After another CAT scan and a checkup by my ENT surgeon all remains clear as far as the throat cancer goes. It’s been over 8 months since the cancer was first found and almost 6 months since I discontinued the chemo and radiation treatments.
Playing the odds seems to be working!
The Washington Post and ABC News conducted another of their nationwide polls over the last week and they have released the results along with the results of polls conducted in the past that had the same question included. It’s really interesting (and surprising) how opinions have changed over the years.
The two questions that I pulled out the synopsis are related to gays serving in the military. It appears that those who are against it are much more in the minority than I thought. They just seem to be rather vocal or to be getting much more news coverage than they deserve.
Note: the numbers below are percentages of the total number of interviews
Do you think homosexuals who do NOT publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?
Yes No No opinion 2/8/10 83 15 1 7/13/08 78 18 5 1/15/01 75 22 3 5/23/93 63 35 2Do you think homosexuals who DO publicly disclose their sexual orientation should be allowed to serve in the military or not?
Yes No No opinion 2/8/10 75 24 1 7/13/08 75 22 3 1/15/01 62 35 3 5/23/93 44 55 2
There’s no good reason why gays and lesbians shouldn’t serve openly in the military.
Yesterday, Adm. Mike Mullen chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates went before the Senate Armed Forces Committee to testify that don’t ask, don’t tell should end. A couple of worthwhile quotes from Adm. Mullen:
“No matter how I look at the issue I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”
“For me it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”
Also at the hearing, Sen. Mark Udall cited conservative Barry Goldwater’s famous dictum —that it mattered not whether you were straight, but whether you could shoot straight.
Britain, Canada, Israel and Australia are among countries allowing gays to serve openly without issue. The primary argument against repealing the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” order is that it will undermine cohesion of the units. But there’s nothing new in that argument. Harry Truman faced the cohesion argument when he integrated the forces in 1948 — the same time Omar Bradley, the five-star general, said the Army was the wrong place for “social experiments.” These same arguments were also used against enhancing women’s roles in the military.
Polls show most Americans favor gays and lesbians serving openly (they are already there anyway). The only real argument against it, in fact, is the outdated workplace argument: that being around gay people makes some straight people uncomfortable.
