Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Congressional leaders and the White House have worked out a compromise that will allow Congress to repeal the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, but allow the military until the end of the year to finish its review of how to implement the new policy.

The Democratic Congress and the Obama administration have been under increasing political pressure from gay activists to fulfill their promise to repeal DADT, while the military has been trying to get more time to "study" the policy and the effects of lifting DADT on military personnel.

The compromise has received mixed responses from gay activists, since the compromise, to be offered as an amendment to a defense authorization bill, would not immediately end discharges of gay and lesbian soldiers and would not end DADT until next year.

The military has been "studying" gays in the military for over 50 years. There is no need for more studies.

The military is supposed to be under civilian control, answerable to the Executive Branch. President Obama, the Commander-in-Chief, should issue an executive order immediately to stop discharges and the military should be ordered to replace DADT with a non-discrimination policy that protects the rights of LGBT people to serve in the U.S. military free from harassment and discrimination.

White House Seeks to Speed Up DADT Repeal

The DADT Deal

Another Year of DADT

Obama Heckled Over DADT

Get Equal Response to DADT Repeal

USA TODAY: DADT Affects Women, Minorities More

UPDATE: Congress Advances Repeal of DADT

The Senate Armed Services Committee and the House of Representatives have approved amendments to repeal DADT.

Cut the Military Budget!

Barney Franks makes the case brilliantly: Cut the Military Budget!

The Pentagon is requesting a 12 percent INCREASE in the military budget ($584 billion). Reports indicate the Obama Administration is planning to give a 8 percent INCREASE ($527 billion). The military-industrial lobby is shifting to full speed in its PR campaign to argue that military spending is a necessary stimulant to the economy, and to drive home the attack that Obama's 8 percent increase is a CUT in military spending.

Everyone knows that the military inflates its budgets so that anything less than their increase request is portrayed as a cut. They still get $billions more every year. As Christopher Hayes points out in The Nation (Cut the Military Budget-I) even not counting the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations, the regular Pentagon budget has increased by 77 percent, while cost overruns in weapons systems have ballooned to $300 billion.

As Barney Franks points out, the math is compelling for cutting the military budget: "If we do not make the reductions approximating 25 percent of the military budget starting fairly soon, it will be impossible to continue to fund an adequate level of domestic activity even with a repeal of Bush's tax cuts."

"If we do not reduce the military budget, either we accustom ourselves to unending and increasing budget deficits, or we do severe harm to our ability to improve the quality of our lives through sensible public policy."

Even former Reagan Administration official Lawrence Korb (now Center for American Progress senior fellow) has been pushing cuts in military spending. He has presented an alternative Unified Security Budget which identifies $61 billion in cuts military programs that could be made "with no sacrifice to our security."

The United States is facing an economic crisis unlike any it has seen in 80 years. The Federal Reserve and FDIC have already spent trillions on the bailout. Now Congress has approved an economic stimulus that will cost near $800 billion. The national debt is over $10 trillion and the annual deficit is over $1 trillion. How is the United States going to pay for it? How is it going to fund the new energy economy, schools, education, health care and other urgent needs? One solution: cut the wasteful and bloated military budget.

Take Action! Tell the president, your senators, and your representative to cut the military budget and invest in rebuilding America

SEE ALSO:

Why Not Cut Military Spending?

The Risk of Military Keynesianism

Center for Defense Information

Bush Losing Support of Military Families

Bush Approval Among Military Families Down 50% since 2004 Most disapprove of Bush & the War, more favor Democrats than Republicans to support veterans.

Mission Impossible

It's the Fourth Anniversary of George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, and he continues to lie. Today he vetoed the funding bill Congress sent to him because it included a "nonbinding" resolution with a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops in a year. Using Orwellian logic, Bush and the GOP are accusing the Democrats of witholding funds to the military and U.S. troops, even though it is BUSH who is blocking the funding bill, NOT the Democrats.

Following the Karl Rove/GOP playbook, Rudy Giuliani warned that if the Democrats win in 2008, they will retreat from the "war on terrorism" and put the U.S. on the defensive rather than an offensive position on the "war on terror." How can Bush and the GOP keep getting away with this BIG LIE. Do we have to remind them and the American people that it was BUSH and the GOP who allowed the terrorist attack on 9/11 to take place? Richard Clarke and several other former members of the Bush adminstration have testified that BUSH did not even discuss terrorism before 9/11! Cheney's terrorism task force NEVER MET! Bush ignored repeated warnings from the intelligence community about a terrorist attack. BUSH, was the President almost a year before 9/11 and HE failed to protect and defend the U.S., and he has used 9/11 and the perpetual "war on terror" to gain "political capital." Bush and the GOP have weakened the U.S. military, and have aided the growth of terrorism world wide. Terrorism has INCREASED in Iraq since the illegal U.S. invasion and occupation. Bush is a LIAR. He has used the military and U.S. troops and they have paid the price for his incompetence.

Mission Accomplished.

Homo-Cons & Christo-Fascists Embrace Matt Sanchez

I hope this is the LAST post I do on Matt Sanchez, the former "straight gay pornstar," who is now the boytoy of the anti-gay right-wing Christo-fascists. Sanchez, who appears in over 30 "gay porn" flicks now claims is is not and never was "gay." He has denounced his gay porn past on Salon.com and says porn is "liberal". He has been embraced by right-wing nuts from David Horowitz to Kevin McCullough, who uses Sanchez as a case example of the "filth" of homosexuality, and proof that homos can change. Nevermind that Sanchez claims that he was NEVER gay to begin with! Of course "straight" men can fuck other men, history is full of examples of that. But these wing-nuts seem to only focus on sexual behaviors of "homosexuals." Sanchez is playing right along, thanking McCullough for writing this piece on him. I guess he has found a way to make more money off the backs of gay people, he will become the next darling of the "ex-gay" business, no doubt focusing his book on how he overcame his homosexual porn past. McCulough repeats the same talking pionts of Matt Sanchez, Ann Coulter and the right of the anti-gay conservative Reich: It is LIBERALS who are intolerant and "homophobic"! UNBELIEVABLE!
Matt Sanchez is a "proud Marine", writing endlessly about how great the marines are, and the military, which may be kicking him out along with the proud gay soldiers, if the current chair of the joint cheifs has his way. General Pace, chair of the Joint Chiefs says that homosexuality is "immoral" and should not be tolerated in the military. Will Sanchez challenge the anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy" or will he continue to defend the anti-gay military establishment? Sanchez praises the new film "300" for its graphic portrayal of violence and militarism and cheers the Spartans kicking the ass of the "drag-queen" Persians. Talk about re-writing history! Do they not teach world history at Columbia?? Those Spartan warriors were HOMOS ! The Sacred Band of Thebes "is usually considered as the prime example of how the Ancient Greeks used homoerotic and homosexual relationships between soldiers in a troop to boost the fighting spirit of their militaries." Wow, why doesn't the U.S. military learn from history?

Now the Uncle Tom Gay Republicans are also defending Matt Sanchez against the intolerant "gay left"!

Message to Matt Sanchez and the gay Uncle Tom Republicans: No, we "gay lefties" are not intolerant of everyone who disagrees with us (hell we disagree with each other all the time!). Quit trying to change the topic from your right-wing, racist, sexist, militaristic, pro-corporate, political agenda. What we, what I, do not tolerate are Uncle Tom Republicans who sell out their own community for tax breaks and capital gains tax cuts, and support illegal wars and wasteful military spending to spread "democracy" (i.e., capitalism) and U.S. imperialism throughout the world and feed more hate and terrorism against us. Yes, I HATE fascists! I despise you! Not because I "disagree" with you, but because you are responsible for and support militarism, war, poverty, misery and anti-gay Christian fascism! You are a threat to democracy and your support of the Republican Party and conservatism is underming the U.S. Constitution! We have NOTHING in common and I do not even see us as part of a "gay community." We are on opposing sides of a class struggle! So I have had enough of you Matt Sanchez, you are a LIAR. You have used the "gay community" for years and made money off us, like most conservative porn makers and bar owners who take money from the "gay community" and funnel it back to the Republican Party and anti-gay political organizations. You obviously have NO respect for gay people, especially the men you have screwed trying to prove what a macho man you are (not). Please go and leave us alone and quit using us to further your "career."

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Response from Matt Sanchez:
Get a grip. You've blamed me for everything everything except for Lincoln's assassination. No wonder no one takes you seriously.