I now do all of my blogging at the Huffington Post.
Below you can find the archive of this site's old blog. It will no longer be updated.
Where Did Everybody Go?
Gays in the military. Anyone remember that? Just a couple of years ago that was the lead banner in the “gay agenda.” Our right to serve. Our banishment from the United States Armed Force was an intolerable form of discrimination, no, even oppression.
Haven’t heard much about that that lately, have we?. The whole issue has gone MIA. Disappeared. Which is weird, seeing as how it was, according to the gay and lesbian political leadership, the single most important issue faces gays and lesbians in America. The right of gays and lesbians to “serve” in the military was the most important measure of the status of gays and lesbians in American culture.
The door to service in the US Armed Forces is wide open. In fact, they are desperate for new recruits. Hell, they’ll even take 19-year old high school drop outs with long criminal records of drug offenses, such as Steven Green, who is now facing charges of murder and rape while “serving” in Iraq. In military shop talk they call this a “morals waivers.” They are welcoming people into the military who in the past would have been disqualified on “morals’ grounds.
Hey! Where did everybody go? Remember the whole bit about how it didn’t matter if you were straight, only if you could shoot straight? Right now we are being offered a golden opportunity to show how straight we can shoot. Lots of opportunities all over Iraq. It’s a “target-rich environment.”
But no gays or lesbians are taking up this wonderful opportunity. All the voices who not so long ago were insisting that this was the issue have gone mute. It turns out they didn’t really mean it. Or maybe they forgot what it is the US Armed Forces actually do, that soldiers kill people. They fought the whole issue presented as if the military was just one more civil institution to integrate, no different than schools, workplaces or sports teams. They forgot that our country spends by far more on its military than any other country in the world, and that we use our military more than anyone else.
But take heart, it looks like American soldiers are going to be in Iraq for a long time. There will be ample opportunity for those who “led” on this issue to find their courage, go to Iraq, and show us how it’s done.
Haven’t heard much about that that lately, have we?. The whole issue has gone MIA. Disappeared. Which is weird, seeing as how it was, according to the gay and lesbian political leadership, the single most important issue faces gays and lesbians in America. The right of gays and lesbians to “serve” in the military was the most important measure of the status of gays and lesbians in American culture.
The door to service in the US Armed Forces is wide open. In fact, they are desperate for new recruits. Hell, they’ll even take 19-year old high school drop outs with long criminal records of drug offenses, such as Steven Green, who is now facing charges of murder and rape while “serving” in Iraq. In military shop talk they call this a “morals waivers.” They are welcoming people into the military who in the past would have been disqualified on “morals’ grounds.
Hey! Where did everybody go? Remember the whole bit about how it didn’t matter if you were straight, only if you could shoot straight? Right now we are being offered a golden opportunity to show how straight we can shoot. Lots of opportunities all over Iraq. It’s a “target-rich environment.”
But no gays or lesbians are taking up this wonderful opportunity. All the voices who not so long ago were insisting that this was the issue have gone mute. It turns out they didn’t really mean it. Or maybe they forgot what it is the US Armed Forces actually do, that soldiers kill people. They fought the whole issue presented as if the military was just one more civil institution to integrate, no different than schools, workplaces or sports teams. They forgot that our country spends by far more on its military than any other country in the world, and that we use our military more than anyone else.
But take heart, it looks like American soldiers are going to be in Iraq for a long time. There will be ample opportunity for those who “led” on this issue to find their courage, go to Iraq, and show us how it’s done.
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Posted on 08 Feb 2007 by bobostertag
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