“In the middle of two wars and in the middle of this giant security threat,” Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said Sunday on “Meet the Press” on NBC, “why would we want to get into this debate?”
It’s telling that Boehner believes that simply debating the status of gays in the military will somehow add to the “security threat” our country faces. And as one of most disingenuous liars in Congress, I am certain that Boehner is not actually looking for an answer to his question, but I’ll supply one because the writer of this piece, the Times‘ Elisabeth Bumiller, didn’t. It is precisely because we are fighting two wars that we need every solider we can get. We simply don’t have the luxury of running certain types of soldiers out of the military when we are fighting two wars at once.
Since its inception, our policy toward gays in the military has cost us thousands of soldiers. Bigotry has cost us more than any single enemy action. It’s time to stop this, if not because it’s the right thing to do, then for the sake of national security.
via Forces Pushing Obama on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – NYTimes.com.
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I’d rate what it costs us in the national purse below what it costs us in terms of the lives of those immediately affected. If allowing citizens to serve openly regardless of their sexuality cost us money, it would still be the right thing to do. And neither war hangs in the balance over the question, really.
Boehner needs to be told regularly that he’s not helpful and can sit down.