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Showing posts with the label DADT

Santorum stands by ‘Don’t Ask’ defense against racism comparison

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Image via Wikipedia October 11, 2011 - After coming out strongly against the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ( DADT ) policy during the GOP Fox News /Google Debate, Rick Santorum defended his comments in  an interview  this past Sunday on Fox News with Chris Wallace . Confronted at the debate by a homosexual soldier, Santorum had explained that he opposed the repeal of DADT, which had forbidden open homosexuals from serving in the military, because it was like “playing social experimentation with our military.” “The military’s job is to do one thing and that is to defend our country. We need to give the military, which is all volunteer, the ability to do so in a way that is most effective in protecting our men and women in uniform, and I believe this undermines that ability,” he said, adding that, as president, he would reinstitute DADT, but would allow those who had been admitted under the current administration’s policy to remain. In Sunday’s interview, Wal...

Chaplains Watch and Wait after DADT Ends

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Image via Wikipedia Chaplains are waiting to see if this week's end to the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" ( DADT ) policy offers repercussions for their ability to express their views on homosexuality . Despite others' initial concerns that chaplains could leave over the repeal, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Carleton W. Birch said that only one out of 2,900 active Army Reserve and National Guard chaplains has left since DADT was repealed. "Chaplains have not left the Army over this issue, nor have denominations that endorse chaplains pulled their chaplains, even though doctrinally they have strong views on the subject," said Birch, spokesman for the Army Chief of Chaplains. The military requires chaplains to be endorsed or sponsored by a religious organization. Birch said that the military will not require chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. Birch's own faith background requires that he not perform a wedding without premarital counseling. But...

White House to announce end of homosexual military ban based on skewed survey

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Image via Wikipedia The Obama administration is on the brink of officially repealing the military’s ban on open homosexuality. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to announce Friday afternoon that he has certified the change will not affect military readiness, according to Pentagon officials.  Panetta and Navy Admiral Mike Mullen will be meeting with President Obama at 2:45 p.m. Friday in the Oval Office , after which the announcement could take place. Once certified by Panetta and President Obama, the ban would be expected to end in another 60 days. Congress in December passed a preemptive repeal of DADT , which depended upon assurance from the Pentagon that the repeal would not disrupt military readiness. While administration officials claimed that a report released in November of last year proved that the repeal would be harmless, that claim has been the subject of fierce opposition from conservative groups, who note that the results from the study show an overwhel...

Don't Ask Don't Tell

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Image via Wikipedia The Pentagon's poll on "don't ask, don't tell" is beyond idiotic. Instead of asking whether the troops support repeal of DADT , the Pentagon asked only if they can learn to play nice with the gays . Even more absurdly, the Pentagon polled all military "personnel" -- and their spouses! Only a small portion of what is known as "the military" actually does the fighting . The rest is a vast bureaucracy along the lines of the DMV. Today's military features "victim advocates" and sensitivity training facilitators, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services personnel and a million other goo-goo positions. How did we ever take the shores of Normandy without a phalanx of "sensitivity training" counselors? No one has any need to be reassured that the military's " social action " staff will enjoy working with gays. Whatever a career in "social action" entails, it bett...