Maureen Dowd has the question of the day when she asks, “Be honest. Who would you rather share a foxhole with: a gay soldier or Mitt Romney?” She provides many examples of the hypocrisy of Republicans, with this representing only a portion of her column:
Peter Pace, whose job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff became a casualty of Iraq on Friday, asserted in March that homosexual acts “are immoral.” Yet in May, he wrote a letter to the judge in the Scooter Libby case, pleading for leniency for the Cheney aide. Scooter always looked for “the right way to proceed — both legally and morally,” General Pace wrote of the man who lied to a grand jury about the outing of a spy, after he pumped up the fake case for the war that has claimed the lives of 3,500 young men and women serving under the general.
At the G.O.P. debate in New Hampshire last week, the contenders were more homophobic than the mobsters on “The Sopranos,” unanimously supporting the inane “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Even Rudy Giuliani, who loves to cross-dress and who stayed with old friends, a gay couple, to avoid Gracie Mansion when his second marriage was disintegrating, had an antediluvian answer.
Wolf Blitzer asked him about the Arabic linguists trained by the government who have been ousted from the military after being outed.
Mr. Giuliani, who procured three deferments to avoid Vietnam, replied that, with the war in Iraq raging, “This is not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this.”
If he’s so concerned with disruptive issues, maybe he should start worrying about this one: Two straight guys who slithered out of going to Vietnam are devising a losing strategy in Iraq year after year. W. and Dick Cheney have fouled things up so badly that Robert Gates and Tony Snow are now pointing to South Korea — where American troops have stayed for over half a century — as a model.
Mitt Romney agreed with Rudy on the issue. Instead of going to Vietnam, Mr. Romney spent two and a half years doing Mormon missionary work in France. Isn’t that like doing Peace Corps work in Monte Carlo?
Now that is an important trivia item. Mitt Romney went to France instead of Vietnam. That was the old Mitt Romney. The new Mitt Romney plans to use attacks on France as part of his campaign, and has already engaged in some France-bashing while inaccurately portraying their marriage laws.
Couple of things. Mitt Romney didn’t get to choose where he went, and while he was in France, he lived in the humblest of circumstances. I know, I served a mission for two years and lived on $350 a month. That included everything from rent to meals to transportation, and that was in 1993 – 1995. Furthermore, he didn’t go on a mission to avoid service, his draft number was not drawn.
The don’t ask don’t tell policy was put in place during the Clinton years and while a democratic congress was in place (1993?), so it has a history of bi-partisan support. Romney’s support was in support of the existing widely accepted policy.
I would be equally happy sharing a foxhole with Romney or a soldier that is attracted to the same gender, both could be quite competent there. But there are some circumstances, such as being in close quarters at non-combat times, where a certain discomfort could arise.
The same could be said if they made all barracks co-ed. Why don’t they? Because there may be certain soldiers (likely the majority of women, and some men) who would find that arrangement unprofessional, inappropriate, overly casual, and distracting. Likewise, it would be very distracting for many individuals to share quarters with someone who is strongly attracted to that gender. Is it the women’s fault that they feel that way? Is it the straight guy’s fault that they feel that way??? Tough questions. For now, I believe Giuliani had it right, it is a big issue, and whichever way it goes it will be very disruptive to the current situation.
Liberal values? Where? I see no values in what’s called “liberals” these days. Why don’t you call yourselves what you are? Why not label yourselves “Socialists” or even “Communists” – that meant in it’s original sense rather than the pejoritive word it’s become. You aren’t liberals – liberals believe in the freedom of individuals over the wants of the masses. Liberals believe in standing on their own two feet, not begging the government for support. Maureen Dowd is the model for the modern American Socialist. You should be ashamed for besmirching the good name of “Liberal”.
BTW… I served my term in Viet Nam. I am not nor was I ever ashamed of that service. I would have shared a foxhole with either a gay or Mitt Romney. I’m also a lifelong Democrat, and I AM ashamed of how my party has been taken over by the American Socialists. They certainly don’t represent me.
Did you even bother to take a look at this site (or examine the views of others) before coming here to hurl insults?
Communists? Socialists? Those are hardly descritive of the views expressed here. The posts here consistently support the freedom of individuals and oppose both socialism and as well as the authoritarianism and corruption of the free market system seen under Republican rule.
If you believe that the Democratic Party has been taken over by socialists you need to pay attention to what people are really saying–as well as needing to realize the diversitiy of opinion which exists.
Those of you who start out saying they were a Democrat and then mindlessly repeat the talking points of the extreme right are just the opposite side of the same coin as Communists and Socialists. None of you understand our system of individual liberty and the free market which is under assault from the right.
Well, MoDo, if I was in a foxhole I’ll presume for the sake of argument that I’m in a warzone, so it would probably be better to have a soldier present, rather than the big-mouthed chickenhawk.
Now if The Times answer to Ann Coulter had asked who I would rather have clean runny dogsh!t off the top of my family truckster, then I’d say call in the guy who has experience on those matters.
Doesn’t seem like to tough a question for me. However, i know Dowd is just looking for a father figure, so she’ll probably go with Mr. Plasti-hair™.