I don't have a problem with anything you guys have said re: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. To be fair to Clinton, he supported an openly gay approach early on, but eventually he compromised.

I would bet heavily on this one thing - if someone who isn't used to being around gay folks and feels uncomfortable, or even if they are out and out homophobe, gets their backs watched and saved by a gay soldier, their minds will change in a hurry.

Maybe I'm being a bit generous there. My gut feeling is, and this may not be completely true, that homophobia is pretty damn common in the military. If it weren't, there would be no need for a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and we would be doing the fair thing already.

Interesting how the Republican candidates phrased their answers - most of them avoided the fairness issue altogether and talked about how the military brass thought the policy was working.

It is true that the Army first integrated african-americans into the military ranks. The thing is, they did not come up with the idea or suggest it to Truman - he issued an executive order demanding it, and was fairly flexible with the commanders in how they implemented the policy. The cynical view would be that he used the military as a tool of social experimentation, but I like to think that he was a forward thinker in this regard. It wasn't all that long after the Korean War before things came to a head in the civilian population.

Do I think the Army was ready for it? Thank you for asking. I can't imagine that opinion the military was all that different from civilian opinion - there were probably people who supported the policy and those who didn't support the policy. I think it is obvious the net effect has been nothing but positive.

Who wants to bet me that Don't Ask, Don't Tell comes up in the next Democratic debate, whenever that is? That Hillary sure is sharp. She's nothing if not cunning and clever, transferring ownership of the issue between parties. Turns out there were multiple people who, let's just say they never had any inclination to vote for anybody on stage to begin with. I'm not sure how anybody can believe that CNN didn't know what was going on. I guess the "paranoia" was justified. If I'm a Democratic, I'm grinning from ear to ear and having a cheeky laugh.

I guess if it were possible to enforce such a policy, I wouldn't mind if the opposition got a voice in the primary debates. The reason why I don't support it is because it is pretty plain to see that it just won't work that way. I wouldn't want to put shackles on the media like that anyway. The only answer is to do what the Democratics did with Fox (minus Kucinich) and avoid going to unfriendly places.

....liberals asking the questions. At least one of them (who knows how many more we'll find out about) is associated with a Democratic running for President currently. Which candidate? I'll give you one guess.



This would be equivalent to someone from a Republican candidate's team being permitted by the media to ask the Democratic candidates what they are going to do to preserve traditional marriage, or what they are going to do to protect the unborn. The fairness of Don't ask, Don't tell is a question that, while it may be relevant in some circles, definitely is not a hot button or important issue to any Conservative, or even most Republican voters.

That kind of a question is, to me, only in context in the general election. It is not even close to being on the map for a Republican primary. Do I want tough questions from the other party in a primary debate? No, I don't, whether it is Democratic or Republican. This is for THEIR supporters to decide which of THEIR people is good for THEM, not good for the opposition. I don't think anyone is really surprised by this development, but the pervasive stupidity of the electorate ensures that somehow this results in Hillary becoming more popular.

The irony in all of this is the simple fact that a very popular and beloved Democratic put Don't Ask, Don't Tell in place. Do you know which one? I'll give you one guess.



To me, this is a complex question that weighs fairness against reality. The fair thing is to allow people to be who they are openly. I consider a gay soldier to be just as brave and worthy of my respect as a straight soldier, possibly even more so. They do not deserve violence and harsh treatment from anyone. Cold, hard reality slaps you in the face, and lets you understand that this isn't just a military problem, it is a social problem, something that isn't easily fixed in an organization such as the US Armed Forces. Homophobes will be homophobes, no matter what you tell them, and some of them WILL treat gays differently. I trust military people to understand what will work and not work with the military far more than a politician vying for votes. This Hillary plant gives one version, and it is worth listening to, but I would think this is something that has to be reviewed carefully, not reduced pitifully to a gotcha moment on TV.

If I were gay, I wouldn't serve. Period. I'd try to serve the country in another way, because I just don't think this is going to be settled anytime soon.

I thought it was just happening here! Not so!



Maybe someday I will have a protected status! Probably not. Even when it's not the patriarchy, it will still be the patriarchy, according to the article. Too bad.

You know, if push came to shove, I don't think I would mind being Mr. Mom, just as long as I got a little sports car restoration project to work with on the side.

Ah, a new category. Hello!

(e:Joshua) is gone for the week, and that means that I have to feed myself. Normally, I don't do very well alone. I don't know what sautee means (rough guess: heat in pan w/oil?) or how to make pancakes, but to my surprise Yahoo had a link to a page of a "week full of EASY recipes" - Hallelujah!

Smiling because I had hope I wouldn't be eating PB & J for a week, I flipped over to Monday. What are you eating today, Jason? Stir-Fried Noodles and Pork. Cool, I know how to put some oil in the pan and heat some shit up. I looked at the recipe and saw SIXTEEN, count em, SIXTEEN ingredients. No lie.

What are chuka soba noodles? Can I get slivered ginger at Willies? Shiso leaves? Mung bean? When they say match stick, do they really mean match stick? What kind of chilis? I'm more of a six ingredient guy, including water and butter/oil.

Needless to say I clicked over here instead of reading the instructions. My hands are still shaking. I'm pretty sure booze can sustain me, at least until I can get some canned soup and some easy mac. Bon appetit!

I might as well chip in.....well....I'm not a noob, but I'm not a man-whore either. I've tended to always have cycles of having a girlfriend, then going through a period of self-pity and self-doubt, overcoming it, then going in for more punishment. We aren't as brilliant a species as we think, really.

I'm not the kind for a random hookup with a stranger. Sorry, just not my thing. Random hookup with someone I know, now that's different. I also am not someone who makes it a goal to see how many vag's I can pound. You will not hear me refer to women as "fresh tail" or something like that. I do not think of women in terms of how many of them I can fuck before I die.

I guess you can attribute part of that to the fact that I'm sort of introverted and standoffish. I don't go out of my way to be sociable and meet new girls. It just doesn't seem important to me, and hasn't for a few years now. I've always had something bigger and more important looming, which makes it tough for me to be bothered. Plus, there's that whole thing of me not being boyfriend material. Go ahead and ask around, none of the ex's are fighting with each other to win me back. There are still things to be accomplished.

Wow, I can tell I'm already talking about things in terms of relationships, instead of who I want to fuck. If I'm going to have a girl around, I want something more than a pincushion. I've done alright for myself, don't get me wrong, but I probably could have done a lot better if I had taken advantage of all my opportunities. Mark it down to not giving a shit one way or another. Is something wrong with me?