Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
READ John McCain's Letter, urging Robert Gates to Modify the DADT Study
In September, John McCain sent Robert Gates a letter, trying change the format of the DADT study
Index
Well Gates responded saying:
Good for Gates for holding it down, but John still wasn't hearing it. However, I find this very interesting how far McCain is willing to go on this. He was against DADT before, what made him change?
source
Index
Well Gates responded saying:
I instructed the working group to obtain the input of Servicemembers so that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and I, as well as the Service Chiefs, can more fully understand how a change in the DADT policy may impact unit cohesion, military readiness and effectiveness, recruiting and retention and family readiness. [...]
The Chairman and I fully support the approach and the efforts of the working group, as do the Service Chiefs. We are confident that the working group’s report will provide us with the information we need to appropriately advise the President, and, if requested to do so, to provide our fully informed views to Congress as it considers legislative action.
Good for Gates for holding it down, but John still wasn't hearing it. However, I find this very interesting how far McCain is willing to go on this. He was against DADT before, what made him change?
source
Interesting Quote: Meghan McCain
“I’m going home for Thanksgiving tomorrow. When we sit around Thanksgiving dinner, I’m not going to be talking about ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’
source
SPLC’s Intelligence Report: Gays Targeted for Hate Crimes Far More Than Any Other Minority in the Country
Not good news to report, y'all.
After SPLC listed their top Anti-Gay groups, they also posted this:
The SPLC’s analysis of 14 years of hate crime data found that homosexuals, or those perceived to be gay, are more than twice as likely to be attacked in a violent hate crime as Jews or blacks; more than four times as likely as Muslims; and 14 times as likely as Latinos. The findings are based on FBI hate crime statistics from 1995 to 2008, the period for which there is complete data. The basic pattern also holds true in individual years.Interesting,... This shows that we are truly fighting for our rights. Also, this is bigger than DADT, Dan Choi or GetEQUAL. This is big picture stuff. So hopefully, we are really to continue the fight.
The analysis is being released to coincide with the scheduled release of the FBI’s hate crime statistics for 2009.
These findings come as a wave of anti-gay attacks have washed across the country. In New York, for example, 10 suspects were arrested for brutally torturing three gay victims. And in Covington, Ky., a neighborhood was hit by a series of violent anti-gay attacks. Most dramatically, four teenagers committed suicide in September after being bullied, taunted or outed as homosexuals.
This analysis of hate crime data can be found in the Winter 2010 issue of the Intelligence Report, which also explores how the hard-core anti-gay movement in America is becoming more extreme in the face of gay rights advances.
“As Americans become more accepting of homosexuals, the most extreme elements of the anti-gay movement are digging in their heels and continuing to defame gays and lesbians with falsehoods that grow more incendiary by the day,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. “The leaders of this movement may deny it, but it seems clear that their demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the violence, hatred and bullying we’re seeing.”
