During the Colorado debate for senator which was held last Friday night, Colorado GOP Senate nominee Ken Buck made some of his most direct, regressive and repugnant comments to date opposing the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, saying that the military should be "as homogeneous as possible" and the country should not get distracted in talking about "lifestyle choices." Ken Buck fully demonstrates in his own words why he is out of touch and out of the mainstream of American politics today.
Although the primary focus of the debate was about economic issues - Democratic candidate and current Senator Michael Bennet saying he supports "extending the middle class tax cuts" and Buck stating that extending the Bush tax cuts would "pay down the deficit" wrong as that is on its' face http://www.washingtonpost.com/... -- the two men also touched on social policies, as well.
Buck has previously stated that he supports keeping the military's ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military. However on Friday night, Buck stumbled into new territory with a clearer definition of his DADT stance:
BUCK: I do not support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I think it is a policy that makes a lot of sense. It's not whether an individual is gay can serve in the military, the question is whether that individual can be openly gay in the military. It's one thing to deny someone access to the military and to a career in the military, it's another thing to -- for morale purposes and other purposes -- make sure that we are as homogeneous as possible in the military in moving towards the common goal of the security and the military action, as opposed to the distractions that are caused by allowing lifestyle choices to become part of the discussion.
Unfortunately, I can't get the video to embed, but you can see it here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Somebody please inform Ken Buck that:
in fact, the mainstream American medical and mental health professional associations have concluded that sexual orientation is not a choice. And they all oppose the so-called "reparative" or "conversion" therapies touted by groups like Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX), which are based on the assumption that homosexuality is an illness and that people should change their orientation.
For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that most experts have concluded that "one's sexual orientation is not a choice; that is, individuals do not choose to be homosexual or heterosexual."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Obviously, Mr Buck would also have been against women and African-Americans serving in the military, had he been a senator during the time that those two issues were being debated.
I'm begining to understand what the Teabagger's mean when they whine about "taking our country back". They want to return to the days when minorities where held down under their Conservative thumb and when women were "barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen". Ain't regression a hoot?