A few days ago a California federal judge banned the practice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), which meant that gays and lesbians in the United States Military had to hide their sexual preference or be unceremoniously kicked out. Although claiming to be against the policy themselves, the Obama administration asked the judge to stay her order until they could appeal it. On Monday, the judge declined to stay her order.
Now, all the Obama administration would have to do is to not appeal the ruling (or issue an executive order) and DADT would be relegated to history. The U.S. Military would have to treat all it's members equally, which is the way it should be done. But the Obama administration doesn't have the political courage of a Harry Truman (who ended segregation in the military with an executive order). They want Congress to give them some political cover (even though a clear majority of the population is in favor of ending DADT).
Frankly, it is starting to look like everyone except the Republicans and Democrats in the federal government (who are either bigots or cowards) is in favor of ending DADT -- even the military. Although many military leaders have said they want the DADT policy to remain in effect until they complete their "study" on how it would affect the military and how the end of it could be best implemented, it looks like the military is ready to accept open homosexuals.
The U.S. Military has said it is currently willing to accept openly homosexual recruits. Douglas Smith, spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, says, "If they were to self-admit that they are gay [or lesbian] and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change."
This seems like a bit of a split personality on part of the military. They are accepting openly homosexual recruits at the same time they are fighting the right of homosexual soldiers to be honest about their sexual preference. Obviously the military knows that it is just a matter of time before the end of DADT, or they would not be recruiting and enlisting openly homosexual citizens.
Frankly, this whole mess is starting to look more than a little stupid. The Fourteenth Amendment is very clear about the fact that all American citizens are to be treated equally, and DADT is a violation of that constitutional amendment. Unless the politicians and the military are saying homosexuals are not citizens (which would also be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment), then DADT should be ended immediately.
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