Home » Blog » Will the Next President Lift the Ban on Gays in the Military...
Blog for America
Will the Next President Lift the Ban on Gays in the Military?
The title of this post is the title of an interesting piece in the The American Prospect:
There are many facets to the issue of our military's future, but for the moment I want to discuss just one: whether the ban on gays serving in the military will finally be repealed. Of the 26 countries in the NATO alliance, only Portugal, Greece, Turkey—and the United States—ban gays from serving in the military. Other countries have reported no problems integrating gay service members into their military. This is true even in Israel, where they take military matters very, very seriously.Danny
Communications Director
Howard Dean is first if I get kicked up.
Howard Dean is first if I get ahead of Tom and Phil :~)
Good topic Danny :)
When will the Obama campaign release their Feb numbers? I would think they would want to steal Hillary's 35MM thunder at some point today.
Danny pulled a fast one putting up a thread that isn't on browse all.
Danny is first anytime he wants isn't he.
go Danny
They certainly should IMHO.
They should also give free birth control to the women too.
They also need to start prosecuting and court marshalling those who commit rape.
Rape in the military: Female troops deserve much better
More than 59,000 female troops have been deployed overseas to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have flown combat missions, served on ships and, in 12 cases, died in Iraq — stark evidence of the equality women have attained as soldiers.
Yet, when several reported sexual assaults in the combat zone during the past year, equal treatment vanished. They say their complaints were ignored or spurred mistreatment by male superiors.
Thirty-seven women who have served in Iraq and Kuwait in recent months have reported to a civilian group that they were sexually assaulted by fellow troops or superiors during their assignments overseas. They or their families contacted the Miles Foundation, a Connecticut-based organization known for championing the cause of abused military women. ...full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/edi...
February 28, 2008, 1:58 pm Obama Camp Says It Will Outraise Clinton
By Michael Luo
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Senator Barack Obama, has already put a bit of a damper on a 3 p.m. conference call today in which Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign is expected to announce it raised $35 million in February.
“We have raised considerably more than that,” said Mr. Burton, who declined to cite an exact number. “We’re pretty encouraged.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/obama-camp-says-it-will-outraise-clinton/
That is a whole lot of money. Obama may need to get serious about asking the grassroots for help if Clinton wins Texas and Ohio.
While this doesn't answer the question, the movie does throw some light on sex in the miliary.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5734551070026840153
VENICE (Reuters) - A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears.
"Redacted", by U.S. director Brian De Palma, is one of at least eight American films on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months and the first of two movies on the conflict screening in Venice's main competition.
Inspired by one of the most serious crimes committed by American soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, it is a harrowing indictment of the conflict and spares the audience no brutality to get its message across.
De Palma, 66, whose "Casualties of War" in 1989 told a similar tale of abuse by American soldiers in Vietnam, makes no secret of the goal he is hoping to achieve with the film's images, all based on real material he found on the Internet.
"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," he told reporters after a press screening.
"The pictures are what will stop the war. One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to motivate their Congressmen to vote against this war," he said.
Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi was gang raped, killed and burnt by American soldiers in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006. Her parents and younger daughter were also killed.
[...]
3:07 PM EST
the longer the dem nomination is not settled, the higher McCain's poll numbers go up:
http://www.wesh.com/news/15439605/detail.html?rss=orl&psp=news
Poll: Republican McCain FavoredPOSTED: 2:13 pm EST February 28, 2008A new Mason-Dixon poll reveals Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is favored over his Democratic rivals....3:05 EST
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/
The blast in the city of Waukegan caused "a multitude of injuries", according to Mayor Richard Hyde.
It was not clear what caused the blast above a mobile phone shop and hair salon, the Associated Press news agency reported.
TV footage showed a collapsed ceiling as the emergency services rushed to the scene of the blast
3:08 PM EST
9.Phil Specht
Thu, 02/28/08
Reply to this
That is a whole lot of money. Obama may need to get serious about asking the grassroots
...
+++
Phil -
I'm glad you're underestimating what Obama and his grassroot supporters are already doing and accomplishing.
Underestimation is good for the one being estimated.
3:13 PM EST
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=463719
Bush raps Obama foreign policy pledge
29th February 2008, 4:42 WST
US President George W Bush has sharply criticised Democratic front-runner Barack Obama's pledge to meet Cuban leader Raul Castro without preconditions, leaping squarely into the race to succeed him.
...
Bush speech http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7269452.stm
great to know we aren't headed for a recession
and McCain says Obama can't pull out troops because we lose without them and Bush says we can't pull out troops becaue we are winning , I didn't hear him disagree that McCain's assessment that it might take 50 years
Rob Roy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_(film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114287/trai...
Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women (1999)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/179842/S...
Comfort Women: A Cry for Justice (1989)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369343/
---
Japan probes new allegations of rape linked to U.S. military
(CNN) -- Investigators in Japan are investigating a second reported sexual assault connected to the U.S. military, police said Thursday.
Japanese protesters shout slogans last week in front of a U.S. camp on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
Investigators said they are looking into allegations that a member of the U.S. Army raped a Filipino woman on the island of Okinawa.
Last week, police detained a U.S. Marine in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl on Okinawa -- a case that has stirred outrage across Japan.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect in the second case was a soldier or a civilian employee at the military's sprawling base in southern Japan, where tens of thousands of troops are based. ...full article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02...
Underestimation is good for the one being estimated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
beats the heck out of thinking it is in the bag while still in a contest
How about this one...
Will a new administration lift the ban on women serving in combat roles?
The current ban is one in name only, since women are doing everything from flying attack helicopters to walking patrol in Iraq (particularly women in the Guard and Reserves), but the ban on the books does serve to create a glass ceiling in promotion, where many high level positions are only open to people who have "punched the ticket".
3:26 PM EST
Well, Obama is a real multi-tasker --
-- he's having to handle criticisms from Clinton, Bush and McCain.
3:30 PM EST
16.Phil Specht
Thu, 02/28/08
Reply to this
Underestimation is good for the one being estimated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
beats the heck out of thinking it is in the bag while still in a contest
+++
Phil -
Who's thinking it is in the bag ? Barack ? his handlers like David Plouffe or David Axelrod ? his supporters ? I don't see any evidence here or on the Obama '08 blog of that type of thinking.
If you're referring to the CM, well that is outside the control of Barack and his campaign team and his volunteers.
Danny --
If you come into the site at
www.blogforamerica.com
this thread does not show up.
You have to go into the OLD thread, max to the bottom, click on your 'new thread' post to get here.
Or are we in the rabbit hole again:~)
20. Danny -- it's there now -- or I'm in an alternative universe -- not sure which :~)
I absolutely do not think Obama has anything in any bag, no matter how encouraging his numbers may be. Never take anything for granted in politics, as we surely all know by now!
Rich - I'm a huge fan of Thai food if you find something local :>0
Phil -
Who's thinking it is in the bag ? Barack ? his handlers like David Plouffe or David Axelrod ? his supporters ? I don't see any evidence here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I haven't seen a sense or urgency to organize in Oregon, but rather an effort to silence an undecided voter
May 20th will be here before you know it, and if it is still a contest (and it may not be), it will be a very important one.
you must have missed it but multiple Obama bloggers were telling seashell to get over it
3:47
Annilow
Thu, 02/28/08
Reply to this
Danny --
If you come into the site at
www.blogforamerica.com
this thread does not show up.
You have to go into the OLD thread, max to the bottom, click on your 'new thread' post to get here.
Or are we in the rabbit hole again:~)
Annilow
Thu, 02/28/08
Reply to this
20. Danny -- it's there now -- or I'm in an alternative universe -- not sure which :~)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Annilow,
You are not "in an alternative universe." I had neglected to promote the post to the front page, but I caught what I did and fixed it.
Thanks.
Danny
Communications Director
Thanks Danny
Denise,
There are a couple of Thai places not far away, most of which I haven't tried yet because there's one closer to my house (but further from the hotel) I like quite a bit. Now I'll have to try some of them out!
Hillary has the same odds of winning Texas and Ohio as the Giants had of beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl
money only does you good if it is well spent
Is Danny our new moderator?
anybody blogging instead of making phone calls is letting someone else do it for them
I am meeting tonight to organize our rules for the county convention to allow for a seamless transfer of Edwards support to where ever they want to go between the two, but only after they have a chance to caucus as uncommitted and maintain the right to be pursuaded at the District Convention as delegates with a vote on who goes to Denver as part of a group of former Edwards supporters (who may be as a for instance true believers in the need for universal health care without backing Clinton). as you know from my arguments here I'm a stickler for following the rules as written which gives a viable (15%) group to organize and elect their own representation (delegates to the State Convention)
Chris Bower thinks it's time for an Obama vp pick. I like Feingold, Schweitzer and now to a lesser extent Webb. I'm not happy about Webb's FISA stance.
Link to Chris Bower's site:
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?dia...
10.
* rdorgan
Thu, 02/28/08
Reply to this
3:07 PM EST
the longer the dem nomination is not settled, the higher McCain's poll numbers go up:
===============================
625 is hardly a scientific sample, and they don't say which states were polled (by phone.) Wouldn't trust any service called Mason-Dixon either. We're supposed to be one country.
LEADVILLE, Colo. — Emergency sirens and loudspeakers have been tested and sensors installed. Bulldozers have cut an escape route. Townspeople have been warned to assemble ‘‘grab-it-and-go’’ kits with first aid supplies, water, flashlights and blankets.
A concealed threat is hanging over this old Wild West mining town: A billion gallons of toxic water is trapped in a collapsed drainage tunnel in the hills overlooking Leadville and could blow at any moment with devastating effect, sweeping away mobile homes in the town of 2,600.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/8181...
Holy Smokes!!!!!!! Obama's fundraising may be north of 60MM. As Phil says the new w00t is Yee Haw!!
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/th...
Time for my green tea.
Rich thanks - when you're munching on the Pad Thai think of me :)
I find Thai food to be much more flavorful and healthier than Chinese, though I do like my honey walnut prawns.
Wish I was having THOSE for lunch.
The Obama team better release those numbers pronto so they can be THE news and not Hillary's numbers.
Phil how can one poster from Oregon possibly be responsible for what will happen there come May? I think your trying to tie those two thoughts of yours together is not computing.
Can anyone else tell me what brother Phil might mean? I really think we should invite some folks from late primary states to weigh in here as to how they are feeling - it would be nice to get some other perspectives and point of views.
Native American Women Face High Rape Rate, Report Says
Tribes Often Lack Funds and Policing to Patrol Lands
One in three Native American women will be raped at some point in their lives, a rate that is more than double that for non-Indian women, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
The report, "Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA," noted a variety of reasons that rape is so prevalent on reservations, according to its authors. ...full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
Feb 26, 2008 02:37 PM
Chinta Puxley
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario could become the latest province to ban people from smoking in cars carrying kids after Premier Dalton McGuinty vowed today to take a "second look" at adopting legislation he once called a slippery slope.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/arti...
======================
When government pays for health care, there is more legislative effort to prevent disease.
I am making a judgement about Obama from how his supporters treat undecideds or supporters of other candidates.
They will need every one to win in November.
37.
Phil Specht
Thu, 02/28/08
I am making a judgement about Obama from how his supporters treat undecideds or supporters of other candidates.
They will need every one to win in November.
_______________________________________________________________________
What does this have to do with one vote in Oregon?
hope you got my thank you from the last thread, Danny.
this is a wonderful vid of Howard - his YouTube question for the repub candidates
19.
* rdorgan
Thu, 02/28/08
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your thin skin and paranoia is hurting your candidate more than it's helping him. . . .
There is something cooking in Obamaville concerning OH and TX. A closing message if you will. Coup de grace.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2...
I'm glad Obama is taking a bit of time before releasing his numbers. curiosity and anticipation are good for the soul.
USS Cole on way to coast of Lebanon, and already the Repugs are asking if we want Obama in charge and talking to Assad.
A vP choice will have to speak to the fact that another scare or war will be added to the agenda to influence the election.
This eliminates all of the names mentioned here so far except maybe Web, or possibly Clark.
They will need every one to win in November.
_______________________________________________________________________
What does this have to do with one vote in Oregon?
~~~~~~~~~~~
not sure what you don't understand about every one, but is kind of like calling your plan universal when every expert says it won't be that without some kind of mandate
John Edwards pointed out that there are 200,000 homeless vets. do their votes count?
no more than an undecided blogger from Oregon, no more than any one of us here, no less (oh wait, they do if no one pays any attention to them, and they don't get registered to vote)
we have pretty well established 400 lurkers for every poster here or some such number, let's welcome them even if they are for Hillary or undecided
Fred is from Oregon so lets ask Fred if Obama is organizing in Oregon through offices set up to use volunteers. (to register homeless vets if they think the contest over with Hillary?)
Gotcha Phil - sorry it took a few posts so I could understand how you were tying this all together. Thanks for taking the time to explain :)
Whether Obama or Clinton is the nominee, I truly believe Jim Webb is the best VP candidate.
He can and would stick it in the ear of "War-monger McCain".
seashell was whing last night about donors, of all things (info is readily available @OpenSecrets--anytime).
Obama for Oregon also has a portal.
Nothing top secret about it, Phil.
It's called *research*. Every blogger is responsible for self-knowledge (process), unless they're a newbie.
TX & OH (with VT & RI pulling up the rear) will pull things together on the 4th.
Why?
Cash flow & superdelegates bailing. Neither can keep up this frenetic pace until May 25th--ain't gonna happen.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2... and http://my.barackobama.com/page/community...
From Senator Obama:
...We also need a president who’s willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia – that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president. That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that’s what I’ve done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached. ...
Add your comment
(to reply directly to a comment, click the reply icon for that comment)Post closed to commenting
 |
|
 |
My DFA |
|
Members |
|
Groups |
|
Events |
|
Candidates |
 |
|
Blog for America
-
41!
By Mary R on Mar 10, 2010 6:17 PM EST -
Gov Dean and Jim rally in DC
By Mary R on Mar 10, 2010 3:22 AM EST -
Thoughts on the State of the Union?
By Kate Lesniak on Jan 28, 2010 11:08 AM EST -
Governor Dean Speaks for Me
By Charles Chamberlain on Dec 17, 2009 12:33 PM EST -
No Option? No Mandate!
By Jim Dean on Dec 16, 2009 12:24 PM EST
Recent Blog Posts
-
this Thursday's choices
By Gerry Lykins on Mar 11, 2010 8:05 AM EST -
discount mbt shoes are running harder
By 1 L on Mar 11, 2010 4:44 AM EST -
On The Fear Of Government, Or, Let's Get Back To Basics
By fake consultant on Mar 11, 2010 3:10 AM EST -
You Need to Know If A Mortgage Refinance Can Save You Money
By Tracey G on Mar 11, 2010 1:32 AM EST -
My Blogs
By Alexander B on Mar 11, 2010 1:20 AM EST
-
By Tom Bearse on Feb 28, 2008 2:37 PM ESTI feel strongly that Dean is first.