Saturday, November 13, 2010

Leaked Details of Pentagon DADT Study Upsets Gates and Wingnuts

Even before the unnecessary Pentagon study on DADT was launched, I had an insider at the contractor doing the study indicate that efforts would be made to slant the study so as to build justification for retaining the discriminatory religious based bigotry embodied in DADT. The leaked findings demonstrate that this effort failed and I suspect the leakers wanted the results out before they could be doctored and altered by those in high positions who oppose repeal. As Joe By God has reported, Klu Klux Klan loving demagogue Tony Perkins of Family Research Council has his panties in a major wad over the leaked information. Here's a sample of Perkins' spittle flying rant:
*
"We have criticized this study from the outset because the CRWG was forbidden to explore the central question before the country-not how to implement a repeal of the current law, but whether doing so is in the best interest of the armed forces.
*
"Despite this critical flaw, Secretary Gates had at least pledged that the effort would be 'carried out in a professional, thorough and dispassionate manner.' That effort is gravely undermined by leaks to the media which are unprofessional, selective and blatantly biased. I urge Secretary Gates to have the DOD Inspector General launch an immediate investigation into the source of these leaks, which have seriously damaged the credibility of the CRWG process."
*
The vast majority of Americans want DADT ended. As a result, the Christianists and the fossils at the Pentagon are fighting an ultimately losing battle in the effort to retain this failed policy. They know it and are becoming increasingly hysterical and underhanded in their defense of what is nothing less than stark religious based discrimination written into the nation's laws. The Christianists have loved DADT because it has allowed them for 17 years to point to the civil laws as a justification for their own blatant anti-gay discrimination. If DADT goes the way of the Dodo, a major tool of the Christianist propaganda machine will be lost. Worse yet, openly gay service members will quickly show that all of the whining of doom and gloom if DADT ends were nothing but deliberate lies.
*
Unfortunately, Gates and the Liar-in-Chief are apparently on choke chains held by Perkins and those of his ilk because Gates - who I trust about as far as I could throw an ocean liner - has announced that an investigation will be launched over the leaks. Here are highlights from a Pentagon press release:
*
“Secretary Gates is very concerned and extremely disappointed that unnamed sources within the Department of Defense have selectively revealed aspects of the draft findings of the Comprehensive Review Working Group, presumably to shape perceptions of the report prior to its release.
*
“The Secretary strongly condemns the unauthorized release of information related to this report and has directed an investigation to establish who communicated with the Washington Post or any other news organization without authorization and in violation of Department policy and his specific instruction. “The full report will be made public for all to review early next month. Until then, no one at the Pentagon will comment on its contents.”
*
Yep, Gates is pissed - because it will now be far harder to alter the study results to please Christianists and anti-gay senior brass now that the initial results have been leaked.

No comments: