GOP Tells on Asking, Telling

The Republican presidential candidates gathered in New Hampshire last night for a good old fashioned political debate. While Iraq got a fair bit of play, trust the gays were trotted back and forth like the contentious queers we were born to be.

None – not one – of the Republicans said they would repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a stark contrast to their counterparts in the Democratic party. In fact, the Republicans seem to think Don’t Ask works! Consider former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s exchange with CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer:

BLITZER:…Governor Romney, the mayor referred to the don’t ask/don’t tell policy, which was implemented during the Clinton administration, after Bill Clinton became president. In 1994, you were quoted as saying that you advocated gays being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation’s military. The question to you is, do you still feel that way?

ROMNEY: No, actually when I first heard of the don’t ask/don’t tell policy I thought it sounded awfully silly and didn’t think that’d be very effective, and I turned out to be wrong. It’s been the policy now in the military for, what, 10, 15 years? And it seems to be working. And I agree with what Mayor Giuliani said, that this is not the time to put in place a major change, a social experiment, in the middle of a war going on.
I wouldn’t change it at this point. We can look at it down the road. But it does seem to me that we have much bigger issues as a nation that we ought to be talking about than that policy right now.

First and foremost, who here’s shocked that Romney rescinded a past political stance? Fucking flip-flopper’s this shitheads middle name. Further, how can he stand there and say Don’t Ask works when the Pentagon boots gay Arabic linguists, linguists we need to fight the very war upon which he thinks we should focus. Seriously, do these people live in an alternate universe?

Governor Mike Huckabee attempted to avoid the subject, but Blitzer’s one tenacious journo.

BLITZER: Governor Huckabee, I want you to weigh in as well.

Do you believe it’s time to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the United States military?

HUCKABEE: Wolf, I think it’s already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct. I think that’s what Congressman Paul was saying: It’s about conduct; it’s not about attitude.

But I’d like to ask you. You said a moment ago that you were going to all give us a chance to deal with the issue of immigration.

BLITZER: We’re going to come back to that… Right now, we’re talking about allowing gays to serve openly in the military. But you’re opposed to that?

HUCKABEE: I just said I think it’s a matter — it’s not — you don’t punish people for their attitudes; you punish them if their behavior creates a problem. And it’s already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct.

BLITZER: So you wouldn’t change existing policy.

HUCKABEE: What?

BLITZER: You wouldn’t change existing policy.

HUCKABEE: I don’t think that I would. I think it’s already covered by the existing policy that we do have, in fact.

Huckabee’s obviously one confused man. He makes the distinction between “attitude” and “conduct,” saying Don’t Ask helps regulate inappropriate conduct. Does he assume all gays are roving cock sucking monsters? He must, because otherwise he would never be able to make such a ridiculous statement that so obviously privileges straights.

How about we take this to the next level?

Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.

Daily

Weekly

Promotions and Partner Emails

Meanwhile, as Romney mentioned, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani mentioned that now “isn’t the time” to discuss Don’t Ask. What prompted such a response? Wolf’s question:

Mayor Giuliani, recently we’ve learned that several talented trained linguists — Arabic speakers, Farsi speakers, Urdu speakers — trained by the U.S. government to learn those languages to help us in the war on terrorism, were dismissed from the military because they announced they were gays or lesbians.

Is that, in your mind, appropriate?

Giuliani then went on to explain that we need to focus on learning new techniques for this ever-changing war. Here’s one: stop firing the men and women who can help. Sorry if we’re starting to sound like a broken record, but these kids just don’t learn!
Here’s the video of the GOPpers debating – or not debating – the gays.

Thanks, Petulant Rumblings!

Read the transcript here.
Image courtesy of NY Times‘ coverage, which you should also read.