Posted on 06/06/2008 1:55:16 PM PDT by pissant
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr has published an op-ed in todays Wall Street Journal calling for the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the policy which prohibits gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. Barr, who was a member of Congress from 1995 to 2003, opposes same-sex marriage as well as efforts to classify gays and lesbians as members of a constitutionally protected minority class.
On the gays-in-the-military issue, however, Barr feels differently. In the Wall Street Journal op-ed, he argued that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military would be consistent with conservative values such as saving money, promoting national security, and preserving individual privacy. He suggested that Republican presidential candidates who opposed the repeal of the policy during last week's debate "showed a disturbing move away from conservative principles, in favor of what smells strongly of political expediency or timidity."
According to Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director of the Michael D. Palm Center, a research institute at the University of California, "Many Republicans agree with Barr's argument, but few party leaders have been willing to say so in public." Gallup has reported that a majority of Republicans support allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Barr told Palm Center researchers that his support reflects a growing body of evidence that shows that the ban is detrimental to military effectiveness.
The Michael D. Palm Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit http://www.palmcenter.org.
SOURCE Michael D. Palm Center
Bob Barker for tv show host.
I definitely appreciate the way you at least know exactly what Bob Barr thinks. I don’t feel like I can say that for McCain or Obama. I guess when you’re pretty sure you can’t win, you may as well say what you believe.
Another lawyer telling the military what to do. yawn.
Barr looking for a publicity kick-off for his third party run?
Well, he is giving the liberaltarians what they want, I reckon.
ok, I agree with you on the absurdity of him having anything to do with this decision, but tell me, what’s the difference between homos serving and women and men serving together? I mean the obvious, men and women sleeping around together is natural, but i mean for morale. What’s the diff?
Just let me know, I’m not arguing.
Bob Barr = Obama’s wing man
I’m waiting for an honest definition of “Openly Gay”. A Gay guy at a bar he will never go to again could not understand why I wasn’t flattered by his telling me what he’d like to do to me. A woman would have been able to slap his face. I would have been charged with a Hate Crime.
Well for starters, women and men don’t shower with one another. They do not dress, undress, and bunk in the same quarters. Would a woman be justified in objecting to a man (who could very well be sexually attracted to her) watching her shower or undress? Is it reasonable to assume that gay men would be sexually attracted to straight men under the same circumstances? Do the straight men not have a right to object on the same principle?
Gays are prohibited from giving blood even in civilian life. In a heavy combat casualty situation, entire units can be ordered to give blood. There is not time to do blood tests for AIDS since the blood may be pumped directly from donor to patient.
I don't buy this. He's assuming there is an awful lot of power in someone saying "I'm here and I'm queer."
< /oxymoron>
That just blew the hell outta any chance of him getting my vote.What moron came up with that idea?Did the fag lobby promise money to him?Unreal.
The men and women don't share the same barracks, showers, etc. so no need to worry that a person of the opposite sex is checking you out or going to put a move on you when you are at your most vulnerable. However, when homosexuals are involved, you can't have that.
Title’s misleading. Conservatives don’t join and work for the ACLU. I guess the MSM is REALLY gonna push for Barr this season. I thionk he’s stupid enough to believe the great press he’ll be getting.
I didn’t think of that. ok. I don’t want them to serve either, I just wasn’t thinking.
You should also be aware that the group with the lowest incidence of AIDS is lesbian. IOW, if you want a blood transfusion and can’t get a the blood tested, you would want blood from a lesbian. Of course, one can’t really refuse to let gay men serve and allow lesbians.
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