Liberal views from Clinton appointee “pathbreaking” says Chron
by Owen Courrèges · 01/08/2007 7:15 amDoes the Chron even believe its own editorials anymore? Take a look at this introduction:
In the last six years, U.S. service members have been barraged with poor decisions made in Washington. They were fed false pretexts, left understaffed and shipped into a conflict with no endgame. Yet at least one unnecessary burden — the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about gay orientation — is a relic of the Clinton administration. Now one of the original defenders of that policy is leading the charge to end the policy and the damage it does to the military.
Retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton, said last week in a New York Times opinion piece that the time to end antigay discrimination in the military is nearing. It was a pathbreaking act of leadership that should embolden other military leaders who agree with him to speak out, too.
Really now - we’re talking about a Clinton appointee. It isn’t the slightest bit shocking or surprising that he has liberal views on gays in the military. The over-the-top language suggests that this was “pathbreaking,” but in actuality, it was barely a blip on the national radar.
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It’s the Crummyicle–enough said!!!!!
No surprise here as if you look at the list of goof balls under Clinton from Elders to the current genius at the U of Miami Donna S nothing should surprise.
Don’t forget Jocelyn Elders ground breaking proposals!!! The Clinton list of the inept and absurd is amazing. You know, other than committing treason, rape, sexual assault, indecent exposure, fraud, perjury, and witness tampering, he was really an okay guy. I’m just surprised he didn’t make Hillary Sec. of the Treasury. With her cattle futures investing, we could have had virtually zero debt, and they could have cut our taxes 90%!
This guy apparently doesn’t know his History! The WWII was in alot worse shape when we started involvement. Ofcourse they didn’t have Pink handbook of Rules of engagement either, they could just go in an kick a**.
If we let our guys do their job they would be done.
The military leadership isn’t forced to live with gays. What do they care? If they are in the pentagon they are just politicans uniform.
Owen,
I was in the USMC and the only thing I ever asked about the guy next to me was that he cover my flank. I could care less about his religon, race, or sexual orientation.
Sex was the last thing on my mind when I was in the boonies and to tell you the truth..the body odor was so bad after a couple of days in the bush that the mosquitoes held their noses when they bit.
As for life in the barracks.. I hoped for guys that didn’t snore, played music on their radios that was acceptable, didn’t puke on me when they came back from the E-Club drunk, didn’t use drugs in the barracks, and took regular showers.
I suspect that when the “You know what hits the Westinghouse”, that most will become less picky about their buddies personal habits and more concerned with their marksmanship scores.
Simple
Joycelyn Elders was a joke…thank goodness she never laid a claim to fame.
This Shalikashvili (not sure of spelling - I wonder how old he was before he could spell his own surname) had a hidden agenda while he worked for Clinton. With a name like that he knew he would not be forgotten (ha,ha). It is called strategic readiness.
Maybe Hilary put Mr. Shalikashvili up to it.
Big and Vlou,
And still with all of those high crimes…Bill Clinton left office with a 60% approval rating.
Do you suppose old Dubya will make it back into the low thirties before leaving office?
Simple
Maybe one of these days the ‘General’ can even speak passable English…….anyone ever heard this clown speak?
What a joke, been then so was the entire Clinton regime….unfortunately, the joke was on us!
Simple, Bill Clinton left office with a press that votes 85% liberal, and using polls that were willing to distort facts….look at how screwed up their exit polls have been the last two elections. What’s your source for the 60%, and what have you done to authenticate that number?
Simple
I guess it will have a lot to do with his backers.
In Clintons case the liberals approved no matter what he did and in Bushes case Conservative that don’t approve will say so.
Big,
The same polls that show Dubya in duck soup today. The Republican senators can’t run away from him fast enough. Even Ollie North has joined the opposition to the latest “plan” from the White House. He is hardly a flaming liberal.
I was very disappointed with Bill Clinton and I voted for Dubya in 2000. My level of disappointment is much deeper with GWB than with Bill Clinton.
Simple
Gee Simon. Selling our ICBM staging and guidance technology to Red China wasn’t more disappointing to you? I’d say the chance of Red China sending 10 megaton warheads accurately to the USA if we try to interfere with an invasion of Taiwan would count as a bit more serious to you.
Simple,
My disappointment over Clinton is far bigger because even if Iraq has unfolded badly thus far, the fact remains that Clinton’s foreign policy was scattershot at best; no real attempt was made to solve the problems in the Middle East. I’d prefer honest efforts to cure Islamism that ultimately fail than no effort whatsoever.
As for don’t-ask-don’t-tell, you’re surely right about combat situations, but those aren’t the only situations. We have a military largely staffed with young, rural, white males. They overwhelmingly disapprove of homosexuality. Having openly gay servicemembers, in my eyes, can be disruptive — and that much hasn’t changed since Clinton made his decision.
It’s an arguable issue, certainly, especially with the high current demand for troops and the harsh result of throwing specialists out of key positions. Still, my point remains that Shalikashvili’s position on this issue was barely news, and certainly not the Rosa Parks moment the Chronicle would like it to be.
Shalikashvili was a dufus when he was Chief of Staff.
Apparently, he is approching senility now that he is blathering about sucking up to perverts!
Homosexuality is like liberalism in one aspect. They are both manifestations of a mental disorder.
Why is this even an issue. The ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ didn’t change anything.
14, Owen
I heard the same crap about rural white males in the sixties, but the issue was serving with blacks not homosexuals. We know how that problem worked itself out today. The military has much better race relations today than the corporate world.
I was a white Staff NCO in the USMC and I always made it clear to my guys that their first order of business was taking care of each other. It was not a perfect world and we had our share of hard-headed individuals, but we made it clear to them they were Marines first and all else was secondary.
Simple
Simple,
I know better than to listen to race/sexual orientation comparisons. The religious overtones of the latter are going to make change, for better or for worse, far more difficult if even possible.
Besides, your argument proves too much. It would justify mixing women in combat, which has proven disruptive in the past (see Israel). There are demographic situations that can harm cohesiveness, and don’t-ask-don’t-tell, I feel, is a reasonable compromise on the matter.