Ted Rall for August 18, 2010

like there’s thousands of people rushing to recruiters ? he’s willing to DIE for his country and you won’t take him ?

lousy politics…

Problem is he’s willing to kill. We hire contractors to do the killing so our enlisted can adhere to the ROE.

gee, CHARLIE555, this is the first time i’ve agreed w/ you. about the patriotism part of my post…

it’s like the nature of religion - the faith in what you believe…

^^ No one gets kicked out of the military solely for being racist or an adulterer. Pedophile, depends. Children aren’t consenting adults. No one gets kicked out of the military because some random person says “hey, I think that guy’s a racist.”

We just kicked out an Air Force War Hero, our top gentleman in the airforce, SOLELY because someone ELSE said he’s gay. In fact, most people removed because of DADT are removed because someone else makes an accusation, be it a spiteful acquaintance or someone who simply doesn’t like them.

But here’s the interesting part. When you’re sitting there with death whizzing by your head and the wrong move being the end of your life… why is it a straight person can pull out pictures of their wife/kids/girlfriend, and a gay person can’t [because the second they do, they’ll get kicked out]?

But I do have a question about your post: “What about lesbians?” After all, we just kicked out a woman who was rated a 130 out of 100 in physical ability and GPA at West Point… because her orientation is toward women.

Should we be kicking all women out of the military since the majority of men in the military are oriented toward women? Some say we should. The claim is women are weaker. Perhaps. But we know who stopped the massacre at Ft. Hood: a diminutive woman who had already been shot.

In the Marines, the guy in the purple shirt, will be hurt because of his sexual orientation. That doesnt make it right. That is a very real fact. (Personally, I love the sinner - but I hate the sin. In purple shirt guy’s life and my own.)

“In the Marines, the guy in the purple shirt, will be hurt because of his sexual orientation. That doesnt make it right. That is a very real fact.”

So you are saying that marines “in general” are unprofessional? Are you also saying that every other branch of the military that allows women in it shouldn’t allow those women because “they will be hurt” because they have a vagina? Sure, it happens. Doesn’t make it right. We should kick all women out? This logic is poor.

I walk side-by-side with male soldiers to and from the office on a semi-daily basis. I have yet to be “hurt” because I’m female. You’d think I’d be more vulnerable as a civilian.

charlie: “‘gay’ in this context meaning men who define themselves by their same-sex attraction.”

Do straight men “define themselves” by their opposite-sex attraction? I know I don’t. I am me, and I am many things, heterosexual being one of them.

I’m straight, but I was a very poor soldier. There’s no reason why a gay soldier can’t be a good soldier. When I was there they would have kept ME rather than a potential Audie Murphy, if they thought he might fall in love with another man…

spammerflaggen!

It’s a good thing you use the word “solely,” Jade. Adultery & racism are covered under “Conduct Unbecoming,” Article 133 & “General Article” 134, of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They generally don’t bother unless it effects unit cohesion or makes loud, messy news.

^ I’m good with stipulative words like that. They tend to save my pa-toot.

” They generally don’t bother unless it effects unit cohesion or makes loud, messy news.”

Yet they’ll go way out of their way to ferret out a homosexual individual based on third-party here-say. Most don’t run around with rainbow shirts saying ‘Gay Pride.’ Though I’m sure during a homecoming they’d love to be able to embrace their spouse/lover just like straight people get to, without being kicked out for it.

^You know they don’t want that Jade. They might turn the other soldiers gay.

Or they might see a Sandra Bullock movie, War??

Yes, you would have to be mentally ill to join the U.S. Army. That or very, very hungry with a thing for MREs.

^^^ I hear it’s a virus passed by air.

yeah gay dude, your not supposed to say outloud what that military believes in their hearts, gaahhhh.

Charlie, you make it very difficult to take you seriously. The colonel that Jade referred to is recognized by the military as a war hero. He is proven to INCREASE the cohesiveness of his unit. It sounds like some ‘good soldiers’ in the Pentagon are ‘risking destroying their units for any personal reason.’

Perhaps no women should be allowed in any military roll, just to make sure no straight man has a reason to ‘risk destroying his unit for any personal reason.’ While we are at it, someone has to be making a real gaydar. Why isn’t it finished yet? There can be no chance for any gay to ruin his or her unit!

I really liked this comic. Everytime I heard the story of a serviceperson being outed for homosexuality I had to wonder why he was risking his life for people who deny him rights.

charlie, is every kind of behavior that doesn’t conform to what society deems “normal” to be considered a struggle or an affliction?

Jade, I am a 18+ year Marine. I am speaking from first hand knowledge. My private area does not have anything to do with it. My sole concern for these men is that there are a few who will seek them out and cause them harm. That and the destiny of their soul…

I don’t think most gay people in this day and age would see it that way.

Dana,

Your concern for your “private area” seems … quaint.

charlie, I’m studdying psychology and homosexuality eft the DSM back in 1973, in other words, it’s no longer considered a disease.

For somebody to be considered diseased, it doesn’t have to just stick out of the group, he has to feel bad about his difference.

Most gays don’t feel bad, others feel bad about them

Maybe anyone who isn’t bisexual has a disorder. Who’s to say?

If all of society is telling you that it’s wrong to be gay, and if there are serious problems in life – such as getting fired from jobs or even being put in prison – for being gay, then maybe, just maybe, some gay people would wish that they weren’t gay. But if society says, Hey, what’s the big deal, if your rights to employment are protected, and (mirabile dictu) if you’re even given the right to marry the person you love, then maybe you will be comfortable and happy the way God or Nature made you.

“The running joke amongst them was, “What did your mother do to you?””

That is the common theory. And it’s full of B.S. Plenty of gays and lesbians live absolutely normal lives with no parental abuse or anything. Many lesbians don’t “hate men.” Their dads didn’t do anything to them. And yet people tend to believe this bull hockey over, say, proven scientific research which shows things like… “the more older brothers you have the greater the chance you might be gay.” Then there’s chromosome research, hormone research, brain research. But no, hey, let’s think people choose to do it. That someone wakes up and decides, “hey, I want to be a hated 2-3%* marginalized portion of society.”

Myming, please note that Ted has his character say that he is «willing to fight and die and kill for the US Army». Now I may be over-interpreting the cartoon - despite his naivistic style, Ted is a master of ambiguity - but I suspect that he is hinting here that the interests of the US Army are not necessarily identical to those of the United States (as opposed to those of the class running the show)….

Henri