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Thursday, May 13, 2010
Milbloggers Not Unanimous
The Huffington Post and Politico posted items yesterday touting a statement signed by military bloggers (in internet shorthand, "milbloggers), purportedly calling for "repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'" But at least one among their number pointed out on the prominent "This Ain't Hell" blog that all milbloggers aren't in unanimity on the so-called repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). The catch-phrase, which misrepresents the intent of the 1993 law making homosexuals ineligible for military service, actually is a Pentagon administrative policy that Congress never voted for.
There are some errors in the Milblog statement that has liberals all excited. With the exception of Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen, who spoke for himself only, the Service Chiefs have not called for repeal. CMR documented the Chiefs' congressional testimony in our SITREP blog entry, "Obama Proposes, Congress Disposes & the Military Opposes." Some of the bloggers may represent younger, new-media-savvy readers, but they may have missed the formidable Flag and General Officers for the Military statement, signed by 1,167 retired military leaders who have strongly reaffirmed current law and urged its retention based on their long and distinguished military experience.
The 2009 Military Times survey of active-duty subscriber/respondents showed that a majority of active-duty servicemembers also continue to support current law. Only 30% favored full integration with homosexuals in showers and other areas offering no privacy. This hardly constitutes a groundswell for repeal, inconvenient as these facts may be for civilian gay activists and their allies. CMR has crystallized major points of controversy in a single-page paper titled "Ten Reasons to Oppose the 'LGBT Law' for the Military."
The Michael D. Palm Center, a gay-activist organization based at the University of California-Santa Barbara, suggested months ago that pride in the military's professionalism should be used to push the gays-in-the-military cause. The milbloggers' statement and the liberal media spin following it shows exactly how the strategy works. It's a classic example of political jujitsu, using the strength of the institution against it. This is why the culture of the military itself is very much at risk.
However, political reality again belies the illusion of momentum promoted by the gay activists. On May 12 the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel, which has primary jurisdiction over the issue of gays in the military in Congress (along with its Senate counterpart), declined to take any action on the current law.
The subcommittee's non-action was the apparent result of an April 30 letter that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mullen sent to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton. Gates and Mullen strongly opposed any legislative action this year, stating that to do so would "send a very damaging message" that servicemembers' views "do not matter." In another example of media spin used to obscure fact, a Congressional Quarterly report on Tuesday, headlined "Levin Wants To Include Repeal of 'Don't Ask' in Authorization Bill," nonetheless contained the inconvenient fact that Levin had "indicated he was uncertain whether he has the votes in the committee to support repeal."
Despite contrived PR events and invented news reports to promote their cause, the gay activists know they are losing the legislative battle. They understand their last chance may be slipping from them as an elitist, liberal Congress begins to run scared as Election Day approaches. Unless they can convince Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to ram another unpopular law through, as with healthcare reform, repeal will not happen in Congress this year. That knowledge makes the gay activists desperate, and dangerous.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Street Theater of the LGBT Left
This article in the gay magazine Advocate shows a picture of the six former military members who chained themselves to the White House gate in a protest demanding repeal of the 1993 law. Former Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, the person on the far left of the photo in a Navy woman's uniform, is a transgendered former male. Next to Sandeen is Army Lt. Daniel Choi, who continues as a soldier with his National Guard unit even though he has twice gotten arrested for public demonstrations in uniform. CMR has previously analyzed his behavior in "Unbecoming Conduct of Gay Activist Lt. Daniel Choi."
DoD officials have not given any explanation for his reported retention even though he is not eligible to serve.
Some gay activists staged a sit-in protest at the Arizona office of Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), the Ranking Member of the SASC, who is leading the fight to defend the 1993 law:
Photo: DADT Protest at McCain's AZ Office
The LGBT Left is consistently radical, but they are not pretty when they are mad.
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