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Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told cadets at West Point last week that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay service members is a policy set by Congress, not the military. The remark, prompted by a student’s question, follows Mullen’s comment in his confirmation hearing that “I'd love to have Congress make its own decisions” about repeal.
If cadets ask, Admiral Mike Mullen tells. (Photo by AP)
Mullen certainly didn’t endorse overturning the ban, but as the pro-gay Service members Legal Defense Network noted, “Mullen’s remarks reflect an attitude shift among the military establishment which has historically discouraged public debate on allowing open lesbian and gay Americans to serve.” And as the gay bloggers at Queerty observed, Mullen’s comments are also far ahead of the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace, who called gays “immoral.”
Air America host Rachel Maddow, who happens to be both impossibly brilliant and a lesbian, is getting increasing airtime as a political analyst on MSNBC. Apparently, Fox News radio host John Gibson isn’t a fan.
John Gibson? Not yummy. (Photo courtesy Fox News Radio)
In his May 1 show, Gibson aired audio of Maddow discussing Barack Obama’s repeated denunciations of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the media’s ongoing attention to the controversy at the expense of health care, gas prices, the Iraq War and other issues.
It’s one thing to disagree with Maddow’s political analysis. But Gibson followed her comments with an anonymous voice mocking, “Ooh, lesbians! Yummy!”
While Maddow’s fresh perspective on national politics is delicious, Gibson’s tactic was in bad taste.
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