On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) continued with his increasingly incoherent jihad against repealing the military's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and while the segment is chock full 'o crap:
... I'd like to highlight just a few of his straw man arguments and plain old moronic rationalizations:
There was no uprising in the military. There were no problems in the military with don't ask, don't tell.
I understand your point of view, and I understand the point of view by the majority of the media ...
And if we want to ensure morale and battle effectiveness is maintained, that's why people like the commandant of the Marine Corps has come out against repeal. Now, if you want to call him a racist and others ...
What an ass. In no particular order: no one has said that there is an "uprising in the military" over the policy; no one called the commandant of the Marine Corps a racist, although one could certainly describe him (and McCain) as a bigot; the promulgation of the "liberal media" fantasy is a tired Republican ploy (that their base eats up) that ignores the fact that the majority of Americans favor the repeal; it is a problem when thousands of qualified men and women have had their 14th Amendment rights violated; and finally:
I want to know the effect on battle effectiveness and morale, not on how best to implement a change in policy. I don't think that's a lot to ask when we have our young men and women out there serving and fighting, and tragically some of them dying.
According to the Pentagon study group, the effect of repealing DADT would be "minimal," with more than 70% of active-duty and reserve troops saying that the change would either "be positive, mixed or nonexistent," so their effectiveness and morale will be just fine.
As to the morale of the bigots among us, who cares?
Complete transcript below the fold.
I know you have got a letter from Robert Gates, defense secretary, which said in part, to you: "I do not believe that military policy decisions should on this or any other subject be subject to referendum of service members."
CROWLEY: In other words, you know, what the service members, how they would vote is sort of immaterial to what we're trying to do. Doesn't he have a point?
MCCAIN: Well, I think he certainly has a point. I would also certainly say that we should remember where this all started. There was no uprising in the military. There were no problems in the military with don't ask, don't tell. It was a critical...
CROWLEY: No, it (inaudible) who had a problem.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: No, it wasn't. Because it wasn't a problem because you didn't have -- it's called don't ask, don't tell. OK? If you don't ask them, you don't ask somebody, and they don't tell.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: And it's an all-volunteer force. I understand your point of view, and I understand the point of view by the majority of the media, but the fact is, this was a political promise made by an inexperienced president or candidate for presidency of the United States. The military is at its highest point in recruitment and retention and professionalism and capability, so to somehow allege that this policy has been damaging the military is simply false.
So the fact is that this system is working, and I believe that we need to assess the effect on the morale and the battle effectiveness of those people that I -- those young Marines and Army people I met in forward operating bases that are putting their lives on the line every day.
This is an all-volunteer force. And if we want to ensure morale and battle effectiveness is maintained, that's why people like the commandant of the Marine Corps has come out against repeal. Now, if you want to call him a racist and others, and sergeants and others that I have...
CROWLEY: We should also point out that the defense secretary and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff think it's a good idea.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: And they have said that, and the four service chiefs, the four service chiefs have all had reservations to one degree or another. Now I have great respect for the secretary of defense...
CROWLEY: Isn't integration required...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: ... and I have great respect for the secretary -- for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I have great respect for the service chiefs and I have great respect to the men and women who are serving, particularly the sergeants and the chief petty officers, who are the ones that make the military work.
CROWLEY: Integration of any sort has always come -- whether it's racial, whether it's gender -- doesn't it require leadership rather than followership? And in other words, does -- yes, it matters how the military feels, but don't you need to lead when it comes to a matter of integration, which definitely was difficult?
MCCAIN: Look, we're in two wars. We're in two wars. I ran into a master sergeant in a forward operating base outside Kandahar, who had five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said -- and a number of them came to me and said, look, we fight together, we sleep together, we eat together. I want to know the effect of our ability to win this conflict. That's what we're saying. I want to know the effect on battle effectiveness and morale, not on how best to implement a change in policy. I don't think that's a lot to ask when we have our young men and women out there serving and fighting, and tragically some of them dying.