The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has claimed another American hero. Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an F-15E Strike Eagle with nine Air Medals, including one for valor for assaulting an Iraqi ambush position while under heavy anti-aircraft fire has been discharged for liking men instead of women.
As with a number of other principles, changing this insidious policy has been put on the back burner by the Obama Administration. Fehrenbach, who was born on an Air Force base and calls the Air Force his life, has been told that he is a danger to his unit and its morale. Of course, the soldiers who he protected from an ambush by attacking that enemy position were not particularly interested in the time who he dated. The military now appears to believe that it would have been better not to have him in the airplane at all so heterosexual soldiers could die without the corrupting influence of a homosexual.
His career and those of other gay soldiers, sailors, and air personnel is simply not a priority at this time.
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I was in the Army in the mid 1980s. During my service I knew of three different gay soldiers. It seemed to me that everyone in the unit knew these guys were gay. It was the 80s and it caused a few snickers and jokes, but it certainly did nothing to hurt anyone’s morale.
Anne,
If you think so little of the American soldier as to assume that they’re such wilting daisies that they will suffer from the vapors at the very thought that a fellow soldier may be gay, you’re the one with the problem. Most of our allies have integrated militaries and (despite the claims from reactionary bigots) they experienced no real degradation of morale or readiness when they stopped the discrimination. Read a little before opening your mouth and you can pretend that aren’t just an ignorant reactionary.
As for the gay soldiers in the ancient world, you really need to do a little reading. Pederasty had nothing to do with it. The pederastic relationship in the ancient world wasn’t considered to be indicative of a non-heterosexual orientation. The gender of the sexual partner had less to do with sexuality that who was penetrating whom. Penetration was seen as manly, while being penetrated was seen as effeminate.
Nonetheless, the Boeotians did have gay soldiers. Known as the ‘sacred band’ (hieros lokhos), this group of soldiers consisted of paired soldiers who were also lovers. The Thebans thought enough of this group that they spread them throughout the Theban front ranks in an attempt to bolster morale.
Hate mongering know-nothings like you are the greatest threat America faces today. It is my fervent hope that by the time my three children come to adulthood, your type of bigotry has been relegated to the trash heap of history. Judging from what I see among my Gen-Y friends (my wife and I are older, but we can still hang with the younger crowd), we’re on our way. As we drive down the highway of history, we’ll be sure to wave at you clutching your fist impotently at the side of the road.
Bye, bye!
lots of opinions, but not enough volunteers for the military or the congress. Also, the President lacks the legal authority to change the law (do your homework)
FFLEO, you are quite welcome, sir.
Thanks Mike A. I appreciate your candor and your perspectives.
ann, although I do not expect ignorance to be adorned with logic, I do expect it to be articulate and grammatically correct. The proper phrasing is “…he doesn’t need you LEFTIES anymore… .” The contraction “don’t” should never be used with a third person singular pronoun. Carry on.
“Gyges 1, May 21, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Mike,
Troll baiting is truly the sport of kings.”
I feel a bit like Tom Hanks in “Volunteers” asking this, but “What exactly is horse racing again?” 😀
FFLEO, I did not know any gay soldiers personally, but I knew of them. All of the assholes I encountered, however, were heterosexual without exception. It has never been an issue with me or anyone else in my family. I have a sister who is gay, as well as a former college roommate with whom I have remained good friends to this day. My sister did not simply reach adolescence and then decide whether she would choose the gay or straight road. It is a matter of biology. Furthermore, I have never felt threatened by another human being’s sexuality and have never understood those who are. I am firmly convinced that attitudes about gays are developed in the same manner as racial attitudes; they are a function of parental and peer influence or, in many cases, of the ignorant rantings of ministers of certain churches. With regard to the military, Truman ran into the same arguments that anti-gay forces are raising when he determined to integrate the armed services. He was right. They were wrong.
Mike,
Troll baiting is truly the sport of kings.
“An insignificant number of the Boeotians, Spartans, and Cretans, were susceptible to pederasty.”
Ann,
Unfortunately I know the definition of pederasty, which is sex between adult men and pubescent boys, so your statement bears no relationship between the point I’m making. I’m talking about homosexuality, which is sex between two adults of the same sex. What I stated about the Spartans was true and you do nothing to refute it.
Since you also make a point about calling people homosexual after they are dead. Let’s deal with some live Republicans, who are just fine with you. Lindsay Graham and Denny Haestart
come to mind. The amount of closeted Republicans is actually quite large.
“With a stroke of the pen, Barack Obama has imposed higher fuel-economy standards on the American auto industry. Those standards can only be met by making the average car smaller and lighter than consumers prefer.
The inevitable result is that thousands of innocent Americans, possibly tens of thousands, will die painful and sometimes fiery deaths, while many thousands more will be seriously injured”
These two attempted paragraphs alone prove that you are an idiot and certainly as a troll not to be taken seriously. You are merely an individual, consumed with hatred and prejudice, who is willing to lie in order to protect your
precious leaders. You would no doubt make an excellent fascist, if you are not that already. This is so because the typical fascist is a person who follows supposed “strong” leaders and is willing to do anything to protect them. Fascists also hate those that are different from them, usually because they are personally such bitter, self-hating people, that they need to take it out on others rather than accept it in themselves.
What is so hilarious about you is that you are so filled with hate, that you lack the understanding of how silly you are and how silly the arguments that you make are also.
AY,
It is good to hear from you. The weather in Northern Illinois is warm and windy. Good luck with your new work situation. I have run my own shop a couple of times and the regular paycheck with the bank is easy to get used to.
AY:
That overhead is lots of fun at my shop too. I enjoy the independence but it comes with a sizable cost. Glad you like your situation though. I missed that Detroit case.
Mespo,
From the vantage point I am at 19 miles south of Dallas it stays nice until it can’t no more. It does have it advantages being on a hill. You can see forever, but the wind does get warm at times. The first 10 days back at work have been fairly good. Money is not the same as solo for me at least, but there is some trade off I am not responsible for payroll for 4 secretaries and 2 attorneys. That can get cumbersome especially when the office overhead was more than 6 a month, then salaries too boot. This is gravy (sort of) 7 to 5 NO COURT, did I say NO COURT and half a day on Saturday if needed. It is nice that someone else is on the hook and it ain’t me this time.
Hey did you catch the City of Det case with the Attorney Discipline issue for all Attorney’s involved. It is incredible. I guess they are hinting that the Plaintiff’s Attorney committed extortion.
AY:
Howdy to you too. I didn’t think “nice,” “cool,” and “Texas” could ever get into the same sentence. I now stand corrected.
Peace oh yeah. We need peace.
I will make one attempt to offer up the olive branch, but after that I just simply ignore them. 🙂
Matthew N,
Thats what Trolls do. Compliment the hell out of em. That will confuse them more than encouraging them to talk, don’t you know.