Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Voted Out

Don’t ask Don’t Tell, was not implimented to keep Gay’s out of the military, it was las proposed by Bill Clinton and passed by Congress to allow gays to serve in the U.S. millitary. Previous to Don’t ask Don’t Tell, gays were banned outright.  Well almost … Gays have always served, some more discretely than others. The DADT seemed pretty reasonable at the time, discretion is in ones proclivities  is usually a good idea in most social and employment environments.

I believe the system still would be workable, if it weren’t for security clearances, where ones personal life might be looked at just a little closer what most of us need to bear. Security Clearances often are the way to career choices and advancement in the military.  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell would raise flags on gay applicants for any security clearance investigations.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell worked pretty well for 17 years, but society moves on. The law was undergoing judicial challenges, and would likely eventually fail. Congress killing the DADT will allow the Armed services to take control of the dismantling the DADT policies, a better idea than doing so under court orders.

I cannot express how grateful I am that this didn’t happen at the rap of a judge’s gavel. Nothing could have been more destructive than had our military been forced to make this change not because our commanders had been directed to do so by our elected civilian leaders, but by judicial fiat. Simply put, the judicial branch is not (despite this Administration’s obsession with trying our enemies in civilian courts) charged with, nor does it have the temperament for, taking on the responsibility of national security. While all would agree that the policy is discriminatory, that in and of itself is a very very poor reason to make such a huge change to policy. For example, the ADA doesn’t quite apply to the military, now, does it? On the other hand, give me a truly national-defense reason for considering applying it so, and I (and all military commanders) will be all ears.

Moral conservatives, aren’t going to like this, but our military’s strength comes from its reflection of American society.  Congress killing DADT isn’t about approving a gay lifestyle, but acknowledging that gays are a part of our society and culture and that they have a right to contribute.  We don’t know if stripping away the old policy will be disruptive. What we do know is that this iosn’t the first time the military has undergone social upheaval. When Harry Truman signed the desegregation orders in 1948. The Armed forces successfully took up the challenge. We are now engaged in two wars. We can only hope that this doesn’t have a negative impact on our effort. I don’t believe it will.

About Liberty

Blogging is something I do for myself. I've been blogging since Sept. 2003, mostly about politics, guns, and observations about the word around me.
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