Partially because of this type of response from opponents of LGBT Equality Rights as in this lovely example from the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer, who wrote in his syndicated column about an hour after the final Senate vote to repeal DADT yesterday:
"We are now stuck with sexual deviants serving openly in the U.S. military because of turncoat Republican senators.
(Dictionary definition of "deviant": "departing from usual or accepted standards, esp. in social or sexual behavior." "Deviant" is not name calling, it is truth-telling.)"
*sigh* Yeah well excuse it any way you want Fischer, but its still unacceptable to refer to your fellow humans as deviants as I really don't see where you have any moral authority or standing to do so. Of course then Bryan doesn't stop there, continuing on he says:
"The armies of other nations have allowed gays to serve openly in the military. The reason they could afford to do this is simple: they could allow homosexuals to serve in their military because we didn't allow them to serve in ours.
They knew they could count on the strength, might, power, and cohesion of the U.S. military to intervene whenever and wherever necessary to pull their fannies out of the fire and squash the forces of tyranny wherever they raised their ugly heads around the world.
Those days are now gone. We will no longer be able to bail out these other emasculated armies because ours will now be feminized and neutered beyond repair, and there is no one left to bail us out. We have been permanently weakened as a military and as a nation by these misguided and treasonous Republican senators, and the world is now a more dangerous place for us all."
Really Bryan? Really? Feminised AND neutered? [ Insert BIGGER sigh of exasperation here folks.... ] Look, Fischer, there's a decorated and valiant United States Marine Staff Sergeant who lost his right leg in a car bombing in the Iraq war that just damn well might disagree with that assessment of yours. In fact, I'm pretty sure that SSGT Eric Alva would STRONGLY disagree with your onerous proclamation that the U. S. military is now officially neutered.
Let's talk about Sergeant Alva for a moment shall we Bryan?
I don't know about you Fischer, but that sure as hell doesn't sound like a feminine United States Marine to me, does it you? Unfortunately, the SSGT was medically retired from the Marines in June of 2004 owing to loss of his limb and other injuries.
Sergeant Alva described his career once as a sacrifice but one he very intentionally chose:
For many in the Gay and Lesbian community, including those who are veterans of a few years of service, and in the general population, it is difficult to comprehend why someone Gay or Lesbian would be willing to put aside their private life and sacrifice the freedom of his or her best years for a life in the military.
To gain insight into why someone, gay or straight, would take on the ultimate challenge of becoming a Marine, a journalist interviewed an openly Gay retired U. S, Marine Corps colonel who lives here in the metropolitan Washington DC area who had served in combat in Vietnam. That officer told him:
USMC Captain Nathan Cox wrote:
The point being that to be able to meet the challenge and be accepted into the Marine Corps and to be successful within the USMC has no bearing on whether you are gay or not.
Is SSGT Alva exceptional in his square-jawed determination, both to have been a Marine, and now to be an openly Gay spokesman for the right to serve? I do not think so Bryan, Sergeant Alva himself pointed out that:
Feminised Fischer?
You sir, are an idiot and THAT is a fact. Sealed its own demise? Thankfully, because of brave and patriotic GAY and LESBIAN Marines, Sailors, Airman, Soldiers, and Coast Guardsman like SSGT Eric Alva- I seriously doubt that the U. S. is headed for its demise and paraphrasing what noted American novelist Mark Twain once said; "Reports of its death are premature and greatly exaggerated."
This is NOT over, the thing is that the battlefield now shifts from Congress and DADT to the next skirmish over ENDA, DOMA, Prop 8.... the Culture War goes on and as you can see from Bryan Fischer's brilliant treatise, the enemy and his tirade/ranting/parade of pointless propaganda remains the same. Oh and of course lest I forget- Fischer's peers and accomplices.
Eric Alva always wanted to be a Marine, and he did not let being gay get in his way. His grandfather had served in World War II and Korea, and his father served in Vietnam; Eric joined the Marines at age 19 and served for thirteen dedicated honorable years, becoming a Staff Sergeant. He served in Somalia, Japan, and Iraq. His decorations include a Purple Heart, a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation, five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals, a Joint Meritorious Unit Citation, A Presidential Unit Citation, and a Combat Action Ribbon, among others.Please note Fischer that he had served the United States in a Marine Corps uniform for 13 years and then tragically, during a logistic convoy in Iraq in 2003, he stepped on a land mine and lost his right leg. Ironically, that also gave Sergeant Alva the unenviable distinction of being the first American serviceman wounded in the war in Iraq. Later, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC, he was personally visited by then President and Mrs. George W. Bush who paid homage and thanked him for his service and sacrifice to his country.
I don't know about you Fischer, but that sure as hell doesn't sound like a feminine United States Marine to me, does it you? Unfortunately, the SSGT was medically retired from the Marines in June of 2004 owing to loss of his limb and other injuries.
Sergeant Alva described his career once as a sacrifice but one he very intentionally chose:
"You must want to make it, its huge, but you choose to sacrifice freedom to serve this country."Sounds like he most definitely "has a pair," thus being neutered is definitely NOT part of the equation.
For many in the Gay and Lesbian community, including those who are veterans of a few years of service, and in the general population, it is difficult to comprehend why someone Gay or Lesbian would be willing to put aside their private life and sacrifice the freedom of his or her best years for a life in the military.
To gain insight into why someone, gay or straight, would take on the ultimate challenge of becoming a Marine, a journalist interviewed an openly Gay retired U. S, Marine Corps colonel who lives here in the metropolitan Washington DC area who had served in combat in Vietnam. That officer told him:
"I was looking for a career that would place me amongst what others would view as one of the finest organizations in the world; with people who have an extremely high level of honesty and integrity and who truly work together and live together as a team. It just so happened that all or many of these qualities come together in the United States Marine Corps."Now Bryan, before you jump onto Senator McCain's band wagon and reiterate, as did he, General James Amos' unfortunate and ill advised remarks that repealing the DADT policy would lead to loss of Marine lives and limbs due to "distractions," let me quote a serving Marine infantry officer, a straight one I might add that publicly parted ways with the Commandant in a column published Friday, December 17th in the Washington Post.
USMC Captain Nathan Cox wrote:
"On Tuesday, Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, said he believes repealing "don't ask, don't tell" and allowing gay and lesbian Marines to serve openly could "cost Marines' lives" because of the "mistakes and inattention or distractions" that might ensue. I am not homosexual. And in this instance, I must respectfully disagree with my commandant...
In the end, Marines in combat will treat sexual orientation the same way they treat race, religion and one's stance on the likelihood of the Patriots winning another Super Bowl. I do not believe the intense desire we all feel as Marines to accomplish the mission and protect each other will be affected in the slightest by knowing the sexual orientation of the man or woman next to us.
It is time for "don't ask, don't tell" to join our other mistakes in the dog-eared chapters of history textbooks. We all bleed red, we all love our country, we are all Marines. In the end, that's all that matters."You REALLY need to go read the entire article Fischer as does your buddy Senator McCain.
The point being that to be able to meet the challenge and be accepted into the Marine Corps and to be successful within the USMC has no bearing on whether you are gay or not.
Is SSGT Alva exceptional in his square-jawed determination, both to have been a Marine, and now to be an openly Gay spokesman for the right to serve? I do not think so Bryan, Sergeant Alva himself pointed out that:
"I am in a unique position to stand up for rights; I sacrificed for this country and I have a point to make." Losing a leg changed his life, he said.
We have the best military in the world; all men and women should be given the chance to serve for who they are. The transformation may be difficult when it happens," he said, "but it will happen."Are you honestly going to continue to spew the ignorant rants and ravings out of your mouth Fischer that people like Sergeant Alva are deviant? Seriously? You actually wrote this too:
This isn't a game, and the military should never be used, as is now being done, for massive social re-engineering. The new Marine motto: "The Few, the Proud, the Sexually Twisted." Good luck selling that to strong young males who would otherwise love to defend their country. What virile young man wants to serve in a military like that?I am beyond being able to comprehend how any rational and reasonably intelligent adult, child, or for that matter a human being could take you seriously Bryan. The Sexually Twisted???? Sadly, you don't stop there, oh no, then there's this:
"Rarely can you point to a moment in time when a nation consigned itself to the scrap heap of history. Today, when the Senate normalized sexual perversion in the military, was that moment for the United States. If historians want a fixed marker pointing to the instant the United States sealed its own demise, they just found it."You really want to know why the SPLC, GLAAD, the ACLU, for Pete's sake even members of Congress and the press refer to your dreck & drivel as 'hate' speech Fischer? The answer is clear. YOU demonise LGBT Americans sitting as judge and jury regarding an aspect of their life that is absolutely NONE of your business, making divisive comments with absolutely no basis in truth or fact, especially fact, as Sergeant Alva and Captain Cox make abundantly clear.
Feminised Fischer?
You sir, are an idiot and THAT is a fact. Sealed its own demise? Thankfully, because of brave and patriotic GAY and LESBIAN Marines, Sailors, Airman, Soldiers, and Coast Guardsman like SSGT Eric Alva- I seriously doubt that the U. S. is headed for its demise and paraphrasing what noted American novelist Mark Twain once said; "Reports of its death are premature and greatly exaggerated."
This is NOT over, the thing is that the battlefield now shifts from Congress and DADT to the next skirmish over ENDA, DOMA, Prop 8.... the Culture War goes on and as you can see from Bryan Fischer's brilliant treatise, the enemy and his tirade/ranting/parade of pointless propaganda remains the same. Oh and of course lest I forget- Fischer's peers and accomplices.
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2 comments:
Some comments from Canadians who read about the DADT change (as posted in a CBC comment section):
Glad to see the US has come kicking and screaming into the present.
If you are willing to put your life on the line to defend your country, the gender of the consenting adult you sleep with is irrelavent.
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John McCain is the voice of ignorance and will go down in history as such. He should have any and all badges of honour stripped from him. A man who considers himself superior to other people is not a hero, he is an oppressor. John McCain is a bad person and he is a threat to thousands of people and their families - he should be silenced so that his ignorance can no longer threaten the peace of other people. John McCain should be educated and rehabilitated into society as a humble man who can recognize his ignorance and apologize for it. John McCain is a loser.
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John McCain is a loser, a proven one. If his views were so important to the American people, he would be president. Instead, he lost the election by some 10 Million votes. I would say the people of the USA overwhelmingly supported these elite democrats, including the eight Republicans who made the 60 percent majority possible with their vote.
As for the comment of no military experience, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has several decades more experience in the military than McCain, 32 years more. He has been decorated 11 times and is a Vietnam veteran. Add a M.S. degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School and a completed program in Advanced Management from Harvard and one begins to see a formidable opponent that outranks McCain on virtually every front.
McCain graduated from the Naval Academy at 894 out of a class of 899. I would not call him an intellectual heavy weight. It is known fact that the faculty considered him lazy. As a pilot he was considered a poor flier, while in flight school a party animal, and careless and reckless while in the cockpit. His Naval career essentially ended after ten years when he was taken POW in 1968, the year Admiral Mullen was commissioned.
Mullen has over four times the military experience and was never considered careless and reckless. The Admiral is infinitely more qualified to determine the effect of the legislation on the military than Senator McCain. Mullen, as the US top soldier, supports the legislation. I will give his opinions far greater consideration than the Senator from Arizona whose life saw mostly mediocre results.
I love posting your articles to my facebook page. I do have a number of straight friends who rely on my help to keep them posted on the twisted views of the ultra-right. Bryan's venomous rhetoric and homophobic diatribe never seems to wain. I can almost imagine the spittle running down his jowls as he rants.
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