Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
I'm not saying that it's irrelevant to the gay community. But this issue will be (and should be, IMO) at the bottom of the list of things to do for whoever is elected. There are dozens of gargantuan military issues that need to be addressed that will determine the course of our nation...i.e. getting out of Iraq, what to do about Iran, the military's role in protecting the border, who's gonna pay for all the wounded soldiers, etc. I don't mean to minimize the importance of it, but the number of people affected by such a rule change would be a tiny portion of our population, while those other issues affect everyone.
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
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Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
I'm not saying that it's irrelevant to the gay community. But this issue will be (and should be, IMO) at the bottom of the list of things to do for whoever is elected. There are dozens of gargantuan military issues that need to be addressed that will determine the course of our nation...i.e. getting out of Iraq, what to do about Iran, the military's role in protecting the border, who's gonna pay for all the wounded soldiers, etc. I don't mean to minimize the importance of it, but the number of people affected by such a rule change would be a tiny portion of our population, while those other issues affect everyone.
Well, you're more or less on spot here. It doesn't negate the reality these guys and gals are going through though.
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
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There are dozens of gargantuan military issues that need to be addressed that will determine the course of our nation...i.e. getting out of Iraq, what to do about Iran, the military's role in protecting the border, who's gonna pay for all the wounded soldiers,
Matt you notice that the majority of these so called (top of the list issues) have nothing to do with things in small town america with maybe the exception of immigration? If you think that the voters are not intererested in gay rights, abortion, taxes, health care, fuel costs, social security etc you are badly mistaken. Believe it or not most of the middle to lower middle class wants someone to step up and say I will get you cheaper health care, protect your social security so it's there for you children, lower fuel so it doesn't cost 4 bucks a gallon to heat your house and get less taken out of your paycheck and more back in your tax refund. These are core issues that many are thinking about. No matter how Iraq goes it will end and we will get most of the troops out of there. Iran as well as North Korea will continue to have to be watched but for your newly married couple with one kid and one on the way they want to know there wiill be something there for them whey they retire and when their kids grow up.
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
I was only talking about military issues, the expenses and consequences of which affect all of us.
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
A new 60 Minutes report claims the military has been much more tolerant of gays since the beginning of the Afghan and Iraq wars. 1200 soldiers were discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2001, compared to only 600 this year.
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Manzella, a medic who served in Iraq for a year, currently serves as medical liaison for the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Kuwait, where he says he is "out" to his entire chain of command, including a three-star general. After leaving Iraq, he started receiving anonymous emails warning him about his openness that suggested he was being watched, so he went to his commander to head off an investigation he felt was coming. "I didn’t know how else to do it," he tells Stahl, acknowledging that he initiated an investigation of himself by violating the policy. "I felt more comfortable being the one to say, 'This is what is real,'" Manzella says.
He then says his commander reported him, as he was obliged to do, and then "I had to go see my battalion commander, who read me my rights," he says. He turned over pictures of him and his boyfriend, including video of a passionate kiss, to aid the investigation. But to his surprise, "I was told to go back to work. There was no evidence of homosexuality," says Manzella. "'You’re not gay,'" he says his superiors told him. This response confused him and, he says, the closest a superior officer came to addressing his sexuality was to say "I don't care if you're gay or not."
Full Story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/ ... 5278.shtml
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
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This response confused him and, he says, the closest a superior officer came to addressing his sexuality was to say "I don't care if you're gay or not."
Which is exactly the way it should be.
Re: Republican Candidates Self-Destruct on CNN
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Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
A new 60 Minutes report claims the military has been much more tolerant of gays since the beginning of the Afghan and Iraq wars. 1200 soldiers were discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2001, compared to only 600 this year.
Yeah, imagine that. :roll:
