Do Ask, Please Tell...

Today, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his boss, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, called for the end of the U.S. Military's anti-homosexual discrimination policy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens," said Admiral Mullen, adding that it was his personal belief that "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."

While the decision awaits a policy review, there are several hopeful signs that this will, in fact, come to be.

First, as the above-linked article indicates, a majority of Americans support openly gay service.  Second, a Zogby International poll of Iraqi and Afghani theatre veterans found that three-quarters were comfortable around gay service members.  Third, informal polls of NATO allies with openly gay service members show no impact on military performance.

Finally, as an act of Congress is needed to rescind this discrimination, some on the "Right" may find it ironic that Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts, a moderate Republican whose election they trumpeted as part of their celebration of politics over policy, is likely to support the repeal.  I see no irony.  The Republican Party was born as the party of freedom.  Republicans would be well served if they returned their focus to human rights and dignity and individual freedom, and turned away from mere political advantage.  Honor would return to the Republican Party.

Of course, Senator John McCain opposes such a repeal, and John Boehner, House Minority Leader, openly asks if now is the right time to bring up such a divisive issue in times of war.

Did Lincoln not free the slaves during the Civil War, raising it from a States' Rights struggle to a struggle for human dignity?

Does it make sense to discharge soldiers fluent in Arabic, Farsi and Pashto, because they are gay?

Do human rights pause for human conflicts, or do our struggles for freedom come with an asterik?