Feb. 3, 2010
PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Gays in the Military: Why Can't We Do As Other Countries Do?
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
Watching the debate over Don't Ask, Don't Tell and gays in the military on cable news Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, I was struck by the "Groundhog Day" effect, with the sense of deja vu that Bill Murray experienced in the 1993 movie.
American exceptionalism has us using the English system of weights and measures that even the English don't use any more. Metric system measurements are used by our neighbors to the North and South. We refuse to listen to what other countries do with health care, such as following the example of Taiwan when they remodeled their health care by adopting the best features of systems around the world.
I wondered if any countries followed our policies about homosexuality in the military and found no civilized country using our DADT policy. I did find a CNN story (Link:http://www.laindependent.com/news/83376742.html) that listed 25 countries that, as of June 2009, allow openly gay and lesbian people to serve in their military. The list:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay.
I would say that's a pretty impressive list.
I also heard on CNN that in 1993, Vice President Al Gore, a Vietnam veteran, recommended to President Bill Clinton that all restrictions on gays in the military be dropped. We would have avoided a great deal of debate if Clinton, who managed to avoid serving in the military, had followed Gore's advice.
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PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Gays in the Military: Why Can't We Do As Other Countries Do?
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
Watching the debate over Don't Ask, Don't Tell and gays in the military on cable news Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, I was struck by the "Groundhog Day" effect, with the sense of deja vu that Bill Murray experienced in the 1993 movie.
American exceptionalism has us using the English system of weights and measures that even the English don't use any more. Metric system measurements are used by our neighbors to the North and South. We refuse to listen to what other countries do with health care, such as following the example of Taiwan when they remodeled their health care by adopting the best features of systems around the world.
I wondered if any countries followed our policies about homosexuality in the military and found no civilized country using our DADT policy. I did find a CNN story (Link:http://www.laindependent.com/news/83376742.html) that listed 25 countries that, as of June 2009, allow openly gay and lesbian people to serve in their military. The list:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay.
I would say that's a pretty impressive list.
I also heard on CNN that in 1993, Vice President Al Gore, a Vietnam veteran, recommended to President Bill Clinton that all restrictions on gays in the military be dropped. We would have avoided a great deal of debate if Clinton, who managed to avoid serving in the military, had followed Gore's advice.
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