Dude, while I agree that the language can at times be a little wrong, you are way over the top and incorrect in your assessment of the DADT issue.
With DADT, homosexuals can serve in the military, they just can’t ‘openly’ serve- in other words, they must conform to military standards- they aren’t black, white, pink, yellow, gay, or straight- they are all green. They can’t go around ‘telling’ (ie promoting) what the do any more than someone who may believe in Rastafarianism could openly promote smoking weed in the military. Their belief doesn’t change, it is their action in openly promoting something.
The repeal allows, if not encourages one group to use the military for activism by openly promoting a lifestyle or political point of view. This is something not afforded any other group in the military.
Everyone here has different views on this issue for different reasons, for myself, it is simply about what I stated. The military isn’t about promotion of any lifestyle or political point, it is about killing the enemy. DADT kept it to that. If you kill the enemy and don’t use the military as a platform to promote X view, you can stay. As soon as you start ‘telling’- ie using the military to promote your view, you are out. The same can be said about a lot of lifestyles and beliefs in the military.
Telling is not promoting. Telling someone you are black does not promote blackness. Granted that is a slightly different thing.
Or if he had just repeated his boilerplate constituent answer:
"As you probably know, the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. I was not a member of Congress at that time.On June 8th of this year (2009), the Supreme Court announced it would not review a 2008 decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that rejected a challenge of "don't ask, don't tell" by service members discharged under the current policy. In rejecting a challenge of the policy last June on a first amendment basis, the First Circuit Court said the current law "is justified on a content-neutral, non-speech basis; specifically, maintaining the military's effectiveness as a fighting force." I support the decision of the Supreme Court in upholding the law.
In its brief, the Obama Administration supported the court's decision to uphold the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "Applying the strong deference traditionally afforded to the Legislative and Executive Branches in the area of military affairs, the court of appeals properly upheld the statute," argued Elena Kagan, who as Solicitor General represents the Administration before the Supreme Court. The brief argued that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy "rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion."
The primary responsibilities of our military, defending our nation and winning wars, should not be compromised by politics. As I noted, this military policy was created by Congress and the President but is supported by many in our armed forces. While I believe it is imperative that the elected leaders of the people hold all government Departments accountable for their actions and policies, I defer in large part to our military leaders on matters of military readiness and code of conduct. This includes the impact changing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would have, especially since military leaders note that this issue is fundamentally about military readiness.
The overriding issue that would affect the readiness of the armed forces would be the forced cohabitation of homosexuals with heterosexuals at forward operating bases and deployed ships. This would be similar to forcing female soldiers to cohabit with male soldiers in housing situations that offer little to no privacy. The 1993 law does not ban or exclude homosexuals from serving in the armed forces and some estimate there are currently 65,000 homosexual men and women in the military. Please know that I have the utmost respect for every man and woman who chooses to wear our nation's uniform and accepts the responsibility and sacrifices that come with it.