I spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy from 1977-2002. And during that time I had the grave misfortune to serve under losers like Carter and Clinton, and the blessed good fortune to serve under Reagan and both Bush's. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in, met a lot of great people and went to a lot of interesting places, but was always glad to get back home. And I thank my lucky stars every single day that I was fortunate enough not to be in during the time when Barry "Almighty" is filling in as Commander-in-Chief. I fear that our military is in very sad shape today, besides having a pathetic Commander-in-Chief, we have a disastrous Secretary of Defense in Clinton retread, Panetta. Also that fact was clearly demonstrated by the fact that we had active duty troops who are gay not only marching in a gay pride parade, but marching in uniform. Sorry, but to me this sordid sort of thing serves to do nothing more than to reduce our military into a kind of a carnival sideshow.
This little event marked the first time that U.S. service members participated in such an event while in full uniform. Dozens of soldiers, sailors, and Marines marched alongside an old Army truck decorated with a "Freedom to Serve" banner and a rainbow flag. They were joined by dozens more military personnel in civilian clothes, but the uniforms stood out among the flower-bedecked floats and scantily clad revelers. Perversion on parade is about the only way that you can describe such an event. Spectators waved signs reading, "Thank you for your service." A woman apparently quite proud of her gay son, held a placard that said: "My gay son is a Naval officer." "Today is so important," said Navy Lt. Brian McKinney, who marched with his civilian partner, Hunter Hammonds. "It's about putting on my uniform and taking pride in my service, my fellow service-members, my family and myself. It's something I'm incredibly thankful for." If these people really loved the military, they would not have worn their uniforms, they would have civilian attire.
In a memorandum sent to all its branches this year, the Defense Department said it was making the allowance for the San Diego event even though its policy generally bars troops from marching in uniform in parades. The Defense Department said Thursday it did so because organizers had encouraged military personnel to march in their uniform and the parade was getting national attention. Cmdr. Kent Blade, who will retire this fall after 26 years in the Navy, said being able to march in uniform was a perfect culmination of his career. The 47-year-old said that since last year's repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, he has received unconditional support from his fellow officers. "We've all been able to talk more freely about our lives. Nobody's leading a second life," he said. "And now that I can march freely in uniform, I think it's a great display for the Navy." Sorry, but I just do not agree with the good Cmdr. And if the marching in a gay parade is the culmination of his 26 year career, I can only assume that he had a pretty pathetic career.
Supposedly about 200 active-duty troops participated in last year's San Diego gay pride parade, but they wore T-shirts with their branch's name, not military dress. About 200,000 people were expected at this year's annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade and 'festival' that will take place in Balboa Park. In addition to the parade, the celebration features parties, concerts and the raising of a rainbow flag on a new 65-foot flagpole in Hillcrest, the center of San Diego's LGBT community. The theme of this year's event is "America's Pride: Equality is an American Value." American value? Look, I am a big proponent of everyone, gay or straight being treated with fairness and as equals. But we gotta draw the line somewhere. The military is a very unique environment. Because of the close proximity in birthing, with such things as open bay barracks, cramped community showers and a general lack of privacy, the military is simply not conducive to the gay lifestyle. It needs to be about priorities.
I can't help but think that the military is going to be losing a great deal of very good people because of this entire gay issue. I for one would no longer be willing to recommend going into the military for any young person that I know. And every time we have a pathetic Democrat in the White House our military is sure to be reduced, down from being a military fighting force, into something that much closer resembles a cockamamie social experiment. We've allowed those who make up what is a relatively small segment of our population to make what are some very unreasonable demands on us. Just because they choose to wear their gayness as a badge does not mean they should be permitted to dictate how it that our military is manned. As far as I'm concerned there is nothing more important than having a strong, viable military force. And the only thing that has been accomplished here by allowing gays to serve openly, is a severe weakening of that force and at a very inopportune time.
No comments:
Post a Comment