Conservative “don’t ask” supporter Bill Kristol writing in the Weekly Standard:
President Obama said last week, speaking “to all Americans”: “Your country needs you, your country wants you, and we will be honored to welcome you into the ranks of the finest military the world has ever known.” Our fine servicemen and women won’t quit, they won’t whine, they won’t fret, and they won’t cause a scene. Conservatives owe it to them to conduct ourselves with the same composure and dignity.
Conservative “don’t ask” opponent Max Boot writing in Commentary:
Perhaps the most lasting impact of this policy change will be the return of ROTC to Ivy League campuses. Already Harvard and Yale are talking about reinstating their ROTC programs. This, too, will not make much of a change in either the Ivy League or the military, but it is a small, welcome step toward bridging the chasm that separates the armed forces from society’s elites.
Next up: the same lack of leadership on gay marriage? At least until the formidable team of Sen. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Collins (R-Maine) indicate to the Democratic leadership that it’s ok to support us.
7 Comments for “Changing Times”
posted by Jack on
Bully for Bill Kristol, who probably tops even Michael Dukakis in the tank for fake machismo. It’s hard to think of someone more personally isolated from military service while simultaneously banging the drum to shed other people’s blood.
posted by Tom on
DOMA is an offense to the Constitutional role of the states in determining marriage law. DOMA repeal is an issue that I hope to see the new Republican Congress take up quickly and pass expeditiously. The Democrats certainly haven’t pushed it, but then the Democrats aren’t as hard-core for states’ rights as the Republicans.
posted by Jimmy on
What is clear is that the GOP’s leadership couldn’t give less of a fig about the predictable stances of Lieberman and Collins if they tried. They see the New England Rep. Senators as RINOs anyway, and Lieberman caucuses with Dems.
posted by Throbert McGee on
On the issue of banning ROTC recruiters, it’s quite likely that “full integration” of gays into the military will stretch out for a decade or longer even after the repeal formally takes effect — so schools that are inclined to do so could still use the “ongoing discrimination against gays” as a pretext for maintaining the ROTC ban.
For example, the terms of the repeal bill do not exclude the possibility of banning openly gay service members from combat units deployed overseas (while still allowing them to serve openly in the “rear echelons”). And the repeal bill explicitly says that the military is not required to provide benefits for same-sex partners of personnel.
posted by Jorge on
Conservatives owe it to them to conduct ourselves with the same composure and dignity.
Heaven forbid gay partisans would even conceive of such an idea.
posted by PIL on
Throbert, it would be a sign of good faith if the people who supported repeal of DADT now supported military recruiters. If they don’t they will be labeled as anti-military hypocrites, people who used DADT as an excuse when their bias was much stronger.
Personally, I never supported banning military recruiters from campus. My college had a football team yet I wasn’t able to join because I was too fat, unathletic, and didn’t even like playing football. Should I demand that the football program be scrapped? Should the cheerleading program be forced to accept fat cheerleaders? Give me a break.
http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com
posted by ThomasJefferson on
1. Actually, I feel that President Obama has shown some pretty good leadership on gay rights issues — considering what he managed to actually get done. Their are enough socially conservative Democrats and Republicans to stall legislation, the midterm defeat for Democrats does not promise great things for gay people [not because Republicans won, but because of the type that did] .
2. As a University student, banning military recruiters tends to have very little to do with gay rights and everything to do with grander geo-political-foreign policy objectives. Yes, many of these people [who protest military recruiters] generally support gay rights, but [unless they are doing it to meet people] the protests are generally really about objections to a war or some such thing.