(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Cal Thomas, the conservative pundit, steps into something that he shouldn’t have; opining on DADT.
As you know, I’m a veteran. I’ve been in the foxhole during wartime. I saw war in Iraq in 1991 while in the military, and, then I saw war in Iraq in 2006 when I went back doing ordnance work as a contractor.
I also have a stake in gay issues due to family. I’ll leave that to speak for itself other than to say, when someone in your family comes out as being gay, you simply have to decide whether they are family or whether you will succumb to bigotry. Well, family to me is family regardless of anything else.
So, when Cal Thomas decided to give his opinion on DADT, these are two issues I know something about…
I’m first going to post Cal Thomas’ email address; [email protected]
If you feel like I do about this issue, you will want that.
Next thing. Cal Thomas has ZERO right to opine on military matters. He graduated college during the Vietnam War. He started out his journalism career during the Vietnam War. In other terms, when he could have served his country in the armed forces, he chose not to. Like many others, he had “something else to do”. Unlike gays and lesbians, who have chosen to serve their country — many of them now, during wartime.
So, when Cal Thomas says:
But we are beginning in the wrong place. The place to start is whether citizens of this country, through their elected representatives and the military leaders named by them, have a right to determine what type of service members best serve the interests, safety and security of the United States. I contend we do. The military should not be a test lab. Pressure is building to put female sailors on submarines, along with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, presumably. That many heterosexuals find homosexual behavior immoral and not conducive to unit cohesion is of no concern to the social wrecking crew.
This one paragraph alone takes numerous paragraphs to demolish.
The American people have spoken about who should or should not be allowed to serve in our military. In January 2009, 81% of the nation felt DADT should be repealed. Those in Congress are charged with doing the will of the people who they represent. Given that, the repeal of DADT should be a foregone conclusion. President Obama stated that is wants DADT repealed. So, Mr. Thomas simply thinks that 19% of the nation should set policy, not the majority of the people.
The military is not a “test lab” for gay military members. Gay individuals have served in the military since time memorial. It is documented that gay men served during WWII, and since, beside heterosexual males. There is no “test lab”. I served in the military. I served next to people who were gay, whether I knew it or not. The difference today is that if a member states they are gay or lesbian, they are simply discharged because of a sexual orientation.
Women have served in the military since WWII. They have been pilots. They have been doctors and nurses right behind the line. They have, recently, been placed in the middle of combat in Iraq, even though they held no combat position. They have served on ships in the Navy. Just like gays and lesbians have done all of these things, as well.
There are still many men in the military who think it is alright to sexually harass women. Remember Tailhook? Remember the sexual harassment and rapes at the Air Force Academy? Remember the sexual harassment and rapes of female soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan? This is not “conducive to unit cohesion”, either, but it still happens. It still occurs because there are still too many in leadership positions who feel its just “men being men” and women shouldn’t be there. Just like too many in leadership positions still think gays and lesbians shouldn’t be in the military. But, this is a failure of leadership, not, like Cal Thomas would have you believe, some societal divide.
As an EOD technician (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), our school was an elite military school. I graduated EOD school in 1986. We had two female officers in my class. During field training exercises, one of the problems was removing a fuze from the nose of a bomb. The instructors, who were all males, had rigged one of the fuzes with a dildo on the end of it so that when the females removed it, they suddenly found a dildo on the end. Neither spoke up, or out, because to do so would have been the end to their schooling. Everyone knew it, including them.
It was wrong then and it is wrong now. The harassment has to end. But, it will only end when we have leadership willing to MAKE it end through discipline. We don’t have that yet. We still have men in charge who feel women, and gays/lesbians, should be harassed. Since they don’t use discipline, we get women raped and gays/lesbians assaulted.
What gay activists apparently don’t care about is the effect reshaping the military in their image would have on our ability to fight and defend the country, which, after all, is the purpose of a military. If the armed services were open to all behaviors (as distinct from orientations), recruitment might become more difficult. Some of the services have struggled recently to meet their recruitment goals, though overall enlistment is up because of the economy.
This isn’t about “gay activists”. This isn’t about “reshaping the military”. Gays are already in the military. They are already being harassed and assaulted. This is about ENDING that harassment and assaults. It is about telling the military leadership to do their jobs as leaders. The military is already open to “all behaviors” as long as it is kept secret.
Enlistment quota’s being down was because if you signed up, you KNEW you were going to war. Period. Recruitment is up again because there are people who have NO CHOICE. Period. Nobody — and I mean NOBODY — enlists wondering if they will have to serve with a gay or lesbian.
Cal Thomas is a coward who found something else to do when his country needed him. There are tens of thousands of gays and lesbians who only wish to serve their country — even during wartime. So, if you are like me, you will send Cal Thomas and his editors an email at the above address. You will CC it to everyone you know who also has a voice, just as I did.
Here is my email:
Cal Thomas attempts to weigh in on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. First, Cal Thomas has never served in the military, so, his “opinion” on anything to do with the military is best left out of print. Second, he tries to downplay accounts by people who have served. Big mistake.
How many stories have we seen over decades of males abusing females in the military? Tailhook. The harassment and rapes at the Air Force Academy. The harassment and rape of female soldiers in Iraq. It was these types of stories that people have used as evidence females shouldn’t serve in the military because, frankly, men aren’t expected to “keep it in their pants”. They are MEN in Cal Thomas’ eyes. Now, how many stories of male assaults on males in the military have we had in that same period of time? Gay men have served in the armed forces since time memorial and it is documented fact that gay men served during WWII, much less since.
There is no new “experiment” as Mr. Thomas claims. It is a matter of discipline. Males are not allowed to sexually harass females, yet, they still do. Why? Because there is a lack of enforcement of the rules that are already in place. Enforcement means discipline. Discipline means consequence. And there way too many in positions of authority who simply don’t care to discipline men for, as Mr. Thomas says, “being men”. Gay males and females in the serving our country would fall under the same type rule already in place for females; you simply cannot harass someone based on gender, or in this case, sexual preferences. You enforce it exactly the same. But, Mr. Thomas wants to return to the days when “men were men”.
It was “men being men” that brought on the rape of a young Iraqi girl and murder of her entire family in Iraq. It is “men being men” that has led to the sexual assaults of female contractors in Iraq. It was “men being men” that led to Tailhook. Does Mr. Thomas defend these acts? Yet, he defends bigotry against gays and lesbians serving in our military. He downplays the assaults on these members of our armed forces.
He wants the people to determine who can serve. Here’s a clue for Mr. Thomas; 81% of the country, as of January 2009, believe DADT should be repealed. Oh, wait, he means he wants that other 19% to decide. How quaint. Mr. Thomas hasn’t been in a foxhole during wartime. I have. You don’t care if the man or woman beside is gay or not in that foxhole. You care if they can do their job. You care if you live or not. Nothing else. Mr. Thomas has never served, yet, believes he has a right to decide who does in his stead.
He is an idiot and a bigot. Worse, he was of age to serve during Vietnam, yet, found something else to do, making him a coward as well. For him to try and claim who should serve our country after he failed to do so during wartime? Let this veteran be the first to tell Mr. Thomas — STFU about who you think deserves to serve our country.
Michael Gass
Gulf War Veteran
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