"Oh, and about gays in the miltary..."

Today there's talk that Barack Obama will make ending the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the services a distinct priority at the beginning of his first term. While there is much to be said about the high-mindedness of such a move, I believe it's a mistake. Bill Clinton made the same miscalculation at the beginning of his presidency, and he was pilloried for it. The former Arkansan governor could have chosen few more effective ways to mobilize his opposition on the Christian Right. He also didn't curry much favor among the brass of the armed forces. I think it would be in the President-Elect's best interest to consider moving away from this initiative before he stirs up a hornet's nest and accelerates the "Culture War".

Listen... I want to make it quite clear that I support gay rights. I can't think of a single reason why men or women that are attracted to members of the same sex should be discriminated against by the government. People need to spend more time attending to the conditions of their own houses before they start trying to impose their prejudices on others. There's nothing more bothersome than another highly flawed human being getting uppity. What people do with (or to) their partners is their business, as long as it is consensual and the terms are defined upfront among the principals. I'm not concerned about what folks choose to do in their own beds. I have plenty of things to mull over without getting into that.

But I also believe that drugs should be completely decriminalized, and for many of the same reasons. What you do unto yourself is your own problem or escape, and not for me to judge. However I wouldn't recommend that Barack Obama make that an important priority on his domestic agenda either. Not only are there plenty of more pressing issues of importance to the future of the nation, but drug policy is another issue that would generate a surplus of resistance that would be distracting. This is a pivotal moment in American history, and Obama is going to need to make significant compromises to enact the type of platform capable of addressing the difficulties we face. He's going to have to pick his battles carefully.

Since Clinton capitulated and allowed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to take effect, over 12,000 gay individuals have been ushered out of the military. In the meantime Britain and Israel have seen fit to allow soldiers who are openly gay to serve. I haven't taken the time to read any exhaustive studies of how these men and women have integrated into their organizations, and I can't say whether or not they have had a significant impact on the operations of their respective forces. I have a hard time believing that they are living in a culture wherein they'd feel comfortable coming on strongly to their heterosexual colleagues. I wouldn't expect to find that lustful urges have overwhelmed their collective ability to concentrate on the mission.

It's certainly true that the American military is in dire need of an injection of new blood. Perhaps allowing gays to join would swell the numbers. I'm not sure why anyone would be anxious to enlist in these trying times, but I guess the motivations of homosexuals are the same as anyone else in this regard. For some, this path is among the very few opportunities they have in a troubling economic climate. Ultimately it appears that Obama is committed on the issue. He's actually considering appointing an openly-gay man to the position of Secretary of the Navy (which, if you think about it, is reinforcing a long-held stereotypical perception of that branch). Whatever happens, I wish the new President well.

The "New" Culture War of McCain and Palin.

I'm glad I watched John McCain's speech on Thursday. I got to see the would-be president proclaim his commitment to bipartisanship and "reaching across the aisle. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he almost had me going too. But then he proceeded to outline a policy that keeps the entrenched political power in Washington exactly where it is. Still the most obvious disclosure of McCain's fealty to party politics is his decision to run with the GOP's culture war meme. Despite their record on the issues, the Republican Party is still insisting that it represents "small-town" values. Implicit in that contention is the idea that there is just something about city people that's essentially wrong and Anti-American.

Even the surface details of the Republican convention were carefully constructed to deliver this point. The slogan "Country First" was an insidious appeal to our nation's townsfolk. It took me a while to figure out what that essentially meaningless phrase was meant to suggest. Yet all it really took is one look at the projected back-drop behind McCain as he was giving his nomination convention speech- waves and waves of endless corn flowing in the wind. You see- it's the folks in the country and in the small town that really "get it", according to the GOP. They represent values like community pride, marital fidelity, honest and hard work, pride and love for family. That's their profile, and the Republicans claim to be the sole representatives of them.

To hear this cynical strategy shoved behind its "innocent" shell is particularly offensive to any city-dweller. The Republicans would like to portray us all as baby-killing, decadent, elitist, criminal-coddling, drug-addled, communist sympathizers and neglectful parents. They would like to make America believe that "community pride, marital fidelity, honest and hard work, pride and love for family" aren't values that are universally professed no matter where one travels. But they obviously won't come out and accuse us directly. Instead they have the audacity to suggest that urbanites look down on small-towns for what we ostensibly see as these "redneck values". We are enthralled by the Ivy-League elites who have propagandized us.

After leveling these charges they go one step further by warning us not to underestimate the "ordinary folks" who are just like the candidates (Sarah Palin, George Bush, etc.) that they float for national office. Never mind the reality behind these carefully-manipulated public personae. The GOP has even made higher education seem like a bad thing. This anti-intellectualism is the end-result of the cultural war that many Republicans are trying to foment (and have been for decades). What's needed is simple "common sense".... faith in these party leaders and in their ability to transform our entire nation into the "Shining City on the Hill" that will provide all the world's saints and sinners a perfect role model. This is where the "family values" platform comes from- wedge issues like gun ownership, abortion and gay marriage.

The thing is that I believe that it is the GOP that is actually insulting small town citizens. They are assuming that they are so stupid that they will never be able to see behind the facade. They act as if country people are too "simple" to catch on that the Republican leadership never has any intention of addressing the wedge issues that they promise to "resolve", and every intention to save them in order to encourage future divisiveness. They are too "naive" to challenge the hype- the reality is that the GOP continues to be led by the oil industries and the military-industrial complex. They won't notice that McCain has initiated a campaign of change that employs Sarah Palin as his front-line warrior in this age-old culture war. And they certainly aren't expected to see through the Bush-like hypocrisy of putting Palin* in the projected new role of "energy independence chief".

But you know what? I think the Republicans are wrong. I think that there are people all throughout the United States (the small towns, the cities, the exurbs AND the suburbs) that will see through to the truth of the McCain/Palin ticket. I think they'll reject this GOP "Culture War".


*Sarah Palin freely promotes "Alaska-first" values, is committed to the interests of "Big Oil", and currently married to a BP employee of nearly two decades. Here's an idea- why doesn't McCain cut out the middleman (and the middle-woman) and just appoint a board of oil company executives? After all they have the kind of experience the GOP is touting in their VP candidate. Palin is completely unqualified to work on "energy independence", as she is inextricably linked to the oil industry.