THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY

Meditations on DON’T ASK DON’T TELL


Somewhere in the past 100 hours of an incredibly busy week in the security business, I became aware of the latest Obama Administration smokescreen to cover for a very bad start to the year (Scott Brown victory, Supreme Court decision against the Federal Election Commission, Air America going out of business, and the shameful conduct of a certain North Carolina ambulance chaser coming to light in book form.)

What I'm talking about of course is the policy crafted and introduced by Bill Clinton early in his Presidency; the now-infamous ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’. They even rolled out the marginalized and irrelevant Colin Powell, to explain to us that it's time to repeal the ban on gays in the military.


Colin Powell: Soldier, Statesman and former Republican; heavily marginalized and irrelevant.


True to the Liberal script, Bill Clinton ran on the theme that he was going to take care of everybody, cure society of its ills - “I feel your pain!” - ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was probably the only campaign promise he ever delivered on. Ironically, the result of this great Liberal desire to fix everything and speed up social evolution was that suddenly the military was equipped with rules and regulations that obligated them to throw homosexuals out of the service.

Under the guidelines of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, it was not illegal to BE homosexual in the military, per se, as long as the three rules were followed - SAY, ACT, DO:

SAY – A servicemember could not state that he or she was homosexual.

ACT – A servicemember could not engage in homosexual behavior.

DO – A servicemember could not be involved in a homosexual marriage.

Prior to this policy, it was not illegal to do any of the above. No homosexuals had been thrown out of the military for any of the above. What homosexuals were persecuted for, if anything, was indecency in public (cruising public restrooms, etc), actions unbecoming an officer or an NCO, or fraternization policies.

Homosexuality in the military is nothing new, of course – we can assume it goes further back than Alexander the Great. One of the best officers I ever worked for was as camp as a row of tents. Everybody knew it, and nobody held it against him; his sexuality had nothing to do with the fact that he was a good leader.


Alexander the Great: Soldier, student of Aristotle; preferred the company of men.


The way I see it, a person’s sexuality is not even the issue here. Homosexuality is part of the human condition. What must be considered is that if the military endorses open homosexual behavior; does this mean that homosexual marriage is the next thing coming down the pike? I cannot imagine the effect on discipline when the commanding officer of an Infantry company attends a formal mess with his spouse, Fred.

The United States Army is not ready to accept this, any more than the people of the United States are ready to see the next President being sworn into office with his hand on a Satanic Bible while standing next to his husband/wife, the First Drag Queen. I sure as hell don’t want my children to see such a spectacle, or to be taught in school that such an arrangement is good or normal in any way, shape or form.

I’m a pretty open-minded kind of guy, and human sexuality is the most widely varied, most multi-colored thing under the sun I can imagine. There’s no hypocrisy going on here; we’ve all got our kink. I just don’t want to see your kink thrown out in front of my face. All I ask of the gays is that they keep their kink in the closet where it belongs; and that if I ever buy it on a mission, please go through my kit and get rid of my rubber chicken outfit before they ship my gear back to my family.


S.L.