Good news! Our readership now includes a member of the Obama administration. Clearly, someone must have read our article and was shamed into action. Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, announced his support for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. (But wait, there’s more!) Secretary Gates also appointed a “high-level working group” led by General Carter Ham, Commander of Army forces in Europe, and Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson to find a solution. This solution is supposed to be ready by the end of the year. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also announced his personal support for the policy’s termination.
Senator John McCain criticized Secretary Gates’ decision to repeal the policy during a time of war. McCain, a senior (citizen) member of the Armed Services Committee, is known to traditionally back the opinions of the military, but not in this case. Adm. Mike Mullen stated that the military could change the policy with hardly any disruption, even during this time of war. We’re surprised to hear Senator McCain disagree with the top ranking (non-civilian) member of our armed forces. This runs contrary to his 2006 remarks where he stated: “The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change the [‘don’t ask, don’t tell’] policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to.” Senility does not become you, Senator. Nor does it help our country.
Bros & Cons updates every Monday.
For older posts, click Garnet & Blog > Current Events > Bros & Cons.
