Inhofe: Soldiers "Not Equipped" to Serve With Gays
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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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.
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
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?
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????????
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?
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.
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.
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.
Date posted: 5/14/2010 9:15:29 AM
Hometown: atl
Comment:
I think gay service members are equipped for just about everything.
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.