In what Carl Levin (D-MI) described as a "profile in leadership," today Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen gave a stirring personal statement in support of repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy:
But as expected, during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Defense Secretary Gates and Mullen announced that the Pentagon would begin a yearlong study to determine how to end the military's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
And at the same time, several Republican opposition themes emerged: we can't do this while we're in the middle of two wars, they understand that the witnesses are just following orders from their Leftist-in-Chief, or that Gates and Mullen are biased and will exert undue influence on their subordinates to get the results they want. Take your pick.
So, why will it take a year of reviews, studies and surveys to decide that saying "none of your damned business" is the only policy they need? According to Gates:
Frankly, that's a load of garbage. You don't need a year to decide how or if you're going to stop discriminating against people, you just do it.
And then the Q & A ... or, more often than not, the speechifying by the senators began.
After Carl Levin (D-MI) opened with a strong statement of support, John McCain (R-AZ), sitting at his side and looking like he was sucking lemons, accused Gates of being biased and launched into "forced intimacy ... customs and traditions, including many restrictions on personal conduct" (never mind his own philandering ways while he was serving under those selfsame rules), and that "don't ask, don't tell" works because ... and I'm not making this up ... it helps to "balance a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader interest of our all volunteer force." Oh, and we're fighting two wars.
Jeff Sessions (R-AL) had an unusual rationale for opposing the repeal. He began by saying that every American deserves justice ... so far, so good ... then disputed that 10,000 soldiers had been dismissed under the policy, but that, hey, even if it was 10,000, that was over a period of a decade -- now if it was in one year, then it might matter. So apparently over a decade, every American doesn't deserve justice. But his main concern was the "undue command influence" on any report that comes out of the Pentagon, a talking point that was echoed by Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Roger Wicker (R-MS). It seems like only yesterday that Republicans viewed the Pentagon as God's mouthpiece, doesn't it?
The most relevant questions came from Susan Collins (R-ME) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO). Collins asked whether gay and lesbian soldiers, serving openly with our NATO allies, had ever impacted military effectiveness or unit cohesiveness. McCaskill asked, given that gays and lesbians are already serving in our military, are they causing morale or discipline problems. No, no, and no.
And the eye-rolling (and enjoyable) moment came courtesy of Joe Lieberman, who, after expressing his support for the repeal, felt compelled to point out that doing so would require 60 votes. Carl Levin disagreed:
Snap.
All in all, it was a disappointing hearing. The idea that there needs to be a study, let alone one that takes a year, to say, hey, your private life is private, is ridiculous. And it means that repealing "don't ask, don't tell" is being pushed down the road. Again.
Roland Burris (D-IL) nailed it when he said we shouldn't be wasting time or money to decide that everyone deserves something so "basic in human rights," and that what this needs is the "audacity of Truman."