http://conversation101.squarespace.com/dadt/2010/12/1/mccain-on-dadt-hero-or-last-angry-man.htmlJust because yesterday’s post on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was called “Very Few Barriers Remain to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal” doesn’t mean there are no barriers left to repeal. Otherwise, I’d have called it “No Barriers Remain to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal.” There are still powerful opponents to the repeal, as well as a not-insignificant minority of the nation as a whole.
It seems to be coming clearer that the face of the opposition in Washington is fast becoming Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who gave a fascinating interview recently with the Daily Beast. In it, he takes on the administration’s “non-military” leadership on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell:
"It’s no surprise that the former Navy pilot sees himself as a champion of the military, and he chides Obama for inexperience in pushing to lift the ban on openly gay service members.
But McCain is indulging in semantics when it comes to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. In 2006, he said on MSNBC that “the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change the policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it.” Now that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, supports the Pentagon’s move toward junking DADT—and even McCain’s wife, Cindy, has appeared in a gay rights group’s video opposing the policy—the senator is blocking Obama’s plan.
“I understand that’s his commitment to the gay and lesbian community,” McCain says. But while a Pentagon study released Tuesday found more than two-thirds support for the change among service members and said disruptions would be minimal, McCain wants a broader study that would focus on combat readiness.
His explanation: “The Marine commandant is opposed to
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I know for a fact the other three service chiefs have serious reservations.”
As for their superiors, McCain casually mentions the commander in chief and defense secretary, “neither of which I view as a military leader.”"
Me-ow!
I’ve mentioned the now-undeniable support for doing away with DADT in terms of morality and civil rights elsewhere, and I think it’s apropos to look at it that way. I also know that a lot of the concern expressed here by folks like E isn’t about the morality of the issue, but instead the implementation. Hopefully the report from the Pentagon will mollify that somewhat. As the article mentioned, McCain’s position had been that he would listen to the advice of the military leadership. Now, he seems to have changed his mind.
History will determine whether this is McCain casting himself as the lone movie juror holdout that stubbornly argues his case until justice is done, or if he’s simply being stubborn.
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