Posted on 12/02/2010 8:17:01 AM PST by Racehorse
Sen. John McCain, one of the strongest opponents of repealing the ban on allowing gay and lesbian service members from serving openly, said he is open to changing the law – just not now.
At the outset of the first of two high-profile Senate hearings on repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law Thursday, McCain (R-Ariz.) said it “may be premature” to make a change at this time, as he questioned the quality of the Pentagon study that recommends the force would be amenable to repeal.
McCain’s support is critical to the Obama administration’s hope to pass the legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
McCain has his faults, and there are many, but on this subject he’s been steadfast. I’m glad we have his support.
Is there no one in the government who will challenge that equivalence? It’s not the same as race.
Correct, behavior is not the same as race. Duhh
McCain saw first hand what homosexuals — as N. Vietnam military guards — could do while he was a POW. As I recall he mentioned this soon after he was released and linked that issue to homosexuals in the military in the US. He should mention this again, now.
The most dangerous place on earth is between Juan McRino and a camera.
He’s been supportive lately, but I’m not sure I’d call it steadfast.
First it was “I’ll be open to changing the law when the DoD is for it.”
Then “the DoD may be for it, but I want to see a study.”
Now “that study didn’t ask the right questions...And you asked too many officers, I want to hear from the enlisted!”
If he’s against it, maybe he should say why he’s against it. Not “now isn’t the right time,” “maybe someday.”
Senator Jeff Session just debunked the assertion that the Congress must act to do away with Don’t Ask, Don’t tell, which would allow the military to implement the change on its terms, because the Federal Courts will step in to order immediate change. He basically accused Jeh Johnson, DOD General Counsel, of failing to appeal pending cases to the Supreme Court in order to maintain a cloud of uncertainty and therefore build a false sense of urgency to repeal the policy.
Sessions asserted that on appeal the Supreme Court would uphold the policy as it presently exists. Johnson responded with legalese why the DOD did not appeal the cases under discussion.
I’m not as confident as Sessions that the Court would uphold it... Kennedy is the swing vote now, and he wrote the Lawrence majority opinion.
If you read between the lines of that decision, its language was clearly the product of clerks well-versed in “queer politics” / feminist jurisprudence language. Rather than merely saying that gays have a right to engage in sex that “defines them,” as the dissents in Bowers had done, Kennedy went further and essentially cast doubt on all morals-based legislation. Scalia was right in his Lawrence dissent when he said Kennedy’s opinion essentially made gay marriage a foregone conclusion.
While the Court is often hesitant to interfere in military matters, they may not let it stop them if they perceive public opinion to favor repeal and to be continuing to trend in that direct.
This move is just step in the downward spiral of this great nation.
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