Saturday, February 20, 2010

Regarding DADT, I Guess We Aren't Supposed to Listen to the Military Leaders Anymore

I will admit that I don't always agree with what politicians ask our military leaders to do, but I do understand (sometimes begrudgingly) that the military is there to carry out orders. After all, the military has figured in my upbringing, as I've noted on this blog in the past.

But what I find interesting is that after spending the last several years listening to GOP politicians bleat about listening to what military leaders have to say, and now that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, among many, has called for an end to DADT ("don't ask, don't tell), some within the GOP are now arguing that we not listen to what military leaders have to say.

John McCain started it off (after flip-flopping on the call to follow the advice of the military leaders), now former Senator Rick Santorum (who gleefully compared gay relationships with bestial relationships) is suggesting that the military has been "indoctrinated" with "political correctness" on the issue of gays serving openly.

Am I alone in thinking that rank and file Republicans, who, like the vast majority of Americans in poll after poll, support the repeal of DADT (including active duty personnel), will miss the irony here?

1 comment:

Scott said...

This is one of those damn pesky "social issues" that scares the GOP to death. And McCain is finding himself in exactly the same position he was during the Presidential race.

If he follows through on his original statement--listens to the military brass and supports repeal of DADT, he looses the "base" of teabagging, birther rightwing nuts.

But if he caters to the whackos and continues to support bigotry (which seems to be the course he's taking because of course, McCain is right now facing a GOP primary challenge in Arizona.) he will alienate moderates and independants.

Poor John. He may survive politically and be reelected in Arizona, but he has proved himself to be a loser in just about every way that counts.