Sen. John McCain's devolution on Don't Ask, Don't Tell is "genuinely pathetic," writes Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly. The Arizona Republican has gone from supporting a repeal of the military's ban on openly gay troops to waiting for the Pentagon study on it next month to, now, saying the study was the wrong kind.
Sen. McCain on Meet the Press:
You and I have not seen that study. And this study was directed at how to implement the repeal, not whether the repeal should take place or not. But, very importantly, we have people like the commandant of the Marine Corps, the three other--all four service chiefs are saying we need a thorough and complete study of the effects--not how to implement a repeal, but the effects on morale and battle effectiveness. That's what I want.
And once we get this study, we need to have hearings, and we need to examine it, and we need to look at whether it's the kind of study that we wanted. It isn't, in my view, because I wanted a study to determine the effects of the repeal on battle effectiveness and morale.
The senator's flip-flops are showing, Benen argues. "The senator would be better off dropping the incoherent pretense and simply acknowledge what's plainly true: he doesn't want gay servicemembers, and no amount of evidence will change his mind," he writes.
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So, Cindy McCain is saying, "I believe in NoH8, but I also believe that America should continue to hate when it comes to military service."
Though I've never voted for him, there once was a time when Arizona
Democrats at least respected our senior Senator. Those days are gone.
Now, he's just another Arizona embarrassment.
John McCain has gone from being a respected, independent thinker and a true war
hero, to just another 'say anything to get elected' panderer. One
more Republican so frightened of the tea party he's nothing more than a joke.
Whatever credibility McCain once had on military matters based on his experience in the service has vanished like an ice cube in the hot Arizona sun. Just a small stain is left on the sidewalk.
Yes, but just wait until he finds out that he, himself, is a Cylon.. then he'll change his mind.
(Oh John McCain, why must you be my senator? You really are stranger than fiction.)
Does anyone else wonder about Mrs. McCain and Meghan McCain support of LGBTQ folk, or just election time pandering?
I actually like and respect Meghan, but did she just do it for her Dad and the R party to seem more "tolerant"?
Hello, Log Cabin R's???
Tell me it's not true.
If anyone thinks John McCain is on the level or balanced, besides being a respectable veteran that suffered greatly... maybe he was, but not so much lately...
McCain needs to get over it. It's not like he will have to serve next to any gay troops, after all. Maybe that's the problem, though... maybe he forgot he's too old to serve (or doesn't want to admit it) and he's afraid he'll get the "gay cooties" if they repeal DADT.
It's more than time for this man to retire. Even his wife and daughter disagree with him.
I watched Meet the Press, and John McCain is now turning the survey from ( the study of Implementing DADT vs. the study of how it would affect the military). He also suggested hearings would be needed--- just is a staller--- and make sure that DADT is not discussed until after January--- once all the Conservatives and Teabaggers are in to vote it down.
Unfortunately, if President Obama goes along with this--- I think that the idea of reversing DADT is gone.
I would just to say a few things about Megan and Cindy McCain
There are a lot of people that DADT affects, there are a lot of people that are emotional over this. This DADT issue is No Laughing Joke!
I love to joke around and have fun--- but again, this DADT issue is Not Funny! and I just simply will not watch any News Show that have Cindy or Megan McCain on--- regarding this. I just simply won't waste my time.
Sorry--- that is how I feel. But we all knew that John McCain was a huge stone brick wall against repealing DADT. What about what President Obama said? He knows this too?
Diana B
The Republicans are going to screw up the all volunteer army forever. They're only hope to get enough recruits is to keep the economy so depressed that they are the only jobs available.
And they want to invade Iran?
On top of all the other stupid, crazy, and evil @!$%# they're doing or plan to do?
And Wall Street thinks all this turmoil won't eventually hurt their profits?
How stupid, crazy and evil can you be? I guess we'll find out.
Stay tuned. Same bat@!$%# time. Same bat@!$%# channel.
We can't invade Iran, there is not enough money, equipment or soldiers. There is a limit to the number of fronts you can open, each one lessens the likely hood of success significantly. Mistakenly opening a front in Iraq, getting pinned down and having to maintain a large presence indefinitely meant Afghanistan, if we could have won, looks really iffy. Destabilizing Iran by invading it would require a huge unwanted presence there too. We would be committed to an action that would waste away the military and end in a much greater failure than we are looking at now. Our military has demonstrated it is unable to successfully thwart a committed insurgency even with a huge preponderance of military superiority.
doesn't ANYONE in Washington ever listen to themselves? Hard to fathom that all these so called "smart people", are too stupid to realize how stupid they are. Bigotry, racism, hate, all in the name of.... what exactly? Let's say you're on the battlefield. In a foxhole with another soldier. You're straight. Your foxhole partner is gay. You're getting shot at. What do you thinks going to happen after all that military training? Battlefield effectiveness... what a crock McCain.
Wash DC is very group-thinky and they all reinforce each other's belief systems without listening to "outsiders." and the old guys are stuck in their old ways.
Cute. The moderating system codified my expletives for me. So I can just cuss and cuss and don't have to moderate myself. I like it.
John McCain is an angry sore loser. The only way he can make himself feel relevant today is to grandstand and block any kind of progress.
He is a jerk, plain and simple.
I think McCain has unresolved sexuality issues. This is his way of convincing himself that he doesn't have "the gay". He's pitiful.
Did anyone bother considering the effects on troop morale and combat effectiveness due to the loss of 12,000 soldiers in the middle east and the long term mental and physical wounds carried by more than three times that number all in regards to our current wars? If the right cares so much about our troops, why didn't they protect them from Bush. He posed a far greater danger to our troops than dating rules.
It makes me think of the civil rights protests of the 60's...imagine looking back now and seeing senators and congressman giving speeches about how we should get a study done as to the effects of having an African American person sitting at the front of a bus, how would that effect white America? Let's get a study on what a black guy and a white guy peeing in the same bathroom would have on generations yet to come. My God, think lads...think of the implications!
It's shameful that the right wing continues to deny us equality. How Christian.
The one and only true religion is thiers. That is the scary part.
People need to watch/read the Tuskeegee Airmen story. This was the beginning of integrating the U.S. military. http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=integration&d=4740445742566736&w=125f8e29,2af61cb3
I know race is different from LGBTQ, but really... can't people see any kind of similarity? There were concerns of cohesion, morale and such when the powers that be decided to go ahead and integrate. Causing a morale problem that was overcome by order, even though perhaps not swaying opinions.
How about if we study each and every member of the armed services? Also, what are they going to study if people cannot say they are gay?
Just to add to Sandy's comments, please remember that similar studies were administered when the military considered integrating service members. Back then the studies found that a majority of soldiers opposed integration. Yet it still happened.
And you can't really tell who's gay just by looking. Especially in the military where they all dress funny. The military is already integrated but DADT is a sustained, deliberate policy of de-integration. Anybody who supports DADT is therefore in favor of a perpetual witch-hunt in the military.
If minorities were integrated during a period when there was severe institutionalized hate, persecution and discrimination, and if women being a different gender were integrated during Bill Clinton, on order of magnitude this is trivial. The military has at times created social norms by forcing inclusion, this would be no different. The fundamental reason for McCain’s opposition is because it would demonstrate that there isn’t any foundation for orientation discrimination. The sad thing is he knows this and is being disingenuous with the public. He knows if he told the truth he would weaken the support conservative candidates get from individuals that had desire to prolong the discrimination. Truth be told we spend as much as every nation including china on defense combined, and the net result is that ignorant, illiterate people with rifles and homemade bombs are defeating us. That’s the lack of effectiveness that McCain should be addressing. I’d like to see him arguing his point with a classical greek Spartan, they had some very odd practices by modern standards and there was no more EFFECTIVE fighting force.
McCain is pitiful. He is totally out of touch and is playing to the Tea-Baggers with this statement.
Ignore this sideshow... Make the Tax-cuts permanent for 98% of Americans and let it expire for the elite's portion over $250k. Tomorrow, work on the repeal of DADT, but make damned sure it can't be reversed after soldiers come out of the closet. That would be really wrong-headed.
McCain: "And we'll KEEP having studies until we get one that says what I want it to say!"
I don't believe we've heard McCain speak his true mind in several years. He used to deserve some respect, now he's just a talking points machine.
Regarding, Don't Ask Don't Tell Change it to Don't ask me if McCain is a Senator and if so Don't tell me. The old man is loosing it and having a hard time turning right to keep up with Arizona. Once he lead the state now he follows!
Justsan
Senator McCain is wrong. I actually took the survey, as a military spouse. The questions were specifically targeted to how one would feel if the ban was lifted, not how the change should be implemented. From what I have heard, most respondants were not concerned about serving/living alongside openly gay servicemembers so if the people actually doing the job don't care, why the heck is McCain balking so much? He is out of step with the rank-and-file and most military leadership!
I'm so glad that someone who actually took the survey has responded. From what I had heard about it, I had understood that the questions concerned feelings about an eventual repeal. What better indication of how the troops will react could there be? Sen. McCain's claim that the study was about how to implement the ban's repeal sounded false. Since when would we survey soldiers about "how" to put a policy in effect? If that was the case, I'm sure there are many other issues our troops would love to weigh in on.
McCain was hoping all along that there would be a fearful outcry from our soldiers, which only shows his basic lack of respect for them and his limited understanding of how much this nation has evolved. He hadn't voiced objections to the study before this. Now that the results seem to differ from his expectations, he is trying to change the rules. Hopefully, everyone who sees the injustice and cruelty of this policy will be calling and writing to their senators without delay. Homophobia and the DADT policy are national embarrassments.
It's just possible that maybe McCain's claim that his support of DADT was conditional upon the military's was made in the expectation that the military's position on this would never change. Not very clever of him, if that's the case.
Cindy is just as much of a flip flopper as McCain. Either she believes in the repeal or not. Why the double talk? Maybe she's afraid John will call her a c@*# again.
It is a simple matter of generations. His is a generation that looked down on divorce, gays and lesbians, hippies and free love. That generation past and the next generation is growing older, the younger one much less focused on orientation or parental status. I served with gay Marines in the 60's (we knew about them, we just kept our mouth shut). I would lay down my life for my fellow Marine then, gay or straight, and so would they. I suspect that today's Marine would do the same. When we ask some one to potentially die for this country, who they love should be the last question we should ask.
Blah Blah Blah, just end it already. The more reasons you people give, the stupider it sounds.
You had me with "Sen. John McCain's devolution". Enough said.
McCain will do anything and everything possible to block Obama. He can not get over the fact that he lost. Should golden eggs be layed by Obama, McCain would find some way to oppose. He is a poor loser and it's getting in the way of what is reasonable and the good of this country.
In total agreement. It seems to me like the straight guys would have been severely more affected by women in the foxhole than an openly gay man.
One of these days, hopefully, "We the people" will really mean "We the people."
I need your help, though. I've been ranting like this since the 60's, and I'm getting tired. We the People is/should be totally inclusive.