So I was reading through Fox News online a few days ago when a news story caught my eye, that story being about a survey that was just released concerning the topic of homosexuals being allowed to serve in the military. Seems that someone out there took a survey of people who were actually serving in the military and asked them what they thought of the idea of openly homosexual people being allowed to enlist, and whether or not the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law should be scrapped.
And surprise, surprise, a whopping 70% of the people surveyed said they were okay with homosexuals being allowed to enlist, and supported the idea of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” being scrapped!
Honestly, I have to admit that I’m surprised by this. I knew that opposition among service members to the idea of homosexuals being allowed in the military wasn’t anywhere near as strong as it was when I was in the service, but I must admit that I didn’t think it had changed that much. And I also believe that this is a good thing for both those people who want to serve and the nation who needs people willing to serve.
I just flat-out don’t see the opposition to someone being denied the chance to serve their country, to give back something to the country that has given them so much, based solely on the grounds of their sexual orientation. As I’ve said before, as long as someone is physically capable of carrying out their assigned duties, and as long as they conduct themselves according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed in the Armed Forces of the United States. Of course, the UCMJ will have to be amended because homosexual acts are prohibited by military law, but once DADT falls by the wayside I have a feeling that the necessary changes to the UCMJ will take place in very short order.
Unfortunately, there are still some folks out there who don’t see it this way. I had the occasion to have the “homosexuals in the military” discussion with one of them two weeks ago, and it was not exactly what I’d call an either pleasant or enjoyable conversation. This person stated flat-out that he didn’t think homosexuals should be allowed in the military for one reason and one reason alone: because the Holy Bible said homosexuality was wrong. Period. No other dissenting reason was given, because this person thought that alone was enough.
Needless to say, I think this is one of the most ludicrous, short-sighted, unrealistic, and just plain stupid things I’ve ever heard in my entire life, and I told the other person so.
Didn’t matter. What I said didn’t make a dent, not that I expected it to.
Those of you who have been reading my blog or who have talked to me in person know my feelings on religion in general and the Holy Bible in particular, so I won’t bore you with the details. You also know that while I respect the opinions of others and their right to have them, I also will quickly state that no one’s opinion is “right” and the other is “wrong” – they’re “different.” What galls the living shit outta me is when people take those opinions and try to force them on others, or try to dictate how others can and cannot live their own lives because of their opinions – especially when those opinions are based on their religious beliefs, no matter what the religion. As the saying on the bumper sticker goes, “I have no problem with God – it’s his fan club I can’t stand.”
Sure, I’m fully aware that our nation was founded on Christian principles, and I’m all for that. I’m also fully aware that our nation was founded by a bunch of folks who left their native country to avoid religious persecution, too. So be very careful before you start swinging that particular sword around, my friend, because it cuts both ways.
Like it or not, the world is constantly changing around us, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Most of the time it’s for the better, regardless of what some folks will tell you. 35 years ago I would have been one of those people telling you that letting homosexuals into the military would be the death of discipline and the death of the military itself, but as the old saying goes, “That was then, and this is now.” Since then I’ve grown up and matured, and I see things in a broader, more practical sense than I did when I was filled with the exuberance and inexperience of youth. I’ve also had plenty of first-hand experience in some areas to help me wise up and see things for the way they really are.
And the bottom line in this case, in my opinion of course, is that there is absolutely no reason that anyone should be denied the chance to serve their country in the military for the reason that they’re homosexual. What’s more, I fully expect the Department of Defense to abandon the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the very near future – especially now that the service members themselves are saying it’s OK with them.
I’m sure there are people out there who will vehemently disagree with my opinions and the abolishment of DADT, but all I can say to them is this: Times change. Either change with the times, or get left behind.
It’s as simple as that.
IHC
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Security or Privacy - Take Your Pick
For the past few days the news has been full of stories about people complaining that the new TSA security procedures involving either full body scans or strip searches are "an invasion of privacy" and "violate a person's Constitutional right to privacy."
The easy one first.
The US Constitution doesn't say that. Show me where the Constitution guarantees the "right to privacy" and I'll kiss your ass on Main Street and give you a week to draw a crowd.
As for the procedures being an "invasion of privacy," I disagree on that one too. If you want to get technical, the US Supreme Court has ruled that in a public place - such as an airport - you have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" since the area is out in the open and is designed for full public access.
But on the other hand, I understand why people are upset about both procedures. The full body scan shows whoever is looking at the screen an outline of your body sans clothing, which can be unsettling at best. And the pat-downs just go against the natural resistance to having someone touch your body that you don't necessarily want touching you.
Unfortunately, the reality is simple: thanks to the radical Muslims who have been wreaking havoc on the world in unconventional ways, the airlines and the Feds are now forced to take unconventional measures to prevent further attacks. So if you want to be pissed off at someone, be pissed off at the radical Muslims and not the Feds or the airlines. I've always said that the two things in life that everyone wants but are not convenient are safety and security. You don't get either one by doing nothing, and you have to sacrifice and/or be inconvenienced to get both.
The other reality is that if the Feds and the airlines stop their procedures because of the complaints about "invasion of privacy" and we lose another airliner to a terrorist attack, the same people who complained the loudest about the "invasion of privacy" will also be the first ones to jump up and complain that the Feds didn't do enough to prevent the attack.
So take your pick, people, security or privacy - you can't have both.
Some folks have suggested that since the Muslims are the ones responsible for this the only ones that should go through the procedures are Muslims. To me, this is nothing short of just plain stupid, not to mention illegal. Can you say, "PROFILING," boys and girls? How about "DISCRIMINATION?"
The big problem with this flawed line of thinking is that you're going to single out every single member of the world's largest religion and punish them - and that's what it would be, make no mistake about it - for the actions of a radical group within that religion. Yeah, I've heard the saying, "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims" before, and I agree with it. But the simple fact is that you can't punish the entire group for the actions of a few. This is not only stupid, it's also wrong and in this country, it's illegal.
Aside from that, sooner or later - and I'm thinking sooner than later - another radical group out there, or maybe the radical Islamic group itself, will figure out that you're only looking at Muslims, so they recruit non-Muslims into their movement. Next thing you know one of those non-Muslims blows up an airplane, and everyone will sit back wondering, "Now just how did THAT happen?"
And then there's this: just how do you tell who is a Muslim and who isn't? By their name? Their clothing? Their facial hair? I know plenty of people who were born and raised Muslim but renounced that religion for Christianity, but they still have their Muslim name, still wear their traditional clothing, and still look like a Muslim.
But they're not Muslims. So now what, genius?
The bottom line is this: profiling a part of the population for ANY reason is illegal, it's wrong, and it's stupid. It goes against everything this country stands for, and in case you forgot your American History 101, this country was founded by people who fled their native-born land to escape religious persecution. And the idea of screening Muslims and only Muslims is exactly that - religious persecution.
And that's wrong. PERIOD.
You got a problem with the screening and security procedures at the airports? Fine, no problem - jump in your car and drive. Take a bus. Take the train. Do something else, but just don't fly.
What, it's too inconvenient to do any of that because it takes too long?
Hmmmmm, what was I saying about safety and security being inconvenient?
IHC
The easy one first.
The US Constitution doesn't say that. Show me where the Constitution guarantees the "right to privacy" and I'll kiss your ass on Main Street and give you a week to draw a crowd.
As for the procedures being an "invasion of privacy," I disagree on that one too. If you want to get technical, the US Supreme Court has ruled that in a public place - such as an airport - you have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" since the area is out in the open and is designed for full public access.
But on the other hand, I understand why people are upset about both procedures. The full body scan shows whoever is looking at the screen an outline of your body sans clothing, which can be unsettling at best. And the pat-downs just go against the natural resistance to having someone touch your body that you don't necessarily want touching you.
Unfortunately, the reality is simple: thanks to the radical Muslims who have been wreaking havoc on the world in unconventional ways, the airlines and the Feds are now forced to take unconventional measures to prevent further attacks. So if you want to be pissed off at someone, be pissed off at the radical Muslims and not the Feds or the airlines. I've always said that the two things in life that everyone wants but are not convenient are safety and security. You don't get either one by doing nothing, and you have to sacrifice and/or be inconvenienced to get both.
The other reality is that if the Feds and the airlines stop their procedures because of the complaints about "invasion of privacy" and we lose another airliner to a terrorist attack, the same people who complained the loudest about the "invasion of privacy" will also be the first ones to jump up and complain that the Feds didn't do enough to prevent the attack.
So take your pick, people, security or privacy - you can't have both.
Some folks have suggested that since the Muslims are the ones responsible for this the only ones that should go through the procedures are Muslims. To me, this is nothing short of just plain stupid, not to mention illegal. Can you say, "PROFILING," boys and girls? How about "DISCRIMINATION?"
The big problem with this flawed line of thinking is that you're going to single out every single member of the world's largest religion and punish them - and that's what it would be, make no mistake about it - for the actions of a radical group within that religion. Yeah, I've heard the saying, "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims" before, and I agree with it. But the simple fact is that you can't punish the entire group for the actions of a few. This is not only stupid, it's also wrong and in this country, it's illegal.
Aside from that, sooner or later - and I'm thinking sooner than later - another radical group out there, or maybe the radical Islamic group itself, will figure out that you're only looking at Muslims, so they recruit non-Muslims into their movement. Next thing you know one of those non-Muslims blows up an airplane, and everyone will sit back wondering, "Now just how did THAT happen?"
And then there's this: just how do you tell who is a Muslim and who isn't? By their name? Their clothing? Their facial hair? I know plenty of people who were born and raised Muslim but renounced that religion for Christianity, but they still have their Muslim name, still wear their traditional clothing, and still look like a Muslim.
But they're not Muslims. So now what, genius?
The bottom line is this: profiling a part of the population for ANY reason is illegal, it's wrong, and it's stupid. It goes against everything this country stands for, and in case you forgot your American History 101, this country was founded by people who fled their native-born land to escape religious persecution. And the idea of screening Muslims and only Muslims is exactly that - religious persecution.
And that's wrong. PERIOD.
You got a problem with the screening and security procedures at the airports? Fine, no problem - jump in your car and drive. Take a bus. Take the train. Do something else, but just don't fly.
What, it's too inconvenient to do any of that because it takes too long?
Hmmmmm, what was I saying about safety and security being inconvenient?
IHC
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
November 10, 1990
It had been nearly three months since the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing had deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD, and for the past month and a half – most of September and all of October – the speculation and the hopes of the people deployed was that the rumors they had heard about the deployment being only 90 days were true. We had no written orders stating that, but everyone we talked to from the Wing Commander’s office on down seemed to be in agreement that we would be going home in November, and another wing from the States would come and replace us.
And in the last few weeks of October, it got even worse – a redeployment date was announced, fueling the hopes of the Wing that we’d be going home soon. The rumor mill had our departure date set for November 26th, and even the folks in Base Operations – the ones who controlled the arrival and departure of all aircraft – had confirmed that a flight back to Langley had been scheduled for that date. Hopes were running high, and they were running higher with each passing day.
For the previous two months the guys in my unit had been asking me what I thought of the chances of us going home. I guess they were all coming to me because I was the relative newcomer to the unit and should have been “uncontaminated” by all of the usual BS that comes with assignment to any military unit. From jump street, when asked what I thought our chances were I always gave the same answer: have faith in the system. The system works, just be patient and have faith.
It was about the most perfect non-committal answer I could come up with, and it worked just fine. See, if you asked me the question and got that answer, if you were of the mind set that the system was going to send us home on time, then you got encouragement for your beliefs. If you believed the system was going to screw us and keep us there, then you got support for that belief as well. Whenever I was pressed for a more detailed answer I never gave one. Let people think what they wanted to, either way. I wasn’t going to burst their bubble or fuel their personal fires.
I had hopes – high hopes, to be sure – just like the rest of the Wing that the rumors were true, that we’d be going home on the 26th like they said. I had just spent the previous year away from my family, missing a full year of my kid’s lives, and after being home for less than four months I was gone again. Sure, I wanted to go home, more with each passing day. I woke up each day praying that this would be the day the rumors would be confirmed and we’d be told to pack up our gear and go get on the planes.
But deep down in my heart I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I knew that we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, that we were going to be there for the long haul, and there was just no way around it. You see, I watched those big-assed airplanes arrive from the States full of equipment and troops, one after the other, non-stop 24 hours a day for nearly two full months, and I knew that with that much equipment and that many men in the country, there was no way in hell we would be leaving anytime soon. But I continued to hope against hope, and against my better judgment I let myself start believing the rumors of our impending departure.
All that changed on November 10, 1990.
On that day I was assigned to the Reserve Force as the Flight Commander, so for that day and the following three days after it I spent my 12 hour shift out in the field area, inspecting gear and training troops, keeping the 18 men under my control ready to deploy to any part of the base that may come under attack and need reinforcements. Boring duty, to be sure, but necessary and a welcome break from the normal routine.
Our shift started at 2300 hours (that’s eleven PM to you civilians out there), and after Guardmount and weapons inspection the SPs on the Reserve Force hit the chow hall in tent city for some midnight chow. Then it was back to the Reserve Force area, and around 0100 hours we were sitting in the temper tent set aside for us, waiting for our weekly Threat Briefing to be given to us by the OSI representative. It was more of the usual stuff, telling us about the ongoing negotiations and demands from the UN for Hussein to get out of Kuwait and about his continual posturing and defiance, threatening “the mother of all battles” should we decide to tangle with him. None of us took him seriously, and we all knew that we’d kick the living shit out of him in short order if it came to that. We were all hoping it wouldn’t but we knew it was going to end up that way, which was just one more reason we wanted to get the hell out of there.
After the briefing the Operations Officer, a captain whose name escapes me (Lonnie, help me out here) came into the tent and walked to the front. Once there he told us that he had an announcement to make, and the tent immediately fell silent. Every man jack there was hoping that this was it, this was the moment we’d been praying for, that the captain was going to confirm our departure date! But the look on the captain’s face told me otherwise; he looked like a man who was just getting ready to tell you that someone ran over your kitten.
He then told us that the Secretary of Defense had just announced that there would be no rotation of troops out of Saudi Arabia, and that all troops currently deployed would remain in place “until further notice.” The captain then beat feet, and I don’t blame him. You could have heard a pin drop in that tent.
With the departure of the captain I was once again the ranking man in the tent, so what happened next was up to me. I got up and went to the front of the tent, facing the men there, and told them that we had work to do. I then told them that they had 30 minutes to break down, clean, and reassemble their individual weapons and that there would be a weapons inspection in 35 minutes. “So stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get to it!” By that time everyone there knew me and knew that I was all business, that I didn’t play games, and that when I gave an order you damned well better carry it out, right now! So they got to work, breaking out the cleaning kits and starting in on the task I had assigned them. I knew that if I let them dwell on the bad news they’d just received that it would destroy them, so I set about keeping them busy for the next 10 hours so they wouldn’t think about it.
As for me…well, I walked out of the tent, climbed up on the hood of the big “deuce and a half” troop truck parked outside, laid my GAU rifle on the hood beside me, lit up a cigarette, looked up at the stars in the clear night sky above me, and quietly cried.
But only for as long as it took to smoke that one cigarette. After that I pulled my “Ranger rag” from around my neck, wiped my face with it, put it back around my neck, jumped down off the truck, recovered my rifle and went back inside the tent. We had work to do, and the time for feeling sorry for yourself was over.
Just another day in the desert.
More later.
IHC
And in the last few weeks of October, it got even worse – a redeployment date was announced, fueling the hopes of the Wing that we’d be going home soon. The rumor mill had our departure date set for November 26th, and even the folks in Base Operations – the ones who controlled the arrival and departure of all aircraft – had confirmed that a flight back to Langley had been scheduled for that date. Hopes were running high, and they were running higher with each passing day.
For the previous two months the guys in my unit had been asking me what I thought of the chances of us going home. I guess they were all coming to me because I was the relative newcomer to the unit and should have been “uncontaminated” by all of the usual BS that comes with assignment to any military unit. From jump street, when asked what I thought our chances were I always gave the same answer: have faith in the system. The system works, just be patient and have faith.
It was about the most perfect non-committal answer I could come up with, and it worked just fine. See, if you asked me the question and got that answer, if you were of the mind set that the system was going to send us home on time, then you got encouragement for your beliefs. If you believed the system was going to screw us and keep us there, then you got support for that belief as well. Whenever I was pressed for a more detailed answer I never gave one. Let people think what they wanted to, either way. I wasn’t going to burst their bubble or fuel their personal fires.
I had hopes – high hopes, to be sure – just like the rest of the Wing that the rumors were true, that we’d be going home on the 26th like they said. I had just spent the previous year away from my family, missing a full year of my kid’s lives, and after being home for less than four months I was gone again. Sure, I wanted to go home, more with each passing day. I woke up each day praying that this would be the day the rumors would be confirmed and we’d be told to pack up our gear and go get on the planes.
But deep down in my heart I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I knew that we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, that we were going to be there for the long haul, and there was just no way around it. You see, I watched those big-assed airplanes arrive from the States full of equipment and troops, one after the other, non-stop 24 hours a day for nearly two full months, and I knew that with that much equipment and that many men in the country, there was no way in hell we would be leaving anytime soon. But I continued to hope against hope, and against my better judgment I let myself start believing the rumors of our impending departure.
All that changed on November 10, 1990.
On that day I was assigned to the Reserve Force as the Flight Commander, so for that day and the following three days after it I spent my 12 hour shift out in the field area, inspecting gear and training troops, keeping the 18 men under my control ready to deploy to any part of the base that may come under attack and need reinforcements. Boring duty, to be sure, but necessary and a welcome break from the normal routine.
Our shift started at 2300 hours (that’s eleven PM to you civilians out there), and after Guardmount and weapons inspection the SPs on the Reserve Force hit the chow hall in tent city for some midnight chow. Then it was back to the Reserve Force area, and around 0100 hours we were sitting in the temper tent set aside for us, waiting for our weekly Threat Briefing to be given to us by the OSI representative. It was more of the usual stuff, telling us about the ongoing negotiations and demands from the UN for Hussein to get out of Kuwait and about his continual posturing and defiance, threatening “the mother of all battles” should we decide to tangle with him. None of us took him seriously, and we all knew that we’d kick the living shit out of him in short order if it came to that. We were all hoping it wouldn’t but we knew it was going to end up that way, which was just one more reason we wanted to get the hell out of there.
After the briefing the Operations Officer, a captain whose name escapes me (Lonnie, help me out here) came into the tent and walked to the front. Once there he told us that he had an announcement to make, and the tent immediately fell silent. Every man jack there was hoping that this was it, this was the moment we’d been praying for, that the captain was going to confirm our departure date! But the look on the captain’s face told me otherwise; he looked like a man who was just getting ready to tell you that someone ran over your kitten.
He then told us that the Secretary of Defense had just announced that there would be no rotation of troops out of Saudi Arabia, and that all troops currently deployed would remain in place “until further notice.” The captain then beat feet, and I don’t blame him. You could have heard a pin drop in that tent.
With the departure of the captain I was once again the ranking man in the tent, so what happened next was up to me. I got up and went to the front of the tent, facing the men there, and told them that we had work to do. I then told them that they had 30 minutes to break down, clean, and reassemble their individual weapons and that there would be a weapons inspection in 35 minutes. “So stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get to it!” By that time everyone there knew me and knew that I was all business, that I didn’t play games, and that when I gave an order you damned well better carry it out, right now! So they got to work, breaking out the cleaning kits and starting in on the task I had assigned them. I knew that if I let them dwell on the bad news they’d just received that it would destroy them, so I set about keeping them busy for the next 10 hours so they wouldn’t think about it.
As for me…well, I walked out of the tent, climbed up on the hood of the big “deuce and a half” troop truck parked outside, laid my GAU rifle on the hood beside me, lit up a cigarette, looked up at the stars in the clear night sky above me, and quietly cried.
But only for as long as it took to smoke that one cigarette. After that I pulled my “Ranger rag” from around my neck, wiped my face with it, put it back around my neck, jumped down off the truck, recovered my rifle and went back inside the tent. We had work to do, and the time for feeling sorry for yourself was over.
Just another day in the desert.
More later.
IHC
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