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Obama to end military's ban on homosexuals, spokesman says'
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | January 14, 2009 | Matthew B. Stanhard

Posted on 01/14/2009 2:34:57 PM PST by Zakeet

President Obama will end the 15-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has prevented homosexual and bisexual men and women from serving openly within the U.S. military, a spokesman for the president-elect said.

Obama said during the campaign that he opposed the policy, but since his election in November has made statements that have been interpreted as backpedaling. On Friday, however, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, responding on the transition team's Web site to a Michigan resident who asked if the new administration planned to get rid of the policy, said:

"You don't hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But it's 'Yes'."

The little-noticed response, made in a video posted on change.gov, made barely a ripple outside blogs focused on the gay community, but that's not surprising, said those who have been pushing to overturn the ban. Not only was Obama's position expected, they said, but support for reviewing or repealing the policy has grown markedly in recent years, including from some unexpected quarters.

The end of "don't ask, don't tell" may not happen immediately, several critics of the policy said. Although they appreciate clarity from Obama on the issue, they anticipate that the demands of the economy and two wars are likely to trump a speedy policy reversal.

"The question isn't if we do it and the question isn't when we do it, it's how we do it," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, whose 2006 bill to repeal the ban earned broad support among Democrats in Congress but did not move forward in the face of a near-certain veto by President Bush.

"I'm going to reintroduce the bill in the next few weeks," Tauscher said. "We've got the American people behind us."

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 111th; bho2008; bhodod; dontaskdonttell; gays; homosexualagena; homosexualagenda; military; militaryreadiness
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To: brytlea

Agreed!


201 posted on 01/14/2009 6:19:21 PM PST by neocon1984
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To: heye2monn

Our young ARE more accepting of homos and sexual perversion.

It’s shoved down our throats in every medium. And the homos are usually the nicest characters in tv and movies.

There’s also many, in conservative Churches, taught to accept this as normal. Personally, homos don’t affect me. I don’t care what they do in their homes, I just don’t want to hear about it be told to accept it as normal. Consenting adults and all that. It’s the acceptance of this being normal, and it isn’t, that’s perpetuating that idea.

Heterosexual sex is normal. We can’t compare the two, imo.

My teens have a teammate, who has two mommies, lesbian/homo parents. She’s a great kid, nice as can be. Her two mommies are nice. This kid is a really nice kid. My two teens had no idea for a year that she had two moms. They thought one was a step mom. She came back from summer vacation saying her two moms sent her to a homo awareness camp. My two teens were like WTH?


202 posted on 01/14/2009 6:21:35 PM PST by Twink
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To: neocon1984

Uh, no. I am not like you. Not get lost, punk.


203 posted on 01/14/2009 6:22:10 PM PST by darkangel82 (I don't have a superiority complex, I'm just better than you.)
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To: Twink
She came back from summer vacation saying her two moms sent her to a homo awareness camp

Anyone else see the absurdity of this? She has two MOMS--if she's aware of anything it's homosexuality.

204 posted on 01/14/2009 6:23:15 PM PST by riri
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To: Zakeet

I have news. There were gays in World War II. My dad said there were 2 in his US Army Medic Unit in the Pacfic Theater helping to patch up the wounded. But nobody CARED. It was “don’t ask, don’t tell” even back then.


205 posted on 01/14/2009 6:23:34 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: riri
She has two MOMS

Biologically not possible.

206 posted on 01/14/2009 6:24:26 PM PST by darkangel82 (I don't have a superiority complex, I'm just better than you.)
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To: Zakeet
the FDRQ win again...
207 posted on 01/14/2009 6:29:10 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist -)
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To: riri

She’s aware of it, of course. Her friends and teammates weren’t until she made this announcement.

Are you saying this kid wasn’t aware prior to her visit to a homo awareness camp? Or that she was? I think she was aware but it didn’t make enough of an impact on her until she was sent to this “camp” and she felt it necessary to tell her teammates, and my kids, that she went to this boring camp. The kid seems confused, imo.


208 posted on 01/14/2009 6:33:40 PM PST by Twink
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To: brytlea

How so?


209 posted on 01/14/2009 6:35:20 PM PST by Twink
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I think you’re right.


210 posted on 01/14/2009 6:37:28 PM PST by Twink
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To: utahson

Hey, McLame was not the answer. He was a Dem apologist. Had McLame won, the GOP would have ceased to exist, which long term would’ve been far worse.

We’re victims of our own prosperity. Too many morons were overpaid and underworked. All they did was show up and BAM! They got a paycheck. Well, guess what? That sh!t’s not gonna cut it anymore, and they know it. They voted for someone as incompetent and faithless as they are to save them, and they’re gonna have to find out the hard way that slacking won’t cut it.

We have two left parties right now, thanks to the media. centrist-left GOP and far-left Dems.

This outcome was inevitable. This schmuck will be lucky to go 4 years without a successful move to impeach him.


211 posted on 01/14/2009 6:38:12 PM PST by prismsinc (A.K.A. "The Terminator"!)
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To: Zakeet

We should have stuck with this:

Religious groups urge Christians to boycott Army over Wiccans
AP
06/11/1999

FORT HOOD, Texas — Thirteen conservative religious groups are calling on Christians to boycott joining or re-enlisting in the U.S. Army until it bans witchcraft on its posts.

“Until the Army withdraws all official support and approval from witchcraft, no Christian should enlist or reenlist in the Army, and Christian parents should not allow their children to join the Army,” said Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Association.

The Christian Coalition, Traditional Values Coalition and the American Family Association are among the groups initiating the ban. The Christian Coalition alone boasts 2.1 million members.

The controversy started with news reports that witches were holding rituals on the nation’s largest military installation, Fort Hood in Killeen. (snip)

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=8671


212 posted on 01/14/2009 6:40:33 PM PST by donna (Synonyms: Feminism, Communism, Fascism, Socialism)
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To: prismsinc
Had McLame won, the GOP would have ceased to exist,

It's hard to visualize the future of a Republican party what with the evangelicals going into vapors over the idea of a Romney candidacy.

Pushy evangelicals aren't going to save the GOP - they will bury it.

213 posted on 01/14/2009 6:41:54 PM PST by x_plus_one (Muhammed and Allah = 2 memes destined for the ashheap of history.....)
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To: Zakeet

Current policy of don’t ask, don’t tell is fine. What the Messiah wants to do is make sensitivity training the most important aspect of military training. Soldiers will be taught how not to hurt the feelings of people.


214 posted on 01/14/2009 6:44:49 PM PST by yongin
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To: neocon1984
As I strive understand the deeper implications of your argument, I wonder if I am too facile about the issue.

Most of the posts on this thread are too facile. Yours are just a different strain. ;-)

Seriously, though, the danger here is not in being ogled and stalked at the PX by a man-hungry paratrooper. That's a caracature of an arguement. The military has plenty of razor sharp regulations to defeat unwanted advances from other servicemembers, and those work against *any* gender combination.

The problem is that it will turn a dislike of homosexual lifestyle into a thoughtcrime that can limit, slow, or end your career. To elaborate on the real danger of this; one of the best soldiers I ever worked with is a devout but quiet Christian. Aside from being a fearless-bordering-on-reckless soldier who's risked his life numerous times, I've never heard him utter the word 'homo', and he treats everyone with respect, regardless of what he thinks of their life choices. He's the model of a devout, moral man who can be both tough and honorable for his country.

That said.

If it was two weeks to his retirement date, he would resign rather than give a briefing to junior troops on treasuring the value of the homosexual lifestyle. A rare type, sure, but the passing of him and guys like him wouldn't go unnoticed.

Some guys will keep their mouths shut, obey and not reenlist. Their families will turn away from enlisting or reenlisting.

Others will play the game, but feel bad about it.

A few will relish the opportunity to use a sensitive topic as a weapon in the war to advance their careers.

Many, truth be told, will zealously do what they need to do to ensure that they they hit their 20 years. Having to pretend to like homosexual lifestyles isn't even scratching the surface of what some guys would do to get to retirement.

There won't be any point in arguing about it. Any type of resistance will come back to haunt you when it's time for evals. So, we won't know for sure the effect it will have until four years later, when the reenlistment rates are examined.

Will we recruit enough gays to offset who we would lose?

Will these gay troops be the valiant, idealistic types who fight and die for God, country and family?

215 posted on 01/14/2009 6:46:37 PM PST by Steel Wolf (Oh, well. Back to the drawing board....)
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To: All

Obama just emasculated the U.S. military.

The UCMJ is however going to be a problem unless he changes that too.

UCMJ
925. ART. 125. SODOMY

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.


216 posted on 01/14/2009 6:46:57 PM PST by TSgt (Extreme vitriol and rancorous replies served daily. - Mike W USAF)
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To: x_plus_one

Romney’s liberal policies were a no-go.


217 posted on 01/14/2009 6:47:23 PM PST by darkangel82 (I don't have a superiority complex, I'm just better than you.)
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To: Zakeet
Hopefully, this decision will result in the United States Armed Forces staging a coup. Remember, the USAF is sworn to fight "all enemies, foreign and domestic".
218 posted on 01/14/2009 6:47:32 PM PST by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: Twink

You are in dire need of “sensitivity” training and if you cannot easily be re-programmed then we will need to proceed with the electrode implants in your brain to shock you every time you think or say anything that we deem “homophobic.”

— The Obamanation Sensitivity Task Force —

[/sarcasm]


219 posted on 01/14/2009 6:48:19 PM PST by Enchante (Jan. 20, 2009: There is not enough scotch whiskey in the world to drown my sorrows now..........)
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Comment #220 Removed by Moderator


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