(House Armed Services Committee) votes to delay gays in military

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

A House panel has voted to delay President Barack Obama's new policy to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

The House Armed Services Committee approved an amendment that would require all four service chiefs to certify the change won't hurt readiness. The repeal law only requires certification from the president, defense secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. The vote was 33-27.

Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. of California said Obama never served in the military.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/11/national/w202440D17.DTL&tsp=1

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Source: Washington Blade

... The vote in favor of the Hunter amendment was mostly along party lines, although Reps. Todd Platts (R-Pa.) and Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) voted against the measure. Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) was the sole Democrat to vote in favor of the measure.

... “Right now as it stands, the only folks thar have sign on to this are the president, who was never been to war or in ground combat, Adm. (Mike) Mullen, who, with all due respect to him, has never been to ground combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, and Secretary Gates, a political appointee, who is very fine gentleman but has never been in ground combat in Iraq or Afghanistan,” Hunter said. “I, and others in this room, have more combat experience than the people who would sign off on the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

... Hunter’s amendment was one of several anti-gay amendments the House Armed Services Committee approved on Wednesday as part of the defense authorization bill. Other measures affirmed the panel’s commitment to the DOMA, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

... Rep. W. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) introduced an amendment mandating that marriage ceremonies on military installations must comply with DOMA and that chaplains can only officiate in their official capacity over marriage ceremonies if they comply with the anti-gay law.

Reaad more: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/05/12/house-panel-adopts-anti-gay-amendments-in-defense-bill/

[bluestateguy]

1. We have civilian control of the military

DADT is being repealed, and anybody in the military who does not like it needs to make arrangements for other employment or otherwise STFU.

[No Elephants]

2. Misleading headline. Gays ARE in the military. DADT does not exclude themi. It "only"

humiliates them and keeps them at risk.

As far as the glorious ground combat experience of the bloviators, the military was polled on this issue. I'm pretty sure someone in the military who was polled has experienced ground combat.

And if you object to civilian control of the military, talk to the Framers.

You know, Framers?, The guys who won us our right to be a nation via ground combat and then wrote the document you guys made a circus of reading at the start of this session, doing worse than fourth graders would have. Yeah, those Framers.

Idiot bigots.

[Cronus Protagonist]

3. Quelle Surprise!

The condition that it won't hurt "readiness" was a dog whistle.

[SoapBox]

4. If you are not white, male, straight, married (+ divorced + a mistress) and holier than...

...any holy christian...

Then get ready to get attacked by the Thugs and Haters.

p.s...that Duncan Hunter is a real a$$hole.

[HankyDubs]

5. from the blade article

Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, expressed skepticism that the adoption of the Hunter amendment would impair the U.S. military’s ability to move toward open service.

“Despite the passage of this amendment within the ever-hostile House Armed Services Committee, it is highly unlikely that such an amendment would ever pass the Senate and be signed by the president,” Nicholson said. ”The offering of this amendment was a shameful and embarrassing waste of time. The service chiefs have unequivocally said that they do not want this extra burden forced upon them, so if Congress really values their advice on this issue they should take it and forget this unnecessary and unwanted amendment.”

[rasputin1952]

6. Hunter is an idiot. He knows there isn't a chance of his amendment passing

in the Senate, knows that the president would never sign such a thing.

One more moron that is playing to the basest of bases, and it just makes him look more like the jerk he is.

I've served with gays, had a couple in my Med Plt, there is absolutely no difference in their ability to accomplish the mission than with straights. Whether straight or gay, the men and women that served under me were brave, dedicated individuals that gave up their time, and occasionally lives and limbs to serve this nation. Being gay, black, white, hispanic male or female had absolutely nothing to do with their ability as soldiers and Medics. I served long before DADT, and if one was "outed" as being gay, they were subject to summary discharge. This was a great injustice, and those of us that knew gays were in the unit never disclosed it to anyone, as we knew our fellow servicemembers would face serious charges.

Over the years, there have been advances in GLBT rights in the military. To be sure they were and are slow in coming, but there are changes that are bringing things to an equal footing. People like Hunter are, fortunately a dying breed. His amendment is asinine, it won't fly. Just about everyone I ever served with knows that gays in the military are an asset. When blacks were integrated in the military, there was much hew and cry; needless to say, they are proved themselves to be everything any white soldier was. Women were denigrated in the military, (and still are), but they have proven themselves time and again to be equal to or exceeding their male counterparts in many fields.

Hunter belongs in the Dark Ages he is proposing to drag the military into. A two bit Field Artillery Captain in the Marine Reserves, that hasn't a clue as to how many gays have sighted in or fired the pieces he had in his Battery. He doesn't realize that he counted on the very people he condemns to carry out the orders passed down. I wonder if idiots like this will ever grow up...x(

[atreides1]

7. Hunter doesn't seem to have much "ground combat experience" either.

The day after the September 11 attacks, Hunter quit his job and joined the Marine Corps. He attended Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Upon graduation in March 2002, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He subsequently served as a field artillery officer in the 1st Marine Division after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and completed a second tour in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, serving in Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines. During his second tour, he participated in Operation Vigilant Resolve. In September 2005, Hunter was honorably discharged from active duty but remained in the Marine Corps Reserve. He then started a residential development company. In 2007, he was recalled to active duty and deployed to Afghanistan in support of the War in Afghanistan; this was his third tour of duty during the War on Terrorism. Hunter was honorably discharged from active duty in December 2007 but continues to serve part-time as a Captain in the Marine Corps Reserve.


As part of the occupation of Iraq, the First Battle of Fallujah, codenamed Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an unsuccessful attempt by the United States Military to capture the city of Fallujah in April 2004.

[Baclava]

8. It does more than that

Hill panel votes to delay gays in military

"By a vote of 60-1, the House Armed Services Committee approved the broad, $553 billion defense blueprint that would provide a 1.6 percent increase in military pay, fund an array of aircraft, ships and submarines, slightly increase health care fees for working-age retirees and meet the Pentagon's request for an additional $118 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The House panel on Wednesday also approved an amendment by Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman for the purpose of military benefits, regulations and policy. The vote was 39-22."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110512/ap_on_go_co/us_defense_budget

[TheWraith]

9. Fortunately, it doesn't matter.

Without Senate support, they can't pass shit. More grandstanding for the base.