Story Of The Day...Just Askin'....

Over the past year I've been critical over the Obama administration's neglect over advancement of equal rights for gays and lesbians, whether it be towards marriage equality or protection of GLBT armed forces servcemembers. Last week's State Of The Union address was (perhaps over-) heralded about a turning point, with the statement stuffed in about repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that has resulted in thousands of dismissals from all branches of the military. At that time, the Congress (well, the Democratic ones) roared approval, while the Joint Chiefs there sat stoically. I wasn't feeling it.

Well, today's hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee gave reason for hope. While Secretary Robert Gates explained the proposal for a year-long study, which I think has been overstudied, though at least employing top-level brains like General Ham who heads Europe's Army forces. Even better was Admiral Mike Mullen, who gave a heartfelt testimony about the moral imperative on removing the draconian policy.

“It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Mullen said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“We have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals, and ours as institutions,” Mullen added.

Mullen even went as far as including it in his Twitter feed. I agree with John over at Americablog - they should have specifically pushed to change the law, though I understand the administration's restraint from directly proposing law from the military. The idea was to show the Congress (and the American people) that they are ready for this change, and are prepared.

Now of course, this brough out the crazy, even though poll after poll shows that Americans (Democratic, Republican, Independents) approve removing this policy, the mouth-breathing "God-Squad" still manage to get air-time, whether it be dickweed Senator John McCain, proving yet again that he doesn't have sex with his wife anymore by beligerently shouting at clouds over this despite Cindy McCain's willingness to campaign for marriage equality he's taking the 18th-century tack...

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member and Republican candidate for president in 2008, said he was “deeply disappointed” in Gates’s statements.

“You are embarking on not whether the military should make a change, but how best the military should prepare for it,” he said.

“In my view, and I know that a lot of people don’t agree with that, the policy has been working and I think it’s been working well,” he added.

What people? The grumps at his country club?

Also the news channels were infested with the likes of Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council, who should be so audited for their blatant lobbying. In the end, though, it's only a matter of time whether this all gets rectified, so why wait?

Peace, Out.