The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

[Hard to ignore a segue like this one after the Elton John post.]

In an interview with the gay magazine ‘the Advocate,’ Barack Obama says if elected he would repeal the military’s current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, it requires the military to not ask if any service member is homosexual, but also mandates that any person who reveals themself to be so be immediately discharged.

Find out what Obama had to say — & get our take on the thing, too — after the jump.

Here are the relevant quotes from Obama during the interview:

OBAMA: “I reasonably can see “don’t ask, don’t tell” eliminated.”

…

Q: …you’ve said before you don’t think [repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell] is a heavy lift. Of course, it would be if you had Joint Chiefs who were against repeal. Is that something you’ll look at?

OBAMA: “I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Obviously, there are so many issues that a member of the Joint Chiefs has to deal with, and my paramount obligation is to get the best possible people to keep America safe. But I think there’s increasing recognition within the Armed Forces that this is a counterproductive strategy — ya know, we’re spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military, some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need. That doesn’t make us more safe, and what I want are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are making decisions based on what strengthens our military and what is going to make us safer, not ideology.”

’s take:

Like many issues, we view this one through the lens of how the country came together so successfully during World War II.

The current conflict in Iraq will likely be the last war in which homosexuals had to serve in silence. Many have already proved their honor to their nation by dying or being wounded in battle. & many are serving along side ’straight’ compatriots who don’t give a whit which way they lean.

What’s unconscionable is for the U.S. government to actively work to removing those who choose to serve their country - whether it be on or off the battlefield, or, say, as an Arabic translator. Recruitment numbers for the all-volunteer force are not where the military wants them to be. So how does it make sense to remove the people who have chosen to serve their country?

This hurts America’s long-term security interests.

This does not hurt the military’s capability of being the best fighting force in the world.

We need every able person who’s willing to serve to serve on the front lines.

It’s time for us to ask “don’t ask, don’t tell” to go.

& God Bless America.

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