The military on DADT today

With the release today of the government's survey of the military on the anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, a great deal of attention has already been given to the whole subject lately and more yet will be given now, of course.

Completely ignoring the fact that it should be unconstitutional since it doesn't assume equal rights, let's look at this closer.

Unfortunately, first, the survey and its results were leaked early.  That shouldn't have happened.  I think it has the tendency to put everyone against the elimination of this policy on guard and ready to pounce, almost whatever the results.

Second, it looks, clearly, as though the survey was heavily biased against gays and against the repeal.  An example:

Flawed aspects of the survey include the unnecessary use of terms that are known to be inflammatory and bias-inducing in social science research, such as the clinical term 'homosexual'; an overwhelming focus on the potential negative aspects of repeal and little or no inclusion of the potential positive aspects of  repeal of the negative aspects of the current policy; the repeated and unusual suggestion that a co-worker or leader might need to 'discuss' the appropriate behavior and conduct with gay and lesbian troops," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and a former Army interrogator.

Third, it seems the big headlines I read about the leaked survey were that the Marines were against repealing it even though, when you dig through the actual statistics, that conclusion for a headline was only arrived at because the Marines were most against the repeal of the current policy by a 40% margin.

WTH?

Against it with a 40% margin?

Do the math, folks.  That means 60% of Marines are for repealing this ignorant "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  Sixty percent for.  That's pretty solidly positive in anyone's book.

So, sure, it can be put in a headline that "Marines are most resistant to openly gay troops" but the headline would be far more accurate to say that most Marines are not resistant to openly gay troops.

Here's another flip side to the Marines story--Tammy Schultz, the Director of National Security and Joint Warfare at the US Marine Corps War College says that "resistance to ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is embedded in Marine culture...But she says Corps culture also makes Marines more likely to accept any eventual change in the policy."

In an effort to drive one more nail in the coffin of DADT, "The head of the US Marine Corps will fully cooperate with a repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy...Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said... In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Mullen said there was 'no question' that Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, an opponent of repealing the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy at this time, would implement all necessary changes to allow openly gay Marines to serve if Congress passes a repeal measure.

Finally, as if that all weren't enough, it was back on February 2 of this year, just after the President's State of the Union speech, that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the Pentagon had already taken the first steps toward repealing this discriminatory policy.

So Senator John McCain can go all right wingy he wants on this and all his other issues but the fact is, the men and women of the US military are already behind this policy and statistically, the younger they are, the more they think it isn't an issue and that the DADT policy should go away.

Apparently the old, small-minded people who don't want change need to go away on this issue, at least.

To quote that old, right-wing Republican, Barry Goldwater, "You don't need to be straight to fight and die for your country.  You just need to shoot straight."

It will be nice when this is no longer an issue.


Links: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/07/military_dont_ask_survey_070910w/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/SnapShots/dont-ask-dont-tell-marine_n_788709_68824090.html
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/22/131516365/op-ed-marines-can-handle-dadt-repeal
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-21/politics/mullen.marines.dadt_1_repeal-comprehensive-review-working-group-staff-chairman-adm?_s=PM:POLITICS