It almost seems like the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy against gays and lesbians is a foregone conclusion… The Marines’ top enlisted leader sure seems to think it’s a done deal, though he may not be familiar with ongoing attempts by Republicans in Congress to delay or otherwise sabotage the repeal process. Check out his recent address to a group of fellow Marines in an address last week:
Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett joined Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos at some Marine bases in the Pacific last week, and made his views pretty clear on the matter:
“Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple,” he told a group of Marines at a base in South Korea. “It says, ‘Raise an army.’ It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation.
“You all joined for a reason: to serve,” he continued. “To protect our nation, right?”
“Yes, sergeant major,” Marines replied.
“How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble?” Sgt. Maj. Barrett continued, raising his voice just a notch. “Right?”
Sgt. Maj. Barrett then described conversations with U.K. troops, who saw a similar ban lifted a decade ago, with little disruption. And to drive the point home, he produced a pocket copy of the Constitution.
“Get over it,” he said. “We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. … Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines.”
Well damn… I’m not sure I could’ve said it any better, Sgt. Major.