It's good to hear this news, but given the firestorm into which Clinton ran when he tried to change the military, I could sympathize with Obama being a bit risk averse on this one.

The alternative pragmatic perspective takes a chapter from Bush's book: jam through a bunch of controversial issues all at the same time and overwhelm the capacity of the media and your critics' ability to do anything about it.
GDAEman | Homepage | 11.22.08 - 10:43 am | #

I find it interesting that it has taken a military recruiting crisis caused by the Iraq War to get military minds to think more rationally.
libhomo | Homepage | 11.23.08 - 10:08 am | #

I remember '93 as well--Obama's smart enough to tread lightly on this one, but I don't see the ban lasting much longer. The military has changed a lot in the last fifteen years.

I hope Obama doesn't try to jam a bunch of random legislation through congress simply because that's not a recipe for good governance. Respecting the process is important, and deliberation is a good thing.

Libhom--the writing has been on the wall for DADT for quite a while. The Colonel who got my friend (mentioned in the post) kicked out had to resign himself, and everyone who went to DLI since the late 90's knows multiple out-but-not-officially-out servicemembers. This will happen soon, but you're right to note that the recruitment crisis has forced the issue.
Decline and Fall | Homepage | 11.24.08 - 2:05 am | #

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Clinton blew it. The report on the "Tailhook" molestation of female Naval aviators hit his desk shortly after his first inauguration. It was the perfect opportunity to set new standards. All he had to say was: "No sex, no sexual harassment, no gender or sexual orientation discrimination while on duty or on base, or you're out. Consensual activities while off-duty and off base are not the military's business. Professional behavior while on duty or on base is mission-critical and not up for discussion. Period. Women and gays are part of the team, boys. All military personnel are entitled to respect and fair treatment at all times by all other personnel. Embrace that or get out, now." Instead he pissed everybody off, disenfranchised gays officially, and set things back two decades. Ultimately, it hurt the military, and it hurts our troops and our society at large.

Believe me, nobody thought our military could ever accept blacks as equals. They couldn't live with blacks, wouldn't work with them, it would disrupt good order, destroy our effectiveness, same sh*t. They were wrong. Our military can accomplish damned near any mission, if the command requires it. That starts with the C-I-C. The military led the way for the rest of society on race. It's time they caught up to the rest of us on gender and sexual orientation.
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cosanostradamus | Homepage | 11.25.08 - 2:31 pm | #