Let 'Em Serve

The other day, there was a long-winded editorial in the New York Times where some John M. Shalikashvili dude was re-thinking his objection to gays in the military.

--When I was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I supported the current policy because I believed that implementing a change in the rules at that time would have been too burdensome for our troops and commanders. I still believe that to have been true. The concern among many in the military was that given the longstanding view that homosexuality was incompatible with service, letting people who were openly gay serve would lower morale, harm recruitment and undermine unit cohesion.

I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces. Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job.--

Well no shit, Sherlock. Whether a person prefers their own gender or the opposite one has nothing to do with whether they'd be a valuable addition to the military.

When I read the first paragraph, about how he used to think the policy was right, here's what I was thinking: I guess I never got the whole objection to gays in the military anyway. He sounds like he's saying it was a bad idea because it would have bugged the soldiers who were straight.

Kinda like when they rapidly, forcefully, and completely integrated the military race-wise all those years ago. Remember how the skies shook with thunder, and the world as we know it came to an end?

Oh, wait. It didn't. My bad.

And the same thing would happen with the gays. Life would go on.

Remember that scene towards the end of the last Lord Of The Rings movie? Where the one dwarf guy was saying he never imagined dying in battle beside an elf, and the gay-looking elf said something about dying side by side with a friend?

That's how it would go down in the real world. People bond in the military. Male, female, gay, straight, white, black... They forge ties that no one who's never been there can understand. They don't look at their brothers-in-arms as {fill in label}. They just don't, any more than the dwarf and the gay-looking elf did in the end.

So when it comes to gays in the military, I say, let 'em serve. The entire organization will be better for it.

Now, on to more important things. Where do I sign up to subscribe to the Hot Military Lesbian Webcam?