Two gay active-duty fighter pilots in the U.S. military risked their careers last night to tell us their stories about serving under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The first story, in the clip above, stopped us cold, as the officer talked about handling the very real possibility of his own death in Iraq -- who would tell his partner -- and learning later that his partner had nearly died at home.
On Tuesday this week, a federal judge in California ruled that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is unconstitutional, that it violates the free speech and due process rights of American troops. The Obama administration won't rule out appealing the verdict and is expected to file shortly, saying that it prefers to have the Senate repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The last time they tried that, in September, the Senate ended up filibustering the defense spending bill for the first time in 48 years.
Rachel Maddow says it looks like we're stuck with Don't Ask, Don't Tell, unless President Obama acts:
The White House line on Don't Ask, Don't Tell now is that they'd like the Senate to repeal it. Absent that action -- absent the moon crashing through the atmosphere and turning us all to green cheese -- the White House says there is an orderly process underway to get rid of the policy. The White House is sternly ensuring everyone that the policy will end.
When you drill down on how they say it will end, they say it will end because the Senate will end it even though the Senate has just chosen not to end it and the Senate is poised to get more conservative, not less, in the imminent elections.
This is incoherence. OutServe, the underground network of gay service personnel, has reported that there is a widespread perception in the military in that the court ruling against the policy Tuesday means the policy is over. We were told in all of our queries today that anyone coming out in the military now is absolutely still at risk of being fired for doing so. It is not over. The policy is still in effect and the plan from the White House for ending it is apparently to count on the United States Senate to do the right thing. That's the plan.
Aaron Belkin, an expert on the issue at U.C. Santa Barbara, told the New York Times the thing that everybody else is dancing around and unwilling to admit, that, "unless the president declines to appeal the ruling in Log Cabin Republicans versus the United States, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy probably will remain law for years."
He's right, unless you believe the U.S. Senate is going to do the right thing by gay people -- this year, with John McCain still there and a slate of Republican Senate candidates that includes an activist against women even serving in the military who once toured the country promoting the idea that being gay is curable, you know, like as if it's athlete's foot or something.
Unless you believe that the United States Senate after this year's elections is going to do the right thing by gay service members -- hah -- then the decision by the Obama administration whether or not to appeal this ruling is likely a decision between killing this policy now and letting it survive probably forever.
This is not the conclusion I expected to reach after today's reporting on this subject and after today's interviews. Everybody says the Justice Department appealing this ruling is an inevitability. It does not have to be. It is not inevitable. If the administration believes the law is unconstitutional, there is precedent that supports the administration not appealing it and letting the law die.
An orderly time frame for the death of a law can be arranged with the court. I hereby declare that I will never get another callback in Washington ever again for putting it this way to you, but it is the way it is. A plan that has no chance of becoming reality is not a real plan, no matter how much you say it is. You can either end it or you can stop saying you will. Thank you very much.
After the jump, an officer talks about the message DADT sends to gay kids.
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I am Very Frustrated--- this is Not a Gay Issue, but a Civil Rights Issue. I am the Type of Person that Keeps Thinking--- What If? What If?
I Had this Idea Way Back When--- to Get the Progressive Organizations to Rally Up ALL the Democrats in Arizona---- Get Them to Switch to Republican (Temporarily). Then--- vote for J.D. Hayworth. --- Yes, the Tea Party Candidate and I am Sure as Homophobic as John McCain is.
But---- It Would Have Voted the Old Bum McCain OUT--- We Finally Would Have Gotten Rid of Him! He is an a Driving Force to Keep DADT-- He Has Made a Career Out of It--- and He is Obsessed with It. He is a Liar and a B-- tard. He Claims He Always Based His Decision with Colin Powell--- and Even When Colin Powell Changed His View---- McCain Did Not.
I Think it is More than McCain Being Homophobic. He is Egotistical--- and This Will Be His Claim to Fame. It Will be on Wikipedia---- and the History Books.
I am Very Upset Over this Whole Thing--- Wondering, What Should be the Next Move for Us--- that Want to End DADT???
Diana B
I am so glad Rachel finally called the Obama Administration on this. They have been dropping the ball for too long. It is extremely disappointing to see the way they have let two chances to put an end to this policy go by. It appears that they're afraid to take a stand on this issue because of political fallout. I guess it goes to show that all politicians are the same no matter what party they are affiliated with. They are out to protect themselves and perpetuate their own political careers.
It is Very Clear to Me--- that President Obama is a Phony Regarding His Viewpoints on Gays Serving in the Military. He is 2 Faced--- He Says that He Wants to End it--- but Now is Going to Throw it Right Back into the Senate--- He Knows a Fail.
Like Rachel Maddow Said--- ( A Plan is One that Has a Chance of Becoming a Reality--- If Not--- it is Not a Real Plan--- President Obama Can Either End it Now-- or Stop Saying that You Will )
But what do we Do?? Do We Form our Own Liberal Tea Party Protesting Him?? Then What?? We Would Then Be Joining the (Other ) Tea Party that Wants to Vote Him Out???
A Plan that Will Work--- Needs to be Worked on--- Now and Real Soon!!!
Diana B
As a straight military officer I say, without apprehension, that DADT is ridiculous. You can say you support DADT as a policy until you see the young people that come into the military to serve their country and are gay or lesbian. You see the torture and torment in their faces when they realize they are once again amongst a group of people that should accept them and protect them and they turn on them and don't accept them for who they are. It's heartbreaking. You see the confusion in their faces when they are asked to fight and die for freedom and they, themselves, do not have the simplest of freedoms to have a sexual orientation that they can openly express.
I know a now former soldier who had a complete mental and emotional breakdown trying to hide her sexual preference. Most of us knew she was lesbian by circumstantial evidence, it didn't matter to us. She was kicked out, not because she was a lesbian, but because hiding it, not being able to be accepted for who she was caused her to have emotional and mental breakdown and she was no longer fit for duty. She would have been a great soldier otherwise. It's disgusting, unjust, and unfair.
End it now.
Unfortunately, it is the law until it is changed by Congress or the President and I will have no choice but to reluctantly enforce it as it is written in AR 600-20.
I am weary of being sad about this. I'm 62 yrs old, knew I was lesbian around age 8, when I would sneak into the adult section of the local public library to read psychology books to try to understand who I was. Back then it was described as an "inversion," which, at age 8, I did not understand. That did not describe me, how I felt.
When this court ruling was declared, I was ecstatic. At last, some relief for LGBT people in the military! But the current administration seems bent on blundering through the many opportunities to abolish DADT, equal marriage, and getting rid of DOMA.
I voted for President Obama, I donated money for the first time in my life to a political campaign, sported his bumper sticker on my car, but what a disappointment he has become.
DADT is just another govt. support of discrimination toward a population that has too long been considered undeserving of full citizenship. That a convicted felon can serve openly in the military and not LGBT people is an abomination that can too easily be perceived as raising the status of convicted felons over that of LGBT people. Now sensible, clear-thinking people know this is not really accurate... but it's something angst-ridden and confused teenagers struggling with their sexuality may not understand.
So I am weary of being sad about this. My anger has, again and again, but squelched with every step of the govt.'s lack of cogent thought and actions on all issues impacting LGBT people. My absentee ballot sits here, waiting to be filled out, and I hesitate. Voting any other way but Democrat will not help our cause... but still, I hesitate.
I sympathize with your fatigue. I've been opposed to this policy before it was made law. Many of the argument I was making in 1994 I have had to watch turn into reality. Having history validate you in this way is not at all a joyful thing.
I'm not gay, so this isn't as personal for me in that way, but it is personal in that this policy is contrary to everything that I love about my country. I see it as a ugly, inexcusable injury to American democracy and to our citizens' right to equal protection under the law. It simply cannot be allowed to continue.
I encourage you to vote, and to vote Democrat. Your disappointment is understandable and I would not try to dissuade you from being angry about the promises this administration has yet to fulfill. But we need your vote, if only to vote against the scary extremism on the right that would do far more damage to our democracy and further jeopardize the civil rights of many Americans, the GBLTQ community only being one group, than Obama's infuriating foot-dragging on DADT alone.
On a personal note, as a child I was interested in psychology and read many books on the topic. This was in the early '80, and so you can gathered what these books said about homosexuality. As a straight child, I couldn't understand it either--I understand now those "clinical" descriptions of homosexuality were false, distorted and not based in reality as all. Once I met my first openly gay friend as a teen, homosexuality seemed nothing like the "perversion" I had read about. In fact, it seem as natural as me liking the opposite sex. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you to read those sorts of things as a child. I can only hope that we can grow more compassionate and enlightened as a society and as a species so we don't continue to afflict such confusion and feelings of isolation on our children
As Commander In Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces he should just make it an Executive Order and be done with it. The Joint Chiefs agree with it so why has this not been done yet. Stop over complicating things, give the order and it will be followed.
I agree with you completely. He could do this immediately and stop all of this. You would think, after losing so many talented "warriors" who are willing to risk their own lives for US it would be in the best interest of our Country to stop this appalling law. If he's worried about his approval ratings, then that is unacceptable. Bush had the lowest approval ratings of any sitting President and now he's giving speeches making boatloads of cash and bragging about his torture techniques when he should be in jail.
I agree, but he wants to nail their feet to the floor. Roe v Wade is attacked because "judges decided."
That said, DADT is a travesty and a disgrace.
Having retired from the military, I understand the depth of the wounds of not being accepted. I am a female officer. I hold a doctorate. I used to be active in the community. Now I only hide in my home and communicate through the computer.
Show us why we elected you, Mr. President. Give the order. End it now.
Hang in there nolagrrl, and thank you for your service to our country.
USAF-Retired
In early 1954 I was sitting in a jail cell in the brig on Treasure Island awaiting my undesirable discharge after serving more than 3 years in the Navy and having just received a good conduct medal. Being gay was considered a crime and I was treated like a criminal. Guards walked over a catwalk above my head all night as if I and all the others - yes, there were many incarcerated along with me - were going to escape. During that time I was called into Naval Intelligence and questioned about my division commander when I served in the Philippines. While I knew he was gay, I knew nothing of his activities. I only knew he had risen up through the ranks to become an officer and that he dearly loved the Navy. Then I was told he had driven out to the California desert, tied his beloved dog to the read bumper and killed himself. Neither of us was asked and we certainly didn't tell. This is a sick policy and this administration perpetuates it and is causing such pain to perfectly great service men and women who lay their lives willing every day on the line for this country. I live in Mexico now far away from the climate of the USA that is so uncaring about individual rights and "all men (and women) are created equal." Where is the equality in this stupid law and so many others that affect gay and lesbian people?
Rachel:
Under the law the US DOJ has 30 days to file a notice of appeal. The judge, even though she ruled on the legal questions weeks ago, held off issuing an order until yesterday. Why? Because 30 days puts the appeal deadline AFTER the November elections. if Obama decides to let the ruling stand -- which he could -- he can't do it until after the November elections because the Tea Partyers would make political hay out of it.
Also remember that the decision to appeal the ruling does not, in and of itself, mean that the appeal will be successful. Also, the DOJ can drop the appeal at any time. So if he really wanted to do the right thing, he could file an appeal now, and then quietly drop the appeal on Black Friday when the news cycle is unlikely to pick it up and make hay out of it.
Obama is a chess player. When you call on him to take positive action, you actually work against your own goals. This is an evil best corrected by indecision and indirection.
Also, keep in mind that if, for some reason, some lawyer at DOJ misses the appeal deadline, the right to appeal is lost forever. So it could be that on the 31st day the DOJ will appeal and the recent Supreme Court rulings on appeals deadlines being jurisdictional will result in it being dismissed. A DOJ attorney who was leaving anyway will be fired, and no one will have to take the political blame.
I understand you want to see someone stand up and do the right thing. But this is real life, not Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Wise up.
Stop the chess nonsense. If he's a political chess player, he's not a good one.
They have already indicated they will appeal as soon as possible.
But Aldewitt is right about one thing -- the president is primarily concerned with preserving his own (and his party's) stay in office.
He will sacrifice anything for this. There is NO moral principal that means enough to him to take a stand that will cost him a subsequent election. (Unfortunately, this applies to most politicians.)
I don't think that Obama and the Democrats realize how obvious this is, or how their pusillanimous behavior makes them look weak and unprincipled in the eyes of their constituents.
It truly is sad when your main appeal -- the best reason you can offer -- for your reelection is that you are not as BAD as your opposition.
Well, I See Your Points--- They are Good Ones--- but I think You are Dreaming!
You May Feel Foolish After November 2 When You Accept the Truth---- That President Obama Just Pushed the Gay Military Right Under the Bus!
And That President Obama Really Does Not Want to Do Anything for the Gay Community. He Probably is Afraid of All the Flack that He will Get from John McCain. Who Knows--- Maybe at Home, in Privacy, He Has a Bunch of Gay Jokes that He Could Tell You.
Diana B
Time doesn't just stop for 30 days. DOJ realized that they had to file for an emergency stay immediately or the military is in contempt of court if it enforces DADT.
Log Cabin attorneys send Obama DOJ letter threatening contempt of court re: violation of injunction
After rachel's show last night, which was brilliant, I went to Whitehouse.gov and wrote my feelings on the subject to the President. I also wrote my two senators. I know this is a feeble gesture, to ask them to do the right thing, to stop this open, unconstitutional discrimination against gays and lesbians. It is disgusting that it is deemed too politically dangerous. I am deeply disappointed in the president, and thought he'd have the guts to take on the opposition. Who thinks that waiting, whether for the DoD or a senate vote, or the results of the midterms will make this a better time. I am in full agreement with the woman above who said she is tired of being sad. who would have thought that America would come to this.
Please....We are all falling for the Karl Rove playbook...Again!!
Think....the LCR suit mixing it up so close to the elections and to the real finish line for DADT......too good to be true???? October surprise???? You betcha
Great Divide and conquer move.......
Now back to the easy dumb target candidates they have provided for your distraction,,,,,remember George W ...Sarah Palin.... might be sport but we cannot afford it... in this serious moment. Hey the Cheney shot guy is back again this am.....
Obama is too smart to fall for this manipulative LCR move that divides...how about the rest of us?? Rove and the repubs need to be stopped this November 2....keep your eye on th prize if you have any care for any future rights in this country.
Mr. flip-flopper, Senator McCain, who publicly stated that he would go along with whatever the generals said is now saying it will be bad for moral and cohesiveness to allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military. I'm sorry that he was a POW but does he really think that there weren't any gays in the military when he was serving? Our military is totally voluntary and whoever is willing to serve our country and risk their lives what difference does it really make? They are serving and risking their lives and then being outed, unlawfully, because someone else told on them. It is reprehensible to me that those that have been thrown out weren't even thrown out under DADT, it was due to others snooping or because of one homophobe telling on them.
I am not surprised at the Obama decision to appeal this. He has said repeatedly that he will do away with DADT, and he has acted repeatedly in just the opposite manner. If you want to know where Obama really stands on this issue, and why he takes the actions he takes, just listen to what he says about gay marriage. He's opposed to it. That's kind of like telling a black person in the south in the 1950's that you are for equal rights, but you don't believe the laws forbidding blacks and whites to marry should be repealed. Obama could do away with DADT with the stroke of a pen. That he hasn't, that he won't, tells me more about where he really stands than a hundred of his pretty speeches.
I could not agree more. I have virtually the same thing to anyone who will listen, including numerous e-mails to the White House from thier official website.
I am incredulous that the ONLY response I get is them asking me for money for OFA. I have said both to the President and Tim Kaine I REFUSE to send one more dime to a party which gives only weak lip service to the GLBT community on civil rights.
Every expansion of civil rights has been filibustered, and it took the side that wanted it passed to stand up to the filibuster. Every Democrat knew that they'd lose the south if they passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But they did it anyway, because it was the right thing. And they debated for 83 days...730 hours. That's not Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It's real historical fact.
Obama doesn't think gay Americans are worth the political capital it would take to do this himself. The Democratic Senators don't think gays are worth the political capital it would take to defeat a filibuster. And they're not going to think gay Americans are worth it until more Americans believe gay people are worth it.
Even though the majority Americans think gays should be allowed to serve openly, the majority of those Americans are apathetic about actually making it happen. "Progressives" think gay issues are extremist. LGBT groups were given the cold shoulder at the "One Nation Working Together" rally.
Gay issues are civil rights issues. Gays are not a special interest group. Gay Americans will continue to be treated like a political football as long as Americans let them be.
Thanks for the article (appreciate all the great article links btw) – I think the author did a great job, including pointing out what transpires in some of our gay community organizations more frequently than most might like to admit, a ‘go along, to get along’ reply to what is at best marginalized treatment, at worst, used with no true care for our cause of equal rights…an Amy Tan seminar in “know your worth” might be in order for the Pride at Work folks. If our own can’t get behind a solid 100% of what constitutes our worth, what hope does the rest of America have in getting there any faster.
I also appreciate the clear, concise and insightful dialogue as to why my president does not deem the gay community “worthy” – I couldn’t agree more, nor said it better. And, waiting for a president to take action that rises above the politics , do the right thing as it were, is becoming an exercise in ice fishing, in Siberia, in mid winter, as experienced by a Calif local...yeah, it hurts at every turn, and not much gained, seemingly ever.
I think the common thread in both issues is accountability. Overreaching the subject at hand, but appropriate in general, if anyone, including any government Agency, or president for that matter, does not believe , and act accordingly, that every individual in the gay community is deserving of nothing less than equality and embraced as a full members of our American society (family, work, and in every community), then they deserve to be held accountable and called out for their words/deeds – at every turn. Football maybe America’s game, but I’m not a football – I want to be a player on the team instead\ - my footballs are the ignorance, hate and intolerance I intend to kick to the curb.
I come back to that moment, in 1993, following the most tremendous March on Washington EVER (what a wonderful appearance by the then-freshman Senator Paul Wellstone, who was barely sworn in to office, but wild horses would not keep him away from that stage!), when GA Sen. Sam Nunn essentially blackmailed the Clinton Administration into completely disenfranchising the gay community.
It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under us. It feels like that again.
This is further evidence that Barack Obama just doesn't want to lead. A leader takes bold action to create the change he believes in. CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN was Obama's campaign slogan, but in the case of DADT he refuses to create that change even though he says he believes in it. That's not leadership, and calling on the Senate to create the change he says he wants is simply dodging responsibility. A leader who refuses to lead or take responsibility is not fit for the job, so I will not be voting for Barack Obama again.
The part of this that is most frustrating to me is what I consider poor political planning and strategy in the argument against this vile and hateful law. Arguing the civil rights merits to those who don't believe gay people deserve civil rights is surely less effective than discussing this in the framework of National Security.
Dismissing anyone willing, able and qualified to serve for the genetically arbitrary reason of sexual orientation is no more logical than dismissing someone for their height. But the larger point is that it weakens our military and undermines national security (even more so when those drummed out are disproportionately in intelligence and foreign language fields.) Are Democrats so permanently feckless in their willingness to cede the National Security argument to the Right, that they won't fight on this simple, easy to explain basis?
Love yer show Rachel ~ but I'm not agreed with you on this one.
I think Obama is Smart to work to get Congress to change this, as That will get more of the public on board for this. To allow an "activist judge" to change the law of the land, for THIS issue, will only get more, of the middle of the road or unsympathetic public, mad at his Presidency. He doesn't need That either. I know you feel strongly about the issue ~ but I think you're being blindsided by your own feelings here.
THIS issue is a MINI-fraction of the Serious things on Obama's plate Right now, just before the elections and our Country, in the state that it's in. To draw a hard line in the sand, as you have done in the above article/link, in my opinion, is Poor Timing and questionable judgment on your part.
Love ya Rachel, LOVE your show ~ Thanks for researching and helping us understand the Real Issues at this Very important time!
...like campaign financing, overseas political contributions and the Chamber of Commerce; helping us understand certain candidates REAL positions on issues; giving resonance to the Things that are clanking around in some of these candidates minds ~ as they make a race for Our White House....
These ARE the things that will help get some off the fence and into the polling places.
Keep your focus and stay on task. please...
Today, I have officially resigned from the "Obama Support Group." It is just not worth the fight. When the leader lacks the courage to lead and fails repeatedly to show resolve in the face of uncertain resistance, it is time to protect yourself. The President, and democrats as well, have failed to live up to their promise and potential. It is not just DADT, it is all that has gone before and looms ahead of us as well. President Obama has been given so many opportunities to lead courageously but he has chosen instead the path of compromise and concession, leading to less than acceptable legislation. Yet, he wants to leave the decision-making on DADT to the same folks who have failed to support him in the past, both Republican and Democarat. President Obama speaks passionately about personal responsibility but has not been willing to put his presidency at risk of reelection in favor of fighting for the issues and positions that got him election the first time
I'm an author who writes, among other things, gay romances. I'll admit, I don't watch TV. I don't watch your show. However, a friend (a publisher) passed on the link to this episode with the fighter pilots and I found myself watching it twice over. I had an eerie sense of deja vu because I have a novella about to be released called Afterburner, the story of two gay fighter pilots, one active duty, one just retired. I swear, the two pilots on your show could have been my characters.
In Afterburner the two pilots (one is a former F-16 pilot and Iraq combat vet and the other was an F-15 pilot and Afghanistan vet who became a test pilot at Edwards AFB) talk about the impact of DADT on their lives. They talk about their rights as a couple and as individuals. And I'd like to think I portrayed their frustration clearly. I certainly had an odd karmic sense of deja vu listening to those two pilots talk. I must have been meant to write Afterburner. To tell this story and show the emotions and frustrations of couples who can't show the world that they love each other.
Rachel, if you contact me privately, I'd like to offer copies of my book to you and your guests upon release. Thank you for this show and thanks to those two pilots who showed such bravery in talking to you and the public. They shouldn't have to be shrouded in shadow. No one should.
I can put you in contact with both pilots if you're interested.
When our friends or family are stricken with cancer and lose their hair, we shave our heads so they won't feel alone, they know we love and support them. Why not do the same with the DADT. Here's the thing, why don't we all say (but it HAS TO BE a majority) that we are gay, even those of us who are straight, in the military. Are they really going to discharge an entire military when we are fighting 3 wars?
I am Spartacus!
I like your use of Spartacus, though I suspect many people won't get the connection. IE: that everyone should claim to be gay to confound the bigots who abuse thier authority to rid the military of "the gay", as Rachel so lovingly calls it.
Clinton admin. refused to defend in court law kicking HIV+ out of military; Obama can do same with DADT
I Think Another Important Issue--- Is This So-Called Issue, ---"the Talks"----"The Finding the Right Processes"---The "Not Abruptly Ending DADT"----- etc etc etc
This is Another Staller, as Far as I'm Concerned. What Processes? What (Special Arrangements) Need to be Made??? The White House is Making Too Much a Big Deal Out of DADT. They are Making Being Gay a (Big Deal).
Are Gays Really, Really--- a ( Special Population )??? Like a Bus of Severely Handicapped Elderly, on Oxygen, Arriving at a Emergency Center Preparing for a Hurricane?
When I Think of a (Special Population)---- I think of the (Special Needs) of People that Crashed with the Plane Crash in the Hudson River Last Year--- or Recently--- the Miraculous Saving of the Miners in Chile.
As Far as I'm Concerned--- this is a Joke. Gays are Not a (Special Population)
Diana B
wow wow wow…I was on the fence with gay rights as I’m instinctively offended when its put in the same context of freeing slaves, civil right etc. I never felt strongly enough to protest against gays getting equal rights, BUT I never felt concerned enough to care about DADT etc, even as a former military member. Your show last night changed that completely. A complete paradigm shift! It’s now clear (to me and hopefully others) that your cause is not only your cause, but America’s cause. It’s clear one voice can make a difference. Please, Please, PLEASE keep it up! While you’re at it, you and Keith need to make this man we call president great, not but falsely building him up but instead by forcing him to keep his promises.
I'm confused again I thought we were waiting for the pentagons official report to come out on DADT in December of this year and then go through the process of eliminating it once and for all
I believe that if Obama were to strike DADT down, it would be challenged as a bad decision by our president. However, if it goes through the courts, as it is, more explanations come to light as to why this policy is wrong. More people in the legal industry are making the case for it to be reversed. This, I feel is good, because then it can't be challenged as Obama forwarding his own agenda, it will have come about by the actions, and processes of our legal system. It will also allow the views of our legislative body to be seen for what they are, and maybe then the voters will put the proper people into those seats. Obama is doing his best to insure his promises are fulfilled, but not just because he wants things to be that way, but because US citizens want things to be that way. Obama is trying to represent what he thinks Americans want, and the make-up of our system should back that up. Hopefully this election will show just that, and not show that money buys a louder voice. Get out and vote!