WASHINGTON — Fox News has rejected an advocacy group’s ad on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)…. “I am surprised that Fox News would reject an ad featuring allied Generals, given that both host Bill O’Reilly and guest contributor Liz Cheney have expressed support for open gay service,” said Palm Center director Aaron Belkin in a statement. “This is an important time for input from all sides on this issue, and I hope Fox will reconsider.”…. The ad features commanders from Canada and Australia, countries which have successfully integrated their forces, talking about how the change has had no effect on the capability or morale of their military.
Talk about an idea whose time has come. When you get right down to it, the only remaining reason for not repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is because of the entrenched hatred of those with an interest in seeing DADT kept in place. With politicians like John McCain constantly moving the goal posts, doing the right thing is being transformed into something that’s apparently deceptively difficult. While I respect that some Americans are morally opposed to homosexuality in any shape, manner, or form, for most Americans, the idea of homosexuals in our military is a non-issue. More importantly, it’s a non-issue for most uniformed personnel, the people who would be directly impacted by repealing DADT. If those who would be serving with openly homosexual colleagues aren’t threatened by the idea, then why are so many in Congress? Sen. McCain did say in 2006 that he would listen to senior military leadership if they advocated for repealing DADT. Once they did, McCain decided to move the goal posts, a process that he’s repeated with disturbing (and exceedingly dishonest) regularity. When you’ve built your career on hatred and discrimination, equality probably seems like a threat to your job security, eh?
The argument that repealing DADT would be deleterious to unit cohesion has been demonstrated to be hollow, and so haters like Sen McCain have had to resort to dishonesty and dissembling. At this point in our history, there simply is no longer any reasonable, sound, and/or coherent argument for maintaining a policy that denigrates and discriminates against a minority class who simply want the opportunity to serve the country they love. I’m constantly amazed that so many have hidden their true selves for so long in order to be able to continue to serve. We should be celebrating and encouraging that sort of commitment, not telling homosexuals that their lifestyle renders them unfit to serve. If Canada, Norway, Denmark, France and the UK (just to name a few) can manage to successfully adapt, you’d have to believe that the most powerful and professional fighting force in the world could do the same thing…right?
Fox News Channel can continue to pander to those whose hatred blinds them to reality, but in doing so, they only reveal their true colors. The reality is the we- all of us- are far better together than we are apart. Those who focus on finding ways to divide us will inevitably find themselves on the wrong side of history. Our military has for too long turned their backs on committed and dedicated Americans who want only the opportunity to serve their country like any other American. It’s long past time we allowed them the opportunity to do just that.
