gays in the military?

will obama end "don't ask, don't tell?" well, maybe he will, and maybe he won't. but, if you want gay people in the military, that means you want people in the military, and people in the military is the problem. will it help bombed villagers in afghanistan to know that those who killed them are gay? "hey, i don't mind being blown up, as long as i'm being murdered by a homosexual!"

it brings to mind my old gag about a tribute at umass given years ago to black korean war veterans. supposedly, these guys were forgotten heroes. i joked at the time that the tribute could have been titled "we kill people too."

the problem isn't who is in the military, the problem is the military itself. so, if "don't ask, don't tell" is ended someday, then what? what of the wars themselves? when will they be ended? a true progressive movement would be doing what it could to end the wars, and to expose the military as a violent, sexist, racist, homophobic institution. in short, it is the last place a decent gay person, or straight person, should be in.

a progressive moment challenges power. it doesn't try to find its place within existing power structures. the military is the dominant mode of power in american life. to ask for equality within it is to accept its power. it legitimizes it, acknowledges it as decent, as something worthy of belonging to.

but, as groucho once said "i don't want to be a part of any group that would have me as a member."

not all things are worth joining. sometimes, there are things that trump equal rights. do we want equal rights to commit evil acts? is there a movement that says both men and women should have an equal right to abuse their children, rape their servants, beat their dogs? the problem is the abuse, not the gender of who is doing the abusing. similarly, the problem with the military is that it is used to kill people, not whether the person bombing brown people is allowed to openly express their sexuality as they do so.

some may want gays in the military. i want all people out of the military. i want equal rights for gay civilians, but as far as i'm concerned, once you join the service, i'm rooting for the road team.

have these avid would be abolishers of "don't ask, don't tell" stopped to think of how many gay people have been killed in war? if more gays serve in combat, they will surely kill thousands of fellow gays around the world.

well, i suppose they won't ask them their sexual preferences before they bomb the shit out of them.