Thoughts On Don't Ask Don't Tell?

[Jim in CT]

Spence, I also can't help butr notice that you refuse to address my question, based on Scott W's post...

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Spence, I also can't help butr notice that you refuse to address my question, based on Scott W's post...

leave me out...you'll just get me in trouble...check's in the mail for the "brilliant" comment though...

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by scottw

leave me out...you'll just get me in trouble...check's in the mail for the "brilliant" comment though...

Scott, one of my favorite hobbies is blowing holes in the logic (or lack thereof) that liberal ideology is based upon. Your observation was a perfect example, and one that I would never have thought of. I have repeated that several times in the last few days, and I look forward to nailing my communist sister-in-law with it, when I see her at Christmas!

You know how effective it was, based on the fact that the liberals here refuse to respond to it!

[RIROCKHOUND]

Jim:
"which was explaining the obvious contradiction in liberal ideology about whether or not people can refrain from sexual activity. "

There is no contradiction. The availability of contraception vs abstinence programs, which largely is done at the high-school age level is apples to zucchini from soldiers in the United States military. Contraception is not a liberal ideology, although it is against Catholic ideology. I'm sure lots of conservative's have sex before marriage. Maybe not devout Catholics, but give me a break. I got married at 26, I certainly was very thankful for contraception before and after I got married.


I asked if you were married while deployed because you were able to control your sexual impulses. No affairs, no hookers.

Your response was "No, I did not cheat on my wife. But you see, except for the rare day off, I had no opportunity, because I was surrounded by men, who I'm not attracted to If I was gay, how could I not feel some sexual impulses toward some of the guys?"

So if I follow this logic, if there were women there you were attracted to, you would have had a harder time not cheating on your wife? I suspect you would have done your job and stayed faithful. Yet you think all that man meat will make every gay soldier a walking hard-on who is too distracted to fight.

I have one other thoughts/question and then I have to get back to work to get finished up so I can take tomorrow off.
1. Out of your unit/platoon/brigade was anyone gay? Did you suspect anyone was gay? Did/would it matter to you as an officer as long as he did his job.



Nebe and I had coffee with a friend of ours (and Spence's) last night. He posts, but not in the Political forum. Vietnam Vet, paratrooper, shot in combat and a lot of time in that jungle. Still crazy as hell in his early 60's. I asked his thoughts and he reiterated a story of his time in Nam where one of the toughest, 'killing machine's in his unit was gay and they all knew it. No one person had a problem with it, ever. During combat, where as he said, your so scared and focused on staying alive that everything else doesn't matter". I can't offer anything as I don't share that perspective or experience with you guys.


Happy holidays to you and yours (Sincere!)

[Fly Rod]

All this concern about Gay's, I'd be just as concerned about Greeks, they carry the VASELINE with them, hooooooo.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Jim:
"which was explaining the obvious contradiction in liberal ideology about whether or not people can refrain from sexual activity. "

There is no contradiction. The availability of contraception vs abstinence programs, which largely is done at the high-school age level is apples to zucchini from soldiers in the United States military. Contraception is not a liberal ideology, although it is against Catholic ideology. I'm sure lots of republican's have sex before marriage. Maybe not devout Catholics, but give me a break. I got married at 26, I certainly was very thankful for contraception before and after I got married.


I asked if you were married while deployed because you were able to control your sexual impulses. No affairs, no hookers.

Your response was "No, I did not cheat on my wife. But you see, except for the rare day off, I had no opportunity, because I was surrounded by men, who I'm not attracted to If I was gay, how could I not feel some sexual impulses toward some of the guys?"

So if I follow this logic, if there were women there you were attracted to, you would have had a harder time not cheating on your wife? I suspect you would have done your job and stayed faithful. Yet you think all that man meat will make every gay soldier a walking hard-on who is too distracted to fight.

I have one other thoughts/question and then I have to get back to work to get finished up so I can take tomorrow off.
1. Out of your unit/platoon/brigade was anyone gay? Did you suspect anyone was gay? Did/would it matter to you as an officer as long as he did his job.



Nebe and I had coffee with a friend of ours (and Spence's) last night. He posts, but not in the Political forum. Vietnam Vet, paratrooper, shot in combat and a lot of time in that jungle. Still crazy as hell in his early 60's. I asked his thoughts and he reiterated a story of his time in Nam where one of the toughest, 'killing machine's in his unit was gay and they all knew it. No one person had a problem with it, ever. During combat, where as he said, your so scared and focused on staying alive that everything else doesn't matter". I can't offer anything as I don't share that perspective or experience with you guys.


Happy holidays to you and yours (Sincere!)

Wow.

"There is no contradiction. The availability of contraception vs abstinence programs, which largely is done at the high-school age level is apples to zucchini from soldiers in the United States military. "

So you're syaing there's no contradiction because asking high schoolers to control themselves is one thing, but asking soldiers to control themselves is somehting else? If that was valid, and it's not, I wonder why women in uniform have had as many problems as they have had? If anything, sexuality is more pervasive in uniform, especially in combat commands, because it's such an intense, stressful, depressing, lonely existence.

"I got married at 26, I certainly was very thankful for contraception before and after I got married. "

Good for you. The fact still is, that the availability of contraception, with the inevitable degredation of sex into a casual thing, has led to an explosion of societal problems. It might have been good for you, it has not been good for society. That's a different debate...

"So if I follow this logic, if there were women there you were attracted to, you would have had a harder time not cheating on your wife? "

No. What I meant was this. Let's say I was single, and there was a girl in my command I had a crush on. Or even if I was married, maybe there was a young girl that I wanted to look after, maybe I feel like a father to her. I might have let those feelings influence my decisions, decisions like who has to kick down a door and secure a room. I'd like to think I could still be just as objective, but human nature is what it is.

I guess what I'm saying is, at a minimum, repealing DADT will make effective combat more challenging. And in my opinion (rational folks can certainly disagree), combat is challenging enough without needlessly injecting more challenges, just for the sake of political corrcetness.

But at the same time, I can respect the feelings of a patriotic homosexual who feels the same calling to serve that I felt.

"you think all that man meat will make every gay soldier a walking hard-on who is too distracted to fight. '

nope, that way more extreme than what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this. Let's assume I'm a private and my lieutenant is openly gay. I'm straight, but I know there are other gays in my platoon. If I suspect that the lieutenant is giving me the dangerous jobs because he's got a crush on the other guys, that's a serious problem. Even if I have no valid reason to believe that, it's still a problem. The only way to eliminate that problem is to only allow heterosexual men in combat. Is the problem severe enough to warrant such a radical solution? That's the debate. Time will tell.

"1. Out of your unit/platoon/brigade was anyone gay? Did you suspect anyone was gay? Did/would it matter to you as an officer as long as he did his job. "

In my company, I didn't suspect anyone was gay. I'll say this. If one of my guys was gay, I still would have died for him without hesitation. But I'd bet that if one of my guys was gay, some of the men would have complained to me about thinking it's immoral, about not wanting to shower with him, not wanting to bunk with him, etc...I had enough going on, I was glad I didn't have to deal with that distraction.

As to your heroic friend...I have said repeatedly that when in actual combat with bullets flying (I've been there twice), sexual orientation is not on anyone's mind. But the day-to-day living in a forward-serving combat command, things are a little different. Morale is very important, respect for the chain of command is vital.

I've been in combat, and now I work in an office. They are very, very different environments, they are very different realities. What works in one may not work in the other. In fact, what may be required in one, may be disastrous in the other. I may not trust my boss or co-workers in the office, but I can still do my job effectively. I cannot function in a combat command without that trust. That trust has to be absolute and total. And I'm not saying that repealing DADT necessarily erodes that trust, but it makes it a little harder, it invites additional challenges to overcome.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday too. God Bless all here.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

The only way to eliminate that problem is to only allow heterosexual men in combat. Is the problem severe enough to warrant such a radical solution? That's the debate. Time will tell.

Based on this line and the rest of your last post, do you feel the same about women in combat?

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Based on this line and the rest of your last post, do you feel the same about women in combat?

Same logic, yeah. I hate saying that I want to deprive patriotic women of their desire to serve in combat, but it's a rough environment. The introduction of women into combat areas has not been without problems.

I love my wife and my mom, and I don't think that my opinion that women shouldn't be in combat is based on sexist notions, it's not like I'm saying they shouldn't be allowed to vote.

I believe in equal opportunity for women in the workplace, I guess I feel that combat is a different animal.

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Spence, I also can't help butr notice that you refuse to address my question, based on Scott W's post...

If you think I'm a liberal, and all liberals have a mental disorder, wouldn't you be biased to think my response was the product of non-rational thought?

-spence

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

If you think I'm a liberal, and all liberals have a mental disorder, wouldn't you be biased to think my response was the product of non-rational thought?

-spence

Yes I would. Because there is no possible rational reconciliation of the flip-flopping hypocrisy that Scott W unwittingly exposed. If you don't see an indefensible inconsistency there, you aren't seeing clearly. If you think big government and high taxes is the answer, despite what's happening in Europe as I type this, you aren't thinking clearly, rather you have been indoctrinated. I know how patronizing that sounds, I just can't come up with another explanation of an ideology that claims that serial killers have the right to live but not unborn babies.

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Yes I would.

Then why answer the question?

Because there is no possible rational reconciliation of the flip-flopping hypocrisy that Scott W unwittingly exposed.

"Flip-flopping" and "hypocrisy is redundant...as is "ScottW" and "unwittingly"

-spence

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

Then why answer the question?


-spence

Because maybe, just maybe, I'm wrong and that there is a sound, valid reason for the seeming flip-flop. Since you keep dancing around it, I assume you have no response. Maybe you asked the question on The Huffington Post, and you're waiting for Sean Penn to tell you what to say.

I am open-minded Spence, despite the fact that I am a wise-ass. I was radically pro-abortion when i was younger. I also don't think conservatives are always correct (I have no issues with gay marriage, I think we need way more strict gun control laws).
I voted for Bill Clinton and think we was a pretty good president. I also think Bush 41 was an awful president.

Your view on every single issue seems to be, liberal = good, conservative = bad. The world isn't that simple.

I look at the facts open-minded, and let the facts tell me what they're trying to tell me. When I'm confronted with a fact that doesn't fit my agenda, I don't cover my ears and scream "Bush stole the election! Bush stole the election!"