I think it's ridiculous that some guy can be seen holding hands with another guy off base and be discharged. If another soldier can hold hands with his wife or girl-friend and not be discharged, that would seem to be obvious discrimination in how the military carries out discipline.
Serving in the military is a responsibility, if people didn't volunteer, we'd have to have a draft.
My first comment on the thread was that there have been homos in the military forever, some distinguished themselves by their bravery and service. Somehow the military managed to survive that. So, what's the problem now?
I think it's ridiculous that some guy can be seen holding hands with another guy off base and be discharged. If another soldier can hold hands with his wife or girl-friend and not be discharged, that would seem to be obvious discrimination in how the military carries out discipline.
This is the crux of the problem with 'Don't ask, don't tell'. In accordance with the extremist, absolutist strain of logic that the military generally works under, this is an irreconcilable paradox. It's basically the same as saying, 'It's okay to sell secrets to the Chinese, so long as you're discreet'.
Does. Not. Compute.
My first comment on the thread was that there have been homos in the military forever, some distinguished themselves by their bravery and service. Somehow the military managed to survive that. So, what's the problem now?
Without delving into the historical details of mandatory service, military discipline, and sexual tension, suffice to say that how armies behave has historically been something nations regard as necessary evils. Slaughter, rape, brutality, any number of dark things brought out of people forced into fighting for their lives, and made monsters by the stress. Even for notionally good causes and when heroism and bravery were also present. Once you move into the mid to late 20th century, American society had turned against forced service and low moral standards.
With the advent of an all volunteer service, the military has transformed with each passing decade into an increasingly neo-Puritanical, legalistic organization. The values America wants most are programmed in, and the troops adhere accordingly. Even to the point of drunk driving awareness, environmental awareness, multiculturalism, workplace harassment, gender and racial integration, and any number of progressive social concepts, you'll find that the military is pretty much ahead of the civilian pack, because they have to be, because it's mandatory.
I heard Carlos Mencia drop the n-bomb in a jam-packed MWR building in Baghdad, and you could have heard a pin drop from down the street, over a joke that any civilian crowd of whites, blacks or anyone would have cracked up at.
Why? Because the military is programmed to treat racism like a mortal sin, under all circumstances. Since racism is bad, the military bans it, with severe penalties. They ban everything that is bad, with severe penalties. Every time a new element that is deemed 'bad' is entered into the military bloodstream, it is banned, with severe penalties.
Despite your adorable use of the word 'homo', you clearly support gay rights. That's fine. But what if, as a condition of your job, you had to publicly and regularly state that homosexuality was wrong. If you were caught saying that you didn't care if someone was gay or not, it would damage or end your career? Even if it was an organization you loved, you'd feel that it just wasn't right for you, and would feel that it was time to move on.
That's what the problem is now. The military will make it mandatory to support those who practice homosexuality. Not even neutrality will be permitted. This will chase out most people who are opposed, and many people who are neutral, to pro-gay opinions.
There may be an untapped reservoir of enlightened knuckle-draggers out there, brave men and women with extremely liberal political views, and yet extremely old fashioned attachment to personal sacrifice for God, family and country. But we're already pushing our luck as it is with hard core social experimentation, and the balance the military is running now is still questionable as far as being long term viable.
Can a touchy-feely, risk averse, enlightened military actually fight wars the way they often need to be fought? We get by now on an awesome advantage in weapons and organization, but we've steadily lost our primitive, natural core to a more progressive, perfectionist ideal. What further damage will the military do to the testosterone-driven base of personnel, by becoming pro-gay? How far can you push liberalism on your steely eyed killers before they quit on you?
That's the problem now.