When Barbara Walters asked U.S. Senator-elect* Scott Brown (R-MA) where he stood on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, he said he’d wait to hear from the generals before making up his mind:
I think it’s important, because as you know we’re fighting two wars right now. And the most — the first priority is to — is to — is to finish the job, and win those wars. I’d like to hear from the generals in the field — in the field — the people that actually work with these soldiers to make sure that, you know, the social change is not going to disrupt our ability to finish the job and complete the wars.
His answer shows he trusts the military to set its own policies. I hope he’ll also consider the numerous studies which show that lifting the ban will not affect unit cohesion or morale.
So, it seems gay activists were wrong to fault this good man for supporting the ban. His answer shows that he harbors no animus against gay people and that his primary concern is the effectiveness of the military.
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*Um, why is he still a Senator-elect and not a Senator and why is interim Senator Paul Kirk still voting?
except that rumor (aka the internet, with a link that I didn’t really follow) has it that he stated he supported the policy of DADT when asked by a Family Advocacy sort of group… one position or the other is the hypocritical one; both are not valid options, and I find it hard to believe that he suddenly changed his mind deep down upon winning the Senate race.
I recently told my co-workers that I am gay… after having worked with them for 20 years. Nothing changed. I didn’t suddenly start to behave differently. No one seemed to be afraid of me. It might have gone badly if I started hitting on co-workers but that didn’t happen.
I’m sure that it could have been a problem if I felt like I should act out like people do in some Pride Parades.
Bottom line is that if people want to have a Pride event, they should show some pride in their behavior, rather than using it as an excuse to act out.
Military people who are gay should just behave as any other military people and the gay part is their acknowledged private life. IE: I’m gay but this is not an excuse to hit on my buddies. If two military men or women find each other, they keep it within guidelines that all military have to follow.
My daughter is military, so is her boyfriend. They have communication barriers while in training and accept them. Out of training, they have their relationship.
It’s that simple.
I predict a number of republicans may yet be cautious about suddenly declaring their freedom from their two-decades long subservance to big-government fundamentalists. Its our job to encourage them to break their chains and to step into the sunlight.
Both Obama and Barney Frank (D-MA Gay) have said the same thing. They aren’t willing to do anything on their own. But this delay could go on longer than Obama’s (partially) acting on McCrystal’s advice.
What’s that? The military set up DADT as policy? That’s news to me.
Seriously if Brown does believe that the military should set its own policies, then he would automatically vote to repeal DADT since it was imposed by congress in the first place.
What a ringing endorsement! Good grief. He, like all the candidates you support, will take Elaine Donnelly’s talking points and vote anti-Gay. And when it happens, you’ll avoid taking responsiblity for it.