Posted on 11/29/2007 8:10:25 AM PST by kellynla
The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton's National Military Veterans group.
Retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr was named a co-chairman of the group this month, according to a campaign press release.
He was also active in John F. Kerry's 2004 campaign for president.
Kerr asked candidates “why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”
After the debate, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett said on a CNN panel that he was being told Kerr was involved with the Democratic presidential campaign of Clinton, a New York senator.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who moderated the debate and the panel, said that if that was the case, CNN should have identified Kerr as such.
David Bohrman, a CNN senior vice president and executive producer of the debate, later said: "We regret this and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
Kerr told CNN that he had not done work for the Clinton campaign, and CNN verified before the debate that he had not contributed money to any candidate, the broadcaster said in a blog post after the debate.
Kerry told CNN he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself, CNN said.
On Thursday, Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said the retired general "is not a campaign employee and was not acting on behalf of the campaign."
A Nov. 11 press release retrieved from the website of the nonpartisan magazine Campaigns & Elections lists Kerr as one of nearly 50 co-chairs of “Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary."
Clinton’s campaign did not respond to an e-mail asking about Kerr’s role in her campaign or whether he was acting on behalf of the campaign.
Kerr also was on Kerry’s National Veterans Steering Committee, according to a campaign press release retrieved from the website of George Washington University.
And Kerr appears to be an active opponent of the U.S. military’s current stance on gays and lesbians serving in the military, known as the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy.
He appeared on the now-defunct CNN partner network CNNfn in December 2003 to discuss the 10th anniversary of the policy. According to a transcript, he called it “a tremendous waste of personnel, a tremendous waste of financial resources for the United States.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, got first crack at Kerr’s question. He said he thought having openly gay men and lesbian women in the military “would be bad for unit cohesion.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, answering next, basically agreed.
Cooper then singled out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who in 1994 said he looked forward to the day gays and lesbians could serve openly in the military.
Romney said times have changed. Though he said he laughed when he first heard talk of the don’t ask, don’t tell policy, and didn’t think it would work, he said: “You know what? It’s been there now for 15 years, and it seems to have worked.”
Cooper then turned to Kerr and asked whether he felt he got an answer to his question.
Kerr responded: “With all due respect, I did not get an answer from the candidates. American men and women in the military are professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians. ... Today, don’t ask, don’t tell is destructive to our military policy.”
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a decorated Vietnam veteran, got the last word on the subject.
He said, “almost unanimously, they [high-ranking military officials] tell me that this present policy is working, that we have the best military in history, we have the bravest, most professional, best-prepared, and that this policy ought to be continued because it’s working.”
Its a shame they didnt check with FR before putting this guy on air
I’m not surprised at dirty tricks from Hillary’s camp OR the Clinton News Network!! I’m betting it was a bunch of FReepers who emailed Bill Bennett last night while he was on the air and spilled the beans about the gay general too! :-)
WTG!
David Bohrman, a CNN senior vice president and executive producer of the debate, later said: “We regret this and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the general’s question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate.”
Oh, puleeeze - you just got caught is all.
Mr. Kerr is a coward regardless of his service. If he truly believed that being gay is okay ( not just in the military but in general ) he should have come out years ago and defended his beliefs. I discount people that hide but want to fight once they have made their living and have nothing to loose. Chicken__it.
General should be asked about the high rate of alcoholism in gays.
Full disclosure: I don’t have a problem with gays “marrying” or serving in the military. It stems from my libertarian bent.
However, strategically, I think the Dems are in trouble with this issue. The overwhelming majority of Americans oppose gay marriage and, emphasizing this guy’s connection to Hillary/Dems, it furthers the perception of Dems as the “Gay Party” this hurting them.
Couple this with their pro-amnesty stance and I think we kick their asses in the next elections.
And this is the smartest woman in the world!!
Maybe they arranged this in bed the night before?
Oh, puleeeze - you just got caught is all.
I'm amazed that they thought they could get away with this. It's just hard for me to believe it. The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that they just didn't think to check. But that doesn't make any sense either. Maybe they just don't care. The literally don't give a flying crap whether they look like shills for the democrats. If that is true, what follows is that they don't care that their ratings will continue to fall in the U.S. Maybe the play is international. Maybe CNN will move to Dubai (like Halliburton) and play to a world audience, and shrivel to insignificance here in the United States. It's just too bizarre.
RUSH LIMBAUGH a natural to moderate next Republican Debate!! Let’s get these candidates jump-started!!
Politico is biased to the left. Notice how they put this damaging information into the least possible damaging form:
“The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s National Military Veterans group.”
Well, he also happens to be “a member of Hillary Clinton’s “LGBT Americans For Hillary Steering Committee,” according the News Busters, which gives a link to this information on one of Hillary’s web pages.
But evidently Politico thought it unwise to mention that further connection.
Gee....What would the Hillary campaign say if Republicans were planted to ask the Hildabeast questions?....What a joke!
Republican VRWC plant, not previously disclosed, but brilliantly discovered by outraged moderators. Apologies all around for letting plants into debates.
They really don’t understand the fact that the blogosphere is everywhere and fact checks in a matter of minutes. The RNC will win in this, of course, because they now have justification for saying they will not stage any further debates for CNN.
Bohrman has a short memory, doesn’t he - dude, it took our compadre Buckhead what - an hour and a half? - to spot fake TANG memos and post the info on one of the biggest conservative communities in the country. We know who these people are. Not only that, but if you check around the blogs today, there were several other plants from other candidates that did videos as well. Edwards, for one.
If I were Obama and Edwards, I’d start comparing the Hildebeest to Nixon insofar as dirty campaign tactics go.
Thanks for ignoring the substance of my post.
troll
hillary plant that is gay, interesting that lately “gay” and hillary are always linked in headlines.
Wonder if her “friend” huma suggested it......
Odd that the General would be working for Hillary and questioning Republican candidates when it was Bill Clinton who instituted the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.
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