the GOP has excellent rapport with the armed services, the opinions of Sen. Chambliss and other GOP senators must reflect the sentiments of the senior officers of the military.
On February 2, 2010, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen stated that it was the right thing to do by permitting gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US Military. Adm. Mullen is the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the military.
To date, approximately 13,000 servicemembers were processed out of the military for their sexual orientation since DADT was introduced in 1992. Many of those losses are linguists, pilots, lawyers, doctors, and individuals with important skills to complete a variety of missions. Two recent examples that come to mind are Lt. Dan Choi, an Arab Linguist and Maj. Mike Almy. With the involvement of the US in the Near East that Arab Linguists should be worth their weight in gold.
They are: unless they are homosexuals.
Yet, the GOP hawks believe that honorable individuals who had the courage to step forward and raise their right hand and swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic” should not be permitted to serve because of their sexual orientation. Including Sen. Chambliss, who did not serve since he received a deferment for “bad knees.”
As a former commissioned officer in the Navy, I think it is a needless waste of resources to continue to separate homosexuals from the military. It is a disservice to the Nation to prevent those who are openly homosexual from serving. According to the Truman Report, approximately 19% of the US populace is suitable to volunteer for military service. Outdated opinions on homosexuality that prevent the military from allowing qualified people to volunteer does more damage than good for national defense. Having served with homosexuals during my time in the Navy, I can say that they did not undermine good order and discipline, despite Sen. Chambliss’s fears.
But it seems as if Sen. Chambliss and his colleagues want to bully homosexuals; no different than the despicable individuals who bulled Tyler Clementi from Rutgers and Raymond Chase from the University of Rhode Island to the point those two young men took their own lives.
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