Earlier this year, Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commented on the fact that the Marine units that he addressed in Jordan did not ask any questions about the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, as they felt that questions on State Department issues and women being in combat were more important.
The Marines made it very clear that serving with openly gay soldiers was not a major concern of theirs.
On Sept. 21, Republican Senators stopped a bill from the Department of Defense from passing on the grounds that repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and allowing illegal immigrants to gain citizenship after two years of military service were just too absurd to support. Sen. Scott Brown (R – Mass.) stated explicitly that he had a problem with the amnesty section of the bill.
There has been progress in getting the policy overturned. The Log Cabin Republicans, a group consisting primarily of servicemen and veterans who support gays in the military, won a victory in a Federal District Court in California last week.
Judge Virginia Phillips ruled that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was unconstitutional and plans to implement a military-wide ban to the policy.
On Sept. 25, a federal judge in Tacoma, Wash. ruled that a flight nurse discharged from the Air Force under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy must be reinstated to her former position.
However, the Obama Administration has stated that the courts should not attempt to enjoin the policy immediately because of the adverse effects it may have on the functionality of the military.
I believe that this issue is an unwarranted waste of money and time.
The Economist posted the results of a poll earlier this year that found that eight in 10 Americans are against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The Obama Administration needlessly wastes taxpayers’ dollars and valuable time on court and congressional costs dealing with this policy that is not popular, nor very important. We should not wait any longer before deciding on this issue; let the court issue an injunction immediately. If the windbags in Congress won’t repeal it, let the professionals — federal judges — handle the problem.
They already found the policy to be unconstitutional — what more do we need to hear? It’s insulting that the government can waste this amount of resources on issues like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” gay marriage and the like.
These issues are not posing immediate threats, so why does the government focus on them instead of on concerns about the economy, illegal immigration or maybe even crime. These are issues that are affecting millions of Americans, the same body of people who have been demanding these changes for a long time.
If Congress and the courts put more time and consideration into those issues, maybe this country could start improving.
Also, let us not forget that we are involved in two wars, and that a strong troop presence is a sine qua non of securing a country full of insurgents.
With this in mind, I do think it rather idiotic and counterintuitive to discharge people perfectly willing to take orders and fight for our country based only on their sexual orientation.
If a person is willing to join the military and defend our county and its principles, all the while risking their own life for it, then their personal beliefs should not be up for debate in Congress.
Let’s remember that these soldiers are patriots and should not be discharged for such feeble reasons.
