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Incoming Armed Services Committee Chair Seeks to Slow Down ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ - Over the past few weeks, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (hereafter referred to as DADT), has been one of the hot topics in the news. The final ‘lame duck session’ of the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on the issue, but incoming Armed Services Committee Chair plans to hold it over until the newly elected House convenes.
Though McKeon hasn’t served in the military, he says that he’s heard stories about how openly gay service members can affect the troops. He’s worried about “rushing things”.
Earlier last week, a poll of all U.S. service members showed that the majority of soldiers, airmen, and sailors do not mind if someone is serving and is “openly gay”. The most resistant to repealing DADT was the Marine Corps, with a 46 percent minority saying that repealing DADT is a bad idea.
McKeon agrees that such polls are a good first step to a comprehensive process to repeal DADT.
As a former military member, I remember a few people who – while not openly gay – were obviously gay. And they did their job quite well. As long as someone does what they’re supposed to do, it really doesn’t matter if someone is gay or not. I think DADT should have been repealed a long time ago. But this is politics, and we’re talking about the U.S. government. It’s a slow, grueling process that can sometimes grind on people’s nerves.
Representative McKeon Runs for Armed Services Committee Chair – U.S. Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon announced after his successful reelection that he is running for chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He has been part of this committee since 1995. Not surprisingly, Buck has been bought out by corporate America, especially the military industrial complex.
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Inyo County Election Results – It’s a good election year for Republicans. Actually, it’s probably a good election every year for Republicans in Inyo County. Here’s Inyo County’s results:
U.S. Congress: Republican incumbent Buck McKeon retains his seat by a huge majority, 62.1 percent (90,733 votes) over Democratic challenger Jackie Conaway, 37.9 percent (55,402 votes).
State Senate: [...]
