"Don't Ask, Don't Smell"

In true fashion of the Californian judicial system, Federal Judge Virginia Phillips slipped in the back door of the Department of Defense a worldwide injunction immediately stopping President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy from l993. Sidestepping Congress completely and the probable desires of the American majority, Judge Phillips plead in favor of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay advocacy Republican group. While covertly her ruling could be seen as an Obama success (his administration tried to slip in the repeal as pork in the recent defense spending bill), Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates speculated that an abrupt ending to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have enormous consequences for the troops. We are at war. The federal government is deciding whether to appeal the decision, despite their own previous attempt to repeal the what most people consider anachronistic legislation. If Obama does appeal most pundits believe the courts temporarily will lift the injunction while the appeals process commences. The question here is whether the ruling stands for the good of the many or the good of the few. While personal civil liberties are important in the Constitution, rulings concerning the masses or class actions have more far reaching ramifications. In certain situations where many victims suffer at the hands of a law-breaking culprit, a class action is appropriate and can be helpful. For a spiritual and private liberty and one that can fall under the aesthetic of religion, legislating a global injunction affecting the entirety of America’s military would be a mistake. No one seems to be making a case for the adverse consequences of “Gay in the Military.” While the gay contingency continues it pursuit of American civil liberties, no one really wants to openly say sexual preference is a religious issue. Likewise religion in general and a belief in God has been spun as unpopular by many large media conglomerates. For whom is it elected officials are going? Hispanics? Black? Gays? Sexual harassment is not bridled just to heterosexuality, and until that issue is confronted in terms of a largely male fighting force often cloistered together in remote areas, real enlightenment over the effects of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will not be found. While homosexuality on television is a relatively tame affair, anyone that attends any of the many gay activist activities immediately would see what aberrant behavior is possible behind the close doors of same sex bunking. For the many well adjusted and couple homosexuals living common lives with no outward vigil, the repealing of the legislation could seem Constitutional. Why can’t homosexuals openly serve in the military? It is because the military is unlike any civilian organization. Civilians do not form battalions, brigades, or platoons. Civilians do not eat, sleep, and work together as a huge cooperating force. Civilians do not spend long hours forced together in extreme and often dangerous situations. It is for these reasons the Department of Defense has launched a probe in the effect of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which are forthcoming on December 1^st. Any attempt to change the law before them, no matter how California-appropriate, would be a mistake. Fruits, flakes, and nuts don’t necessarily represent the best interests of the national security of this country. They tend to represent their own, which is proven again and again in California’s judicial system. Homosexuals are not celebrities, although they seem to want to be.