• "Iran: Election Aftermath and World Reaction"
• "America's 'Bermuda solution' angers Britain"
• "Obama Admin Hearts DOMA (For Now). Do Gays Still Heart Obama?"
• "Is My Marriage Gay?"
• "U.S. Births Hint at Bias for Boys in Some Asians"

Comments

[Benjamin Ady]

Isn't the DOMA article kind of old news? I mean didn't Obama just today grant federal partner rights to all domestic partners of federal employees?

And I know this is a bit off topic (sort of--the DOMA article *does* mention "Don't Ask Don't Tell").

What is going to happen the next time the U.S. institutes a draft, and all the liberal young people decide to avoid it by "being" gay? I'm guessing gays would quite suddenly be very much allowed to "serve" in the military.

[Gina]

Benjamin, I just saw the news about the federal partner benefits last night, and will post something about it today. But the DOMA brief hit the news on June 12, so no, I don't think it's old.

[Fred]

@Gina

What amazes me is that homosexual activists think the Obama isn't "pro-gay" enough because of the DOMA decision. Here are examples of the faux outrage:

http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/obama-justice-department-defends-doma.html

http://www.americablog.com/2009/06/dnc-gay-fundraiser-starting-to-fall.html

Contrast this to reality as reported by the FRC:

http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF09F44.pdf

In short, homosexual activists want the President to turn American in Sodom and Gommorah yesterday. In delays make Obama less "pro-gay" and more "bigoted" in their eyes.

[jason taylor]

That is a point Benjamen. Although it may be less of a point then you think. If there was a world war it would cause internal quarrels to be forgotten just like last time(insofar as we can arrange the obsolescence of WMDs to allow everybody to kill each other like civilized people; a difficulty which means another World War simply isn't in the works).

As for more Small Wars, Operations-Other-Then, and Chastising of Savages we are likely to see a number of those in the future no matter who is President. But that sort of thing simply cannot be done by conscripts. The most effective conscripts are patriotic ones like the IDF or like the kind typical of the World Wars and the Napoleanic wars. While mere pressed men can be made efficient given they are not ideal and a good conscript army, paradoxically, is not an unwilling one. In any case Small Wars need people with technical skill whose morale is based on esprit-de-corps rather then ideology. This cannot be gotten from conscripts very easily. This was a lesson dating back to the Romans where it was found out that Scipio's legions could defeat Hannibal but found it an uncommon headache keeping Spain in order.

And in any case someone who said he was gay just to avoid being drafted has just said "I can't go cus I'm a wuss". Whether or not gayness is a sign of wussiness(historically of course there is enough evidence against that association)the combination of the old legend with the obvious sign of wussiness that goes with draft-dodging will be enough to tar people.

That may seem like a petty point. But the fact is people fight because they love honor more then life. That sounds like poetry and rather cliche poetry. But it is also true. Psychological studies of people in combat put this in a lot of scientific phrasing. But the end result comes to that conclusion, that people fight to not let down their comrades, to not look bad in front of others, or in other words because they love honor more then life. People enlist for the same reason. For that reason someone who is really willing to deliberately make such a self-inflicted wound on his reputation(again this is irrelevant to whether gayness should be a slur on reputation)may be a drag rather then an asset to the military.

[Benjamin Ady]

Gina,

sorry--didn't mean to be critical =)