Tuesday, May 25, 2010


DONT ASK DONT TELL may come up for a vote in the US Congress as early as this week. . . .Here is "another side" to the issue, totally underestimating the abilities of the American Military to cope with gays fighting/dying next to them in battle. . .etc. yad yada yada. . . . .
SEE/READ the ongoing bullshit we have to put up with in the USA "with liberty and justice for all". . . O, say can you see. . . . .???


Inhofe: Soldiers "Not Equipped" to Serve With Gays


INHOFE  x390 (GETTY) I ADVOCATE.COM

Oklahoma senator and Armed Services Committee member James Inhofe said in a Wednesday interview that soldiers in combat were unwilling to fight for gay and lesbian soldiers also serving in the line of fire.

Inhofe reiterated his opposition to repealing "don't ask, don't tell" during an interview on Focal Point, an American Family Association radio show.

Inhofe also said he opposed Elena Kagan's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court because of her stance on "don't ask, don't tell" when she was dean of Harvard Law School.

Inhofe's DADT remarks:

"For those of us — and I’m one of them — who have gone through the military, gone through basic training, and you stop and think — it just doesn’t make any sense. Second of all, it’s just not working. You have women, men, then you have a third group to deal with, and they’re not equipped to do that.

"And you know — you hear the stories all the time. A military guy — I happen to be Army, and Army and Marines always feel that when we’re out there, we’re not doing it for the flag or the country; we’re doing it for the guy in the next foxhole. And that would dramatically change that."

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Tim
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 4:52:31 PM
    Hometown: Baltimore

    Comment:

    I won't call him a bonehead, because I try not to name call.

  • Name: James Oliver Sewell
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 4:30:13 PM
    Hometown: Tulsa OK

    Comment:

    Senator Inhofe, just when I think you cannot top yourself as an elected representative from Oklahoma (not by my vote, let me add), like the Energizer Bunny, you excel in beating your little tin drum of ignorant, morally bankrupt blather on another subject of national discourse. Go to the Congressional Cemetery, Senator, and find the tombstone that bears a Star of David with the inscription “They gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.” Have you no shame to make your recent statements to the American Family Association that soldiers are “not equipped” to serve with gays in the military, along with your other ridiculous assertions on DADT? Homosexual soldiers have served in the military from the beginning of warfare, and they will be doing so, either acknowledged or not, when you and I are dead and gone. I know because I was a gay soldier in the Korean War and held Top Secret clearance in the government during my professional career, both without the threat of unwanted active or passive sexual experience. I am old now and of little consequence to a national debate, having survived a lifetime of stupid statements from people like you, but I am a native-Oklahoma-born citizen. I have paid all my dues and taxes and deserve my right to speak, the same as you. And, yes, I honorably earned all the VA benefits I now enjoy, including the best “socialized” medical care, which you share in Congress but would deny other deserving residents of this country. As for homophobia, I recently read, “I had rather be hated for what I am, than loved for what I am not.” Thank you, Senator Inhofe, for the opportunity to borrow this quotation and once more be reminded just who I am in this world as a productive and compassionate human being. James Oliver Sewell

  • Name: David E. Lawton
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 2:33:34 PM
    Hometown: Dayton

    Comment:

    I'm glad I was never in a fox hole next to him. No telling what other bigotries he has. What if there was something about me he didn't like and wasn't willing to fight for?

  • Name: Rick
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 1:51:08 PM
    Hometown: Bay City, MI

    Comment:

    So, less than two years of service back in the '50s makes him qualified to speak on behalf of the entire US military????????

  • Name: Tom
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 12:45:21 PM
    Hometown: Winnipeg

    Comment:

    Bigots are not known for their integrity and charm and, in many cases, their intellligence. What is so different about the American armed forces that they hedge at serving side-by-side with gay men or women, when other countries have no difficulty with this?

  • Name: Stephen
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 11:58:29 AM
    Hometown: Iowa City

    Comment:

    NOT fighting for Country!? NOT fighting for the Flag!? NOT fighting for the citizens of the United States who cannot defend themselves? I thought gays, men, and women joined the Armed Forces to protect this country not the guys in the foxholes. While this noble act occurs while in the trenches, it is not the motivating force for being in the military. How interesting that Inhofe sites the "guy code" for looking out for his buddies, as though gay men have not given their lives for others. Shame, shame.

  • Name: michaelandfred
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 9:39:21 AM
    Hometown: miami beach

    Comment:

    When HE was a young man blacks still had to ride in the back of the bus, Schools weren't segregated, women couldn't serve in the military and gay sex was still criminal in most states. I think what it's time for is for all of these ancient politicians to retire because they are completely out of touch with the modern world. Times, they are a changin' senator. Move with them or step aside.

  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 9:24:16 AM
    Hometown: Detroit

    Comment:

    If the men and women in combat zones are more worried about who is looking at their tits or dicks than worried about who may SHOOT them, perhaps they have no place in a combat zone to begin with. If I were in such a situation and the person next to me was a prejudiced bigotted misogynistic idiot puling about queers checking out his junk I would be sorely tempted into engaging in a little oopsie my bad friendly fire. These morons are the ones who are the biggest danger to the squad/platoon/company because their minds (loosely used term) are not on the job that they are there to do.

  • Name: chichi
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 9:15:29 AM
    Hometown: atl

    Comment:

    I think gay service members are equipped for just about everything.

  • Name: Cacey
    Date posted: 5/14/2010 9:05:38 AM
    Hometown: El Coco

    Comment:

    Having served in the Army as well, I can tell you that the young Imhoff is the soldier in the next fox hole I would have had a bad time defending. Arrogance and stupidity do not begin when one is elected to the Senate but are seen in young men as well and I have this picture of what YoungJim must have been like. Thank god or whoever I did not have to share a bunk room, fox hole or shower with Imhoff who has to rate as the stupidist person in all of Congress. And not only on this issue.



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6 comments:

Jim said...

Thanks, Justin, for this. Yikes, it always catches me by surprise that there are people out there who still feel this way.....and express it OUT LOUD!!!! Democracy aside and free speech and all that, I think they are idiots!

PhotosbyErich said...

My thanks, also, Justin for posting this. And just for the people who believe that the issue is "only" one for gay service men and women, I'll offer this story:

A very good friend of mine was a career Air Force officer. (He is also a happily married heterosexual.)

He once told me that he strongly believed it was time for Don't Ask, Don't Tell (actually, to go beyond it and simply admit gays outright). The reason? Earlier anti-gay policies had COST him good men and women.

For example, he had a young lieutenant who NEVER did a disrespectful thing while in service. In fact, the only thing noteworthy about this young man was that he regularly volunteered for charity projects, etc. that took a LOT of off duty time. So he was a very giving person on and off the job. He was among my friends' favorite people to work with.

One morning, without warning, this man did not show up for duty. When my friend inquired, he learned that military "investigators" had uncovered evidence of his participation in homosexual conduct while back home during a leave. They came for him in the middle of the night, removing him and all of his belongings... All trace of him disappeared without even the courtesy of a "heads up" to his fellow officers so that they could figure out how to replace him and the contributions he made.

Turns out he was never really replaceable because he had been such a strong member of the team. And my friend NEVER felt the same way about anti-gay military policy again. Ever.

http://godgunsglutesgraphs.blogspot.com/

Gary Kelly said...

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, yeah?

For every gay there's a homophobe and/or a bigot. It's just the way it is. It doesn't make it right it just makes it normal.

I'm not sure the battle is about righting wrongs. I think it's more about king hitting the opposition before he gets a chance to king hit you.

Give as good as you get. That's what I reckon.

Gary Kelly said...

Trust me. This is one video you just gotta see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWCIis70YZs&playnext_from=TL&videos=3DHaqb221Rw&feature=grec

JustinO'Shea said...

Duuuhhhhh. . . ..GARY. . . .I don't get it. . . .what's the connection. .or is it to have a place to post this?

Is the blond woman her friend in drag????

"innocent". . . .aka. . ."obtuse"

LOL

Gary Kelly said...

No connection.