John McCain vs. Reality: DADT Edition
"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to."
---John McCain, October 2006
Before offering his advice, Mullen wants time to study the issue and canvass opinions, not unlike what he does with other key issues. "I think I owe him [Obama] a very thorough review of the potential impact [of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell]," he says.
---Mike Mullen, January 2009
"My opinion is shaped by the view of the leaders of the military. The reason why I supported the policy to start with is because General Colin Powell, who was then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the one that strongly recommended we adopt this policy in the Clinton administration. I have not heard General Powell or any of the other military leaders reverse their position, just like when on other issues, that people are expert and knowledgeable of, I rely on their opinion."
---McCain, June 2009
"In the almost 17 years since the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed. I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
---Colin Powell, February 2010
"It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at this issue I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy that forces men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."
---Mullen, February 2010
"I’m deeply disappointed in your statement...Your statement is ‘question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it.’ It would be far more appropriate, I say with great respect, to determine whether repealing this law is appropriate and what effects it would have on the readiness and effectiveness of the military before deciding on whether we should repeal the law or not and fortunately it is an act of Congress and it requires the agreement of Congress in order to repeal it."
---McCain, no longer relying on the views of the military leadership for guidance, February 2010
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"One person [Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen], speaking individually, not on behalf of the Navy at all, is not going to change Senator McCain's position."
---McCain communications director Brooke Buchanan, February 2010
"The head of the United States Marine Corps said that he's against it!"
---McCain, citing one person speaking individually, April 2010
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"We do not go out and seek... Regulations are, we do not go out and seek to find out if someone's sexual orientation. We do not! That is the fact! That is the fact. Now ma'am, I know the military very well, and I know what's being done. And what is being done is that they are not seeking out people who are gay. And I don't care what you say, I know it's a fact."
---McCain, either lying or clueless, to a reporter, September 2010
"Have you seen the---quote---'study,' that is being conducted by the Department of Defense? ... You know that this study---quote unquote---'does not assess the impact of morale and effectiveness on the repeal of the law?'"
---McCain, September 2010
"A clear majority of active duty servicemen and women have no problem with repeal. The military has spoken and now is the time to repeal this policy that is damaging to our national security. Men and women, regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation, who are willing to fight and defend our country should be allowed to do so without fear of discrimination."
---McCain's BFF Joe Lieberman, responding to the DoD report in a statement, via email, November 2010
"What I would call my...personal opinion is now my professional view that this is a policy change that we can make and we can do it in a relatively low-risk fashion. ... I fully endorse [the DoD] report, its findings and the implementation plan."
---Mullen, November 2010
And this...
Arizona Daily Star: So if at the end of the [DADT] review the consensus of the report or whatever is brought forth is that it's not working, it's keeping qualified people out, that the military could be better if it was repealed, are you open to following through on that recommendation because that's what it shows?
McCain: Well, if the president finds out at the end of the day, after the review, that it's working and an important policy that can be maintained, that he would maintain the policy, I think that's fair.
--April 2010
McCain and reality will clash again today during hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee. I suspect by the end of the day the above list will get a tad longer...and a lot nuttier.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, December 2, 2010
Note: The Netroots Nation Holiday Bazaar Auction is officially open. Please: everyone cram in at once and be unruly!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til 2011: 30
Days `til the Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival: 8
Percent of active-duty servicemembers who believe repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell would have little or no effect on their units: 70%
Percent of military spouses who are fine with repealing it: 74%
(Source: Dept. of Defense Report)
Number of different indicators, including air temp, humidity and snow cover, that show significant man-made global warming is taking place: 11
Number of indicators that show man-made global warming is not taking place: 0
(Source: NOAA)
TV soap opera viewership in, respectively, 1991-92 and 2009-10: 6.5 million / 1.3 million
(Source: Nielsen via Stephen Colbert)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
I'm in favor of all the election reforms being advocated by the goo-goos (short for good government groups), plus I am indebted to a blogger on DailyKos.com for the brilliant notion that George Soros should buy Diebold Co. The country's leading manufacturer of electronic voting machines is currently headed by a Bush Pioneer, which is enough to give anyone the creeps. Other liberal billionaires could buy the other voting-machine companies, and then they should be put into a public trust whose workings are open to everyone.
---November, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day: In Buford, Georgia, a house gets demolished by a tornado. But...there's a pretty amazing silver lining.
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CHEERS to flip-flops we can believe in. Ya can't win 'em all, so the saying goes, but the occasional victory is sweet:
In a reversal, the Obama administration said today it will not pursue offshore drilling off the East Coast of the U.S. and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A senior administration official told The Associated Press that because of the BP oil spill, the Interior Department will not propose any new oil drilling in waters off the East Coast for at least the next seven years.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar...said in a statement obtained by the AP that the BP spill taught officials a number of lessons, "most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime. ... Our revised strategy lays out a careful, responsible path for meeting our nation's energy needs while protecting our oceans and coastal communities," he said.
Now, I know you're probably saying, "Hey Bill, how do I know this is really a major step forward?" Because, my friend, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls it "a major step backward." And you can't get any green-lightier than that.
JEERS to a sign of things to come. As many of you know, a tiny sliver of Mainers elected a tea party darling for governor one month ago today. And this week Paul LePage previewed the way things may play out for the next four years:
Gov.-elect Paul LePage is asking businesses and industry groups to help him reduce regulations that they believe hinder economic development. He began this effort Tuesday in an unprecedented meeting at the Augusta Civic Center, where he asked about 100 businesspeople for their ideas---and political support when he presents a package of regulatory reform bills to the Legislature. Absent from the forum were environmental groups, public health advocates and consumer advocates, who were not invited.
Color me shocked. Meanwhile LePage, who boasted during his campaign that the president better get used to hearing him (LePage) tell him (Obama) to "go to hell," will meet with Obama today in Washington...and be a perfect gentleman. I hope he does stretching exercises first so he doesn’t hurt himself.
JEERS to ass picking. Six years ago---gosh, it seems like only 72 months---President Bush tapped former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik---currently languishing in jail---to replace Tom Ridge as head of Homeland Security. (Funny that he didn’t expound on that "decision point" in his fiction book.) Before the sweat from Bush's handshake had time to evaporate, Kerik withdrew his name, having realized that his closet was---oh, what's the phrase---full of skeletons. Looking back on it now with the benefit of a sober analysis of the facts, I think it's fair to say: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!
CHEERS to catching another rat bastard. This isn't terribly new, but I'd like to enter into the C&J record that, once again, Barack Obama's FBI has nabbed another would-be terrorist, this time in Portland, Oregon. Mohamed Osman Mohamud was such a fucking moron that he had no idea the FBI was on his case and made sure he had a "bomb" that was as big a dud as the debt commission report. And while Bush-43 kept us safe for less than eight months, President Obama has now kept us safe for 23. To mark the occasion, today the terror-advisory threat level will be lowered from "Yellow" to "Blue" between the minutes of 11:58 and 12 noon. Ahhhh....it'll smell like 2000 again.
JEERS to meeting our expectations. House Republicans to hungry children: Drop dead.. Did you expect anything less?
CHEERS to slaying Ann Coulter's idol. Fifty six years ago today, on December 2nd, 1954, the Senate voted 67-22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." Three years later the bitter, broken man would be dead of cirrhosis of the liver. Moral: Play nice.
CHEERS to sweet sounds. The Grammy Award nominations were announced yesterday and you can check out the full list here. There are so many music categories (sadly, none for Best Performance by a Cowbell Player) that just about everyone in the business gets a nod. Among this year's crop: Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert, the cast of Glee, Eminem, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Pete Seeger (at age 91), Lewis Black, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Carol Burnett, Green Day, Jon Stewart, Cyndi Lauper and, setting up a titanic showdown in the Album of the Year category, Lady Gaga vs. Lady Antebellum. Oh, and thanks to Cee Lo Green, a song has finally been nominated with the title, "F*** You." That sound you hear is Dick Cheney happily crossing that milestone off his bucket list.
JEERS to the perpetual shroud of darkness. Here in Maine it gets ominously dark now by 4:00. Four!!! Which means that, for the next 3 months, we're trusting you to let us know if Armageddon breaks out for real. Much obliged.
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Five years ago in C&J: December 2, 2005
CHEERS to avoiding embarrassment. Fewer American employees will have a chance to get plastered at holiday parties this year, because only 87% of companies will be having them---down from 95% last year, thanks to lower profits. If your office suffers such a frivolity deficit, may we suggest dumping a bottle of vodka in the water cooler? (Then keep an eye on Gladys in accounting. "Whoopie!!")
CHEERS to executing a graceful exit strategy. Bulgaria and Ukraine show us how they plan to do it with their combined 1,256 troops in Iraq this month: Step 1---Pack up your shit. Step 2---Wave bye-bye and get the hell out. Oh, and of course, Step 3---Never, ever, ever, EVER believe a word George W. Bush says again.
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And just one more...
CHEERS to running another ring around the sun. Happy Birthday---and [muah muah muah]---to Michael (aka "Common Sense Mainer"), my sweetie of 17 years, who turns [Redacted by the proper authorities, and even the Wikileaks guy knows to leave well enough alone] today. As usual, I had to find a "straight" birthday card at the drugstore that could kinda sorta fit a gay couple, and I got lucky this year. The one I stumbled on features two tiara-wearing matriarchs side-by-side, winking at each other, with the caption: "It's your birthday, so you'll be Queen. I'll be Vice Queen. V.Q. for short." Perfect! (I promise not to shoot you in the face during a quail hunt, dear.) Happy Birthday, Cutie, and many blessings on all [redacted] of your camels.
Oh, and to demonstrate how quickly time flies: Thanksgiving was---[Blink!]---a week ago. Oy. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Old candy stuck on Bill in Portland Maine’s butt, this sounds very compelling!
---Ken Layne
Wonkette
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