{"id":4565,"date":"2010-12-19T06:02:29","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T11:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=4565"},"modified":"2010-12-19T06:18:53","modified_gmt":"2010-12-19T11:18:53","slug":"watching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/19\/watching\/","title":{"rendered":"watching…"},"content":{"rendered":"
I recall thinking that DADT was a reasonable solution back in 1993. It was a compromise. The law blocked the military from investigating people’s sexual orientation [since homosexuality was "incompatible with military service" since WWII]. In return, Gay soldiers kept their sexual orientation to themselves. It’s 17 years later, and DADT looks oppressive [which it is].<\/div>\n

Looking back, the policy got the job done in a psychologically sound way. The way to extinguish prejudice is to put people in contact with the object of their prejudice. Integrate schools. Hire Women as Executives. Allow Gay soldiers to serve in the military. The thing that beats prejudice is contact. Shared humanity almost always wins the day.<\/p>\n

As I commented on  friend’s blog, my own preference would’ve been for the courts to overturn the ban on homosexuals in the military a long time ago, or overturn DADT not long after it was passed. In my Eighth Grade Civics<\/strong><\/em> mind, the courts are the guardians of the Bill of Rights. Failing that, in my 1960s Liberal Soul<\/strong><\/em>, I would’ve liked to see Obama kill the DADT policy on Jan 21, 2010 by Executive Order. But I have to admit that the process, including the survey of the soldiers, has been good for us. I now think of Obama as a Congressman, and he negotiated Congress skillfully on this [and other] issues. Restoring Congress.<\/p>\n

People-like-me have had a lot of disappointments and disagreements with Obama – the biggest one has been extending the Bush Tax Cuts. But I have to admit that he has endured the most hostile assault ever made on a new President, and held his head high. I believe he has the respect of the country and the world. That’s a remarkable accomplishment in the face of the Religious Right, Fox News, the TEA Party, the Great Recession, and the Bush years. It hasn’t gone the way I wanted it to go, but for the moment I have to admit that, given the circumstances, we’re on a reasonable track. Like many, I’m keeping my mouth shut and watching.<\/p>\n

But back to DADT. The trinity of Homosexuality<\/font><\/strong>, Abortion<\/font><\/strong>, and Stem Cell Research<\/font><\/strong> have dominated our political climate for years. I find that completely absurd. None of those things are the central purview of Government, yet our government has been formed and reformed based on these parameters. They are the irrational imposition of the morality of one group on the lives of others for no discernible reason except that they want to. DADT is repealed. Gay Marriage is on the road. Roe versus Wade is intact. And Stem Cell Research has regained its momentum. While the Religious Right is still a force to be reckoned with, the country has not allowed the unholy trinity to prevail. We should all be proud of that…<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recall thinking that DADT was a reasonable solution back in 1993. It was a compromise. The law blocked the military from investigating people’s sexual orientation [since homosexuality was "incompatible with military service" since WWII]. In return, Gay soldiers kept their sexual orientation to themselves. It’s 17 years later, and DADT looks oppressive [which it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}