Tag Archive for 'military'

Don’t ask, don’t judge

I still get a little bit of a shock every time I hear about someone getting booted out of the armed forces for being gay, even though I know that the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is still alive and well. I guess I just wish it wasn’t. It seems…archaic, even for the military. The logic behind it doesn’t even make any sense. The idea is that openly gay people in the military will…lower morale? How exactly does that work? Are people so homophobic that they’re afraid of gay people raping them in the night? Being a homosexual does not mean you’re out for a piece of ass all the time. Just like straight men don’t go chasing after every lady they see (okay, some do), gay men don’t chase after every guy they see, especially if that guy is straight.

The idea of forcing a discharge from the service simply for being outed as gay is ridiculous, especially when the Army is at recruitment levels lower than those when the draft was ended. I mean, it makes perfect sense to kick people out of the military when you need everyone you can get…

A person should have the right to serve in the military regardless of their sexual orientation. If you’re brave enough to fight for your country and you just so happen to be gay, so what? Does that make you less of a person? It’s just stupid when you get down to it. Of course, the policy does have it’s advantages. Should there ever be another draft, you can expect the number of gay Americans going through the roof…

EDIT: Heh, this article has produced gay dating ads in my AdSense. Contextual ads have their drawbacks, don’t they?

Aiding and abetting

An American soldier, Lt. Colonel William Steele (that sounds like the name of a Tom Clancy character), is standing trial for aiding the enemy during the time that Saddam Hussein was held in a prison under his control. What exactly did Steele do that was so horrible? He provided Cuban cigars and hair dye to Saddam while he was incarcerated. Okay, so he gave mobile phones to other detainees (“He said he just wanted to order pizza!”), but I find the bits about Saddam kind of funny. I fail to see how cigars and dye can be a breach of security.

Anyways, if Steele is convicted, especially of the major charges, he could spend life in prison. It really makes you wonder, though. What kind of jail time do you risk in helping a former dictator keep up appearances?

 

February 2012
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