Psychoanalysis enables us to point to some trace or otherà ‚¬ ¨of a homosexual object-choice in everyone. " It can be tracedà ‚¬ ¨ back to the constitutional bisexuality of all human beings. Sigmund Freud
If Sigmund Freud is right that all humans are "innately bisexual" and if Alfred Kinsey's research is right that all humans fall somewhere on a bisexual continuum then it's clear the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is a matter, pure and simple, of un-Constitutional repression.
I realize I may not have a very developed appreciation for the nuances of bureaucracy and government. But if one values honesty over repression, this policy just doesn't make sense.
Alexander The Great, one of the greatest military leaders in history, swung both ways. Lawrence of Arabia was the homosexual military genius instrumental in forming the Sunni-ruled Iraq we invaded and turned upside down in 2003.
President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen all say they are ready to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy put into law 17 years ago.
The House passed a repeal law in May by a wide margin. The Senate was expected to follow suit, but last month the bill was defeated.
"The whole thing is a political train wreck," Richard Socarides, a gay rights advocate from the Clinton administration, told the Associate Press after the Senate loss.
But even if it had passed into law, effective repeal was still up to the military. A "trigger" amendment tacked to the bill would have allowed the top brass to drag their feet on repeal or veto it indefinitely.
The military is now surveying its men and women in uniform on how they feel repeal would affect "military readiness, unit cohesion and our ability to do our mission."
Commander-In-Chief Obama indicated he too would defer to the military on the matter. So a successful Congressional "repeal" would have left the decision up to the Pentagon.
The potato is tossed to a grown-up
Just when the military thought it had the public relations under control and the lifting of the ban all worked out on their terms, along comes California Federal District Justice Virginia A. Phillips to mess it up by declaring the obvious.
In a case brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, Phillips ordered the Defense Department to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell immediately because it violated due process rights and rights of association and the "autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct."
The Constitution says nothing about precluding citizens from serving in the military based on sexual preference. Every other major army in the world allows homosexuals in their ranks, including the Israeli army, the security force we most love to emulate in the War On Terror. They don't feel gay people affect military readiness or unit cohesion.
On the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders are reportedly overlooking the DADT ban because they don't want to lose good soldiers during wartime.
But instead of rejoicing that, finally, someone in the government has had the audacity to make a reasonable and mature decision, the Obama administration has gone into a huddle to ready an appeal of Judge Phillips' decision.
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