Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Changes Minds on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

[CorpGovActivist]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=gays+military+general+shalikashvili

The poll questions included one asking respondents whether or not they agreed with General Shalikashvili. That phrasing produced a noticeable break-out in opinion.

Especially encouraging is the reporting coming out of Stars and Stripes: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=shalikashvili+stars+and+stripes

Special kudos to Senator Wyden of Oregon, for putting Defense Secretary Gates on the hotseat during his confirmation: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=shalikashvili+gates+wyden

With saber-rattling going on with Iran, it's particularly noteworthy that Farsi and Arabic linguists were discharged under Bush's interpretation of DADT: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gay+linguists+farsi+arabic

And I bet if the pollsters had asked, respondents would have overwhelmingly opined that Bush has been far worse for military morale than gay and lesbian service members.

- Dave