Remember when President Obama promised to repeal Don't Ask/Don't Tell this year? No, not the first time, that was 2009. I'm talking about the second time, when he promised to repeal it before the end of 2010. Remember when the White House started backing off that almost immediately? Well, it appears that the Pentagon is serious and it's really, really going to happen! Really! We're not kidding this time! Just as soon as we study it for a few more fucking years so we can ruin a few more hundred soldiers' before we give in to you dirty queers. I'm paraphrasing. On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Gates is expected to announce "a special investigation into how the ban can be repealed without hurting the morale or readiness of the troops." This will take most of the year "and even longer to implement."
Because we really need more studies. It's not like this law has been studied to death or anything.
"Lifting the ban poses some emotional questions that go to the heart of the military's command structure and the trust relationships within military units. Among them: Will U.S. troops and leaders tolerate openly gay members in their midst? And if they don't, what should the Pentagon do about it?"
In other words, how do we reverse an official policy of discrimination that openly encourages homophobia throughout the ranks without soldiers saying "what the fuck, Sarge? I thought we were supposed to hate them?"
The entire basis of DA/DT has always been the presumption that soldiers have a right to be bigoted. That's it. All that "unit cohesion" bullshit was made up out of whole cloth by Pentagon lawyers trying desperately to find a straight-face argument for legal challenges.
I've got an idea, why not repeal the bankrupt law now and expect soldiers to act like professionals? For those who don't, enforce the UCMJ. You might find out that young soliders today aren't nearly so freaked out by the spectre of gayness than the frightened old pantywaists in the Pentagon. Oh wait, maybe that's the problem.
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