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Now that asking and telling has ceased to be problematic in military circles, ROTC has resurfaced as a national issue: Will universities such as Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League schools be opened to Reserve Officers' Training Corps since colleges can no longer can argue that the military is biased against gays and therefore not welcome? The debate reminds me of an interview I conducted over parents' weekend at the University of Notre Dame in 1989. I sat down with Theodore Hesburgh, the priest who had retired two years earlier after serving 35 years as the university's president... [Snip] I...

Friend -- I've been in Washington for almost 40 years. I've seen a lot of Congresses come and go. But I can't remember a group of lawmakers who accomplished more than the folks who just wrapped up their work. With their help, we repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ratified the START arms control treaty. We passed a new law to rein in the abuses on Wall Street and protect consumers. We reformed the health care system and passed the Recovery Act to get our economy growing again. But do you know why all that happened? Because people like you...

Peace groups outside the main gate of Beale Air Force Base today are protesting the treatment of the private suspected of handing secret reports over to WikiLeaks. They are also calling on military personnel at the base to resist war and the use of the drones. Protesters from Veterans for Peace, CodePINK and other groups are asking for "basic constitutional principles and human rights" be extended to Pfc. Bradley Manning. Manning is suspected of downloading thousands of secret reports and diplomatic cables and handing them over to WikiLeaks. The protesters are encouraging members of the military at the base near...

The lame-duck session of the 111th Congress proved one thing beyond a doubt: the Republican Party does not represent the interests of conservatives. Despite the midterm election tidal wave, in which the Republican Party gained 63 House seats (eclipsing its historic1994 success against Clinton), congressional Republicans failed to leverage their victory into political clout and collapsed like a house of cards in the lame-duck session. The last two weeks ought to have sickened conservatives. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spectacularly failed to hold his caucus together to even delay ratification of the START treaty until the 112th Congress is seated...

The recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell will likely leave Sen. John McCain's congressional legacy as one of a crotchety old miser. As his wingman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) could also see his maverick rep reshaped in the aftermath of the gay rights victory. Graham's angry defense of the 17-year Congressional ban on out gay service members has renewed attention on what's in his closet. The question has come up in interviews and Graham has politely maintained that he's a straight, content bachelor. But he can't shake the questions about why he's never put a ring on it. For...

Special-operations troops think the elite force is facing difficulties by accepting open gays into one of the military's more politically conservative communities. Interviews with current and former commandos reveal that to maintain unit cohesion of Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs or other elite covert warriors, the military services and U.S. Special Operations Command need to make a special effort to ensure both homosexuals and heterosexuals know the rules of conduct. "I'm unsure how the Defense Department will define 'openly gay,' " said one Green Beret officer. "I can envision all sorts of new regulations or changes to existing ones, class...

On Feb. 11, 2006, in Iraq, I was honored to meet a model Marine by the name of Cpl. David Stidman. He did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Commendably, he also left his post to come home and care for his ailing father, Dwayne Stidman, who tragically was hit and critically wounded by a drunken driver last May.Three months later, on Aug. 2, 2010, Cpl. Stidman was killed. Not on the battlefields of the Middle East, but on his home streets of Texas while still caring for his father and family. And not by a drive-by shooter,...

Numerous service members, veterans and concerned citizens have written WND to express their fury about the repeal of the military's ban on open homosexuality. We encourage readers, especially those on active duty, to let us know what you think about allowing open homosexuality in the military and how you plan to respond to the new policy. Following are excerpts from selected letters arranged by topic:

¿Cree que la ley que permite a los gays servir abiertamente en la milicia complique la conviviencia entre soldados ? Sí, esta nueva ley traerá problemas No, los soldados sabrán trabajar con esto con madurez No sé

-  Senator Scott Brown famously declared his Massachusetts Senate seat to belong to the people and not the Kennedy family.  Yet, after voting with the Democrats on almost every fiscal, social, and defense issue, it appears that it is the Kennedy seat after all. -Eight Republicans, including Senators Ensign and Burr supported the repeal of DADT.  Richard Burr attributed his support to the changing times, while many others in the GOP conceded that the change was inevitable.  Really?  The Democrats only had 58 votes and just a few days left until the end of the session.  Based upon the electoral...

On December 22 Barack Obama signed into law the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t tell Policy” (DADT) starting the process to eliminate the military’s ban on openly gay troops. Even though the law is in effect, the complete removal of certain personal conduct provisions in the UCMJ will take time, but the end of DADT is here. SurveyThe So-called survey used to justify this change was a joke. It was nothing more than a con job to sell the American people the concept of allowing gays to openly serve in our military. What the pundits won’t tell you is...

The Maine senator collected kudos from President Obama for her role in moving the controversial legislation forward.Maine Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican on the stage for yesterday's signing of the bill repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military, and one of only two Republicans at the ceremony. Collins, who played a major role in moving the legislation forward, collected kudos from President Obama. "I want to thank Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins," he said, to cheers from the attendees. Collins says there was no reason for the U.S. military to continue banning gays....

I was really happy when I read in the Washington Post that soon-to-be demoted to Minority Leader of the House Nancy Pelosi has turned to director Steven Spielberg to "rebrand" the House Democrats. The story offered me a way out of my quandary -- what to title this column today. The Tea Party and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, The Sugardaddy Express, Pelosi Park. Anyway, just as I selected the present title, the NY Daily News said the Spielberg story was false. I suppose after fawning all over Castro and making a video montage for Kerry, Spielberg's decided to...

''The partners of gay service members will not at this point be given any special rights or any rights that parallel those of a spouse.'' Bernard Rostker, described by NPR as the former Undersecretary of the Department of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, and someone who's been studying ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' for 17 years. Here, Rostker responds to a question about whether the spouses of lesbian and gay servicemembers will receive benefits. Now that DADT is officially on the way out, his opinion of pending Pentagon policy is that the military will not recognize gay partners for marriage benefits....

The repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy owes much to Sens. Susan Collins and Joseph I. Lieberman, who kept the issue alive when it appeared dead in the kind of partnership that is likely to become a model for getting things done in next year's divided Congress. Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, and Miss Collins, a Republican from Maine, plan to join President Obama at the White House on Wednesday when he signs the bill into law. The signing ceremony caps off a late-season effort that saw the military's ban on openly gay men and women...

Appearing on Good Morning America Friday morning, Vice President Joe Biden said the nation's attitude on gay marriage is changing, and that "it’s inevitable there will be national consensus." He told George Stephanopolous the same thing is happening on the issue of gay marriage that happened with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military. Recently, the President said in a press conference his position on the controversial issue is "evolving": The sentiment I expressed then is still where I am — which is, like a lot of people, I'm wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on this. I have...

President Obama's repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is already damaging the U.S. military. An Army lieutenant colonel has asked to be relieved of command rather than order his troops to go through pro-homosexual indoctrination following the repeal of the policy, which required homosexuals to keep silent about their sexual preference. Currently the commander of a battalion-sized unit in the Army National Guard, the officer also has threatened to resign his commission rather than undergo "behavior modification" training intended to counter his religious convictions about homosexuality.

President Obama's repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is already  damaging the U.S. military. An Army lieutenant colonel has asked to be relieved of command rather than order his troops to go through pro-homosexual indoctrination following the repeal of the policy, which required homosexuals to keep silent about their sexual preference. Currently the commander of a battalion-sized unit in the Army National Guard, the officer also has threatened to resign his commission rather than undergo "behavior modification" training intended to counter his religious convictions about homosexuality. 

Obama's New StartRepublicans no longer have the wind at their backs. Riding the lamest of ducks, President Obama just won the Triple Crown. He fulfilled (1) his most important economic priority, passage of Stimulus II, a.k.a. the tax-cut deal (the perfect pre-reelection fiscal sugar high — the piper gets paid in 2013 and beyond); (2) his most important social-policy objective, repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell”; and (3) his most cherished (achievable) foreign-policy goal, ratification of the New START treaty with Russia. Politically, these are all synergistic. The bipartisan nature of the tax deal instantly repositioned Obama back to the...

Editor's note: David Carter is the author of "Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution," the basis for the American Experience film "Stonewall Uprising" that will be shown on PBS in April. He is working on a biography of Frank Kameny. This week President Barack Obama signed into law the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which banned gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. armed forces. A seat at the front of the audience was reserved for 85-year-old Frank Kameny, who attended wearing the Combat Infantryman Badge that he was awarded for his service in...