Powell Backs Gates, Mullen on DADT Repeal

Better late than never. Thanks Gen. Powell.

Of course I support nondiscrimination against gay people in all contexts. I really do think gay people should be allowed to be mercenaries just the same as straight people. But given all the rights denied to gay people, how high a priority should the right to be a mercenary in the United States military be for our community?

Where is the Advocate for the Gay Community when we need them? This brief article is not written with accurate historical perspective. Powell was the stuborn SOB who shoved this piece of crapy legislation down our throats along with Buba Clinton. Remember Buba had Monica hiding under his White House Office desk sucking his dick while selling the Gay Community short of our civil rights. The Advocate needs to take off the velvet gloves, put on the boxing gloves and start throwing some upper cuts to the chins of the homophobic establishment knocking them on their asses. Let's get real God damn it. Stop being myopic, grow some testicles, stop selling slick advertisements and start getting loud and noisy for the folks who buy your magazine. You do care about us, don't you????????????

@Joseph. The one key difference between now (Obama) and then (Clinton) is that Obama has solid, publicly stated support from top leaders in the military. If I remember right, Clinton campaigned on a promise to write an executive order to lift the ban on gays with little or no input from military leaders. He had zero backing either in the military or politically. So in a way I think Obama is learning a lesson from a Clinton era mistake. If I remember right, when he was faced by opposition from top leaders his response was 'You've had 6 months to get used to this idea'. It's sounds crazy now but DADT was designed to be a humane compromise designed to end the military witch hunts that were really pervasive in the 80s. I have been frustrated with Obama's evasivness on this issue over the last year. But if momentum continues to build from top leaders in the military, that is if the military owns this policy change, I think it will be hard for republicans to balk.

This is about politics; as usual, lgbt issues are being used as a wedge, dividing the nation into us vs. them for political gain. It's all about votes, popularity and getting elected. He(she) who can garner more votes wins, plain and simple. Unfortunately, we've been so complacent for so many years, we have a reputation for lying down and letting politicians walk all over us. Expectations (that we'll continue to be pushovers) are very hard to adjust. We've got to stand up to Obama, to our elected officials, to our family, our neighbors, everyone we come into contact with and demand that we be treated equally under the law. Until we ALL do that, allies included, we'll continue to be used as a wedge issue for votes. I'm convinced the overwhelming majority of politicians, especially the seasoned, career politicians, don't give a flying f#ck about anyone or any issue other than those that translate into direct votes. Don't be naive. Politicians generally aren't capable of caring.

Powell is a bigot just trying to cover his ass. He knows that history will not judge him kindly for his role in bullying Clinton into accepting DADT 17 years ago. As to Jay from Tucson: I am no Obama hater. I voted for him, volunteered for him, and donated money to his campaign. However, he has proved to be very ineffective in governing. His heart is in the right place, but he doesn't know how to get anything done. This year's study is not only unnecessary, it will give the right wing media time to organize against the repeal (and concoct lurid lies to scuttle it). LBJ, with smaller majorities than Obama, was able to push through real change: an unpopular civil rights bill and a Medicare bill opposed by the medical establishment. Obama gives good speeches, but he lacks that kind of leadership and know-how.

Kudos for Powell. I recall listening to John McCain in an interview on MSNBC several years ago. He said that he would listen to military leaders if he had to decide whether to continue or eliminate DADT. Now that Gates, Mullen and Powell have come out in favor of Congress eliminating DADT, McCain backtracks and refuses to listen to these leaders by opposing gays openly serving in the military. Why wait another year? Great Britain allowed gays to serve openly almost overnight when the EU called them on the carpet for violating human rights. Only the despotic countries like North Korea, Iran, and Russia refuse to allow gays to serve openly. President Obama needs to be a fired up Commander and Chief ready to lead the troops in change you-can-believe-in. At least two thirds of the fair-play generation that Megan McCain and my daughters belong to think the continuation of DADT, which has endangered our national defense, is laughable. This includes our youth currently serving in the armed services, tomorrow’s voting majority.

You know Jay, the way you blast the "Obama haters" for not recognizing such monumental changes, yet how many Clinton-haters continue to hold him PERSONALLY responsible for DADT when Powell was one of the architects (and the Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly voted for it, and would've easily overturned a Clinton veto on the bill)? Again, what Obama needs to do is actually make an absolute statement DEMANDING that Congress overturn DADT instead of his mealymouthed "well, let Congress do another study first and hold more hearings and whenever Congress finally gets around to bringing a bill up for a vote that gets enough support from both sides of the aisle, then I'll check to see if it will be prudent to sign the bill and end DADT" excuses.

I have always like Powell, he is a level headed man and well spoken. If he were to run for President, I would vote for him hands down. He kept his head during 911 where as Bush lost his. It even reflected in the Stock market. When Bush spoke, you could actually see the market go down and when Powell went on TV and spoke the market would go up. I have all this on VHS tapes that I had recording on different news channels covering 911. All I know is my gut says he is a good person.

The Republicans in Congress will not vote to repeal the unconstitutional DADT, and they will control Congress next year when the military wants Congress to vote on it. The military's one-year wait has doomed this repeal to failure. Also, discussing this as if it is a civil rights issue only is a huge mistake. DADT is wasting tax dollars and weakening our military. That should be the message for repeal.