Where are the Martians when we need them?
Posted on 07/26/2017 2:26:05 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This is high-grade political cover for any congressional Republican who’s inclined to oppose the ban but leery of becoming a lightning rod for the right. McCain will be the lightning rod. And meanwhile other Republican pols can point to him and say, “I’ll defer to the war hero’s judgment.”
Agree or disagree, though, he asks a good question. The Pentagon was already reviewing the trans policy and planning to make a recommendation later this year. Why couldn’t Trump wait for that?
The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today. Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military—regardless of their gender identity. We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so—and should be treated as the patriots they are.
“The Department of Defense is currently conducting a study on the medical obligations it would incur, the impact on military readiness, and related questions associated with the accession of transgender individuals who are not currently serving in uniform and wish to join the military. I do not believe that any new policy decision is appropriate until that study is complete and thoroughly reviewed by the Secretary of Defense, our military leadership, and the Congress.
The cynical theory for why Trump moved now is that he needed to change the subject by any means necessary from the many chaotic storylines plaguing him — Russiagate, the Sessions feud, the Senate GOP voting on a health-care “mystery bill,” Rex Tillerson possibly leaving, Anthony Scaramucci planning purges in the White House. The extra-cynical theory is that Trump’s particularly worried that his dogging of the populist Sessions will start to alienate his base, so he’s giving them some culture-war material to keep them happy. But there’s a non-cynical theory too, per Politico: A dispute over whether to fund sex-change surgery for U.S. troops was holding up a spending bill in the House that included money for all sorts of other Trump priorities, including the border wall. In order to resolve that dispute, he simply announced a new policy this morning. And apparently pulled the rug out from under his Defense secretary in doing so:
That’s why House lawmakers took the matter to the Trump administration. And when Defense Secretary James Mattis refused to immediately upend the policy, they went straight to the White House. Trump — never one for political correctness — was all too happy to oblige…
The announcement, multiple sources said, did not sit well with Mattis, who appeared to be trying to avoid the matter in recent weeks. Congressional sources say Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), the original author of the House’s transgender proposal, tried numerous times to phone Mattis to discuss the transgender issue.
Sessions and Tillerson are already on their way out. What’s one more cabinet secretary at this point? Note, by the way, that House lawmakers weren’t asking for a total ban on trans soldiers, which is what Trump announced this morning. All they wanted was a ban on using taxpayer money to pay for gender reassignment surgery. Why did Trump go so much further in his order? (“This is like someone told the White House to light a candle on the table and the WH set the whole table on fire,” said one House aide to Politico.) Who the hell knows? It’s cost him at least one celebrity fan, though!
There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? https://t.co/WzjypVC8Sr
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) July 26, 2017
The article you want to read about this morning’s Twitter-nouncement is this one from the Examiner, which convincingly argues that the major players here, namely the Pentagon and the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, were completely blindsided by it. Supposedly “a handful of the most senior people [at Defense] were aware of the change” but it’s unclear how much advance notice they were given and how much of an opportunity for input they were afforded. Trump being Trump, he may have woken up this morning, decided he need to “shake things up” news-wise, and dialed up Mattis to let him know he was going to pull the plug on Obama’s trans policy on Twitter in five minutes. This quote from an unnamed administration official suggests at least some strategic thought went into it, though: “This forces Democrats in Rust Belt states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, to take complete ownership of this issue. How will the blue collar voters in these states respond when senators up for re-election in 2018 like Debbie Stabenow are forced to make their opposition to this a key plank of their campaigns?”
Will Stabenow be forced to do that, though? How much will Rust Belt Democrats really be hurt by disagreeing with Trump on this, especially if they’re getting cover from Republicans like McCain and Ken Buck? Josh Barro argues that it’s all a matter of framing. If the left turns this into an opportunity to lecture the working class about their supposed bigotry against trans people, yeah, it’ll explode in their faces. If they stick to McCain’s point, they should be fine.
The key is to keep the frame about inclusion and service: Allowing capable Americans who wish to serve their country in the military to so do…
I would be more worried about [a backlash] if Trump had rolled out his ban in the politically smart way: by having the Pentagon announce it and then saying he was supporting the decision of his generals. That would have put Trump in a strong position, politically, to say his choice was in the service of military readiness…
Instead, Trump made himself the face of the decision. Trump is unpopular, and a lot of people will default to assuming whatever choice he made on an issue they had not considered deeply was incorrect.
That’s the most inexplicable part of this. If Trump really cared about the policy, he would have had the august, apolitical Mattis announce it. Instead he announced it himself — and not even with a presidential statement. He farted it out on Twitter. Bizarre.
In lieu of an exit question, read veteran J.R. Salzman on the risk faced by trans soldiers in combat. War is tremendously taxing mentally, Salzman notes from experience. How much can you depend on someone in those circumstances who’s already taxed mentally by emotional and psychological issues related to their gender?
The trans people do NOT meet the standards. Case closed.
Thank goodness McCain has been term limited.
Enlist, get $150,000 of surgery and pharmaceuticals, pause for the two years suggested for recovery, then get a good-conduct discharge.
Sounds like a plan. /s
Uh, they don’t meet the “standard” McCain. That’s the issue.
Trump isn't afraid of the baying hounds of PC-dom, and his tweets have proven an effective tool for bypassing the media filter and communicating directly with the public. Nobody is now "confused" over what the president means or how his words should be interpreted. It's a simple, blunt decision and directive.
Given that there's no actual support for the Obama moves in this direction, just political posturing, I expect this to blow over very quickly. Trump can then move onto more "controversial" changes to remove women from special forces training programs, combat units, etc.
This is all about returning DoD to its core mission: winning wars.
Nice to hear from the first Soviet ace of the Vietnam Era.
After all they allowed the inept traitorous coward that is McDhamey in
It doesn’t matter to this inane goofball how much disruption these ‘transgender’ people are making for the military, or how much they interfere with morale and everyday operations, as long as it gives him a platform to scratch for a little more noteriety. John McCain is not an honorable man. Moreover, he is just a big jerk who wants to be noticed.
John McCain’s motive for returning to Wash DC is to help authenticate the Coup de Etat the CIA and globalists are planning against TRUMP......
Seriously, Trump needs to write another EO that nullifies Obama’s COG (Continuity of Government) EO that enables the taking down of the seated President.....
Hot air the NeverTrumper morons.
Come to think of it Congress needs a clean sweep.
Buzz off McCain, President Trump as CinC is doing his job, you need to retire and STHU.
The military used to (not sure if they still do) deny entry for ADD meds, but are now ok with trannies. Makes sense to me. /sarc
I agree entirely with you sentiment...when does he go away for good?
Anyone Willing To Serve Who Meets Standards Should Be Allowed
And “transgender” does not meet those standards. Standards are both physical and mental. Crazy people need not apply.
No way. Maybe 15K gays "identifying" as the opposite sex but no way there are 15K people in the military that have gone through the surgery. To me a Trans is someone who has surgically changed then private parts. Any kook can identify as anything.
How many Republicans are going to run on this issue? If they do, they’ll lose in the primaries and general elections.
FOAD you brainwashed traitor
This latest stupidity by Juan is all part of the melodramatic swan song living inside of his cancerous brain. He’s probably already fantasizing nonstop about his “hero” funeral, what music they’ll play, what splendid things will be said about him, blah, blah, BLAH.
So what do you do about the trannies who change their minds from month to month, Juan, because there’s plenty of them? How is the military supposed to deal with the “fluid” transgenders, you dumb@ss? And who’s going to pay for their ridiculously expensive ELECTIVE surgeries, Juan? That’s right, the taxpayers will get stuck, not you! And what makes you think you know better than all the generals who are 100% behind President Trump on this?
Just shut up, Juan!!! Just shut your BIG FAT NASTY mouth and go home. You’re a mean, bitter, dying man spouting crazier and crazier thoughts. Shut up and go home. We don’t want you as our senator anymore.
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