Wallace and Glom It
Remember back during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate when homosexuals said all they wanted was the chance to serve their country openly? Turns out, that wasn't all they wanted. The military wasn't even two weeks into its "coming out" party when activists unleashed a second round of demands, including the right to "weddings" on base--and access to service chaplains to perform them. Like most conservatives, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) knows that once homosexuals get their boot in the door, there will be no stopping them on this or any other flagrant anti-family, anti-security agenda. On Friday, McKeon wouldn't budge on the House's position, which is that the repeal is still ancillary to federal law, and it plainly states marriage is the union of a man and woman. For that reason, Congress tacked two amendments onto the annual Defense Authorization bill. One beats back the Pentagon's new guidelines on same-sex "marriages" on military bases, and the other reiterates that the Defense Department is not exempt from the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Its policies, like the entire federal government's, are subject to Congress's definition of marriage.
"This is one of the concerns that we had," McKeon said on C-SPAN last week, "that we were rushing this, to eliminate [Don't Ask, Don't Tell], before we had fully prepared things. And DOMA is the law of the land," McKeon said. "I'm hopeful that the Senate will look at those votes and will understand our feelings on the issue." If they don't, McKeon implied, the House may just kill the Defense Authorization Act altogether. Asked if he'd rather not have a bill than give an inch on marriage, McKeon said, "Yes."
Predictably, the Left jumped on his comments, claiming that McKeon was jeopardizing America's mission to "advance his own narrow, social agenda." Funny, that's exactly what the Left did in shoehorning the repeal into a lame-duck session without any concern for military readiness or the safety of an entire force! McKeon is right to be cautious and establish the boundaries up front. What's more, his agenda isn't "anti-gay," as Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) implied, it's pro-law. Our soldiers are on the battlefield this second, fighting to preserve the very laws that their commander-in-chief ignores. We applaud Chairman McKeon and others who are intent on protecting the statues these brave men and women are sacrificing for.
Meanwhile, the media seems intent on making Sen. Rick Santorum the punching bag for being the most outspoken about keeping the military focused on its mission to fight and win wars. But if Chris Wallace and others honestly think they can get the Senator to blink on his beliefs, then they don't know Rick Santorum. His position, which mirrors that of our military service chiefs, is that "The Army is not a sociological laboratory. Experimenting with Army policy, especially in a time of war, would pose a danger to efficiency, discipline, and morale, and would result in ultimate defeat." In a heated exchange with Wallace, who tried to catch Rick with some "gotcha" questioning, Santorum didn't back down. "...I know the whole gay community is trying to make this the new civil rights act. It's not... You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual by... the color of your skin... It is behavioral." Wallace tried to turn the tables by suggesting that Sen. Santorum was questioning the homosexual soldiers' service. "They're all volunteers," Wallace said, "defending our... country." "That's exactly the point, Chris," Santorum fired back. "They are all volunteers, and they don't have to join in a place where they don't feel comfortable serving with people because of that issue."
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