Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Zombie Discrimination

Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the bad law that cannot be killed.  I guess Zombie is the wrong word since DADT is hard to kill, rather than being killed and coming back (like the B-1 bomber).  Is it surprising that moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats took the easy course of action, rather than following what is best for the country, both in terms of its values and in terms of deploying most capable people?  Hardly.  Are we disappointed by John McCain's obstruction?  No, we have now come to expect him to pander to the worst instincts of the rightest right wing.

Jeff Pearlman, a sports journalist, nicely conveys the outrage directed against Harry Reid, who helped to sabotage this effort.  I am not sure if I agree that we should put the onus on the gays in the military all come out simultaneously to get the right policy, but I guess African-Americans did put themselves in harm's way in the various protests in the 1960's, so perhaps Pearlman is not entirely unfair or wrong with his proposal. 

It is abundantly clear that we are hurting, not helping, unit cohesion with this policy that discriminates on the basis of sexuality, not merit.  If the American dream is about opportunity and ambition, then DADT is about as un-American as it can get.  Congressional congestion does seem to be the American way of the 21st century.

1 comment:

Chris C. said...

Repealing DADT would've had a better chance of passing had Reid not crammed the DREAM act and other ancillary issues into the same bill. I suspect moderates like Snowe and Collins would support repeal of DADT if it were voted on alone.