John Kerry was the wrong choice... he sucks!

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't know Goldwater very well.

What sorts of things did he support?

[Imran Siddiqui]

You can call him a Libertarian Republican. That's probably what he was closest too. He was for gays in the military and some legalization of drugs. He was also a fiscal super-conservative and Reagan was inspired by some of that. Of course Reagan was The Great Communicator and they don't come along very often.

You probably would not have liked Goldwater. I do though .

[Boris Godunov]

Goldwater has openly expressed revulsion at what the GOP has become today. He's a foreign policy hawk and fiscal conservative, but is socially pretty moderate:

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/scotts/bulgarians/barry-goldwater.html

http://worldpolicy.org/globalrights/sexorient/goldwater.html

[Imran Siddiqui]

Even Larry Korb, President Reagan's man in charge of implementing the Pentagon ban on gays, now admits that it was a dumb idea. No wonder my friend Dick Cheney, secretary of defense under President Bush, called it "a bit of an old chestnut"

Interesting. Hopefully Cheney can convince the Pentagon of that as well (he probably won't convince Bush).

[Ben Kenobi]

What's his position on abortion?

I think I might have supported Goldwater over Nixon.

What should undermine our readiness would be a compromise policy like "Don't ask, don't tell." That compromise doesn't deal with the issue - it tries to hide it.

This is where I disagree with Goldwater. Your sexual preferences should have nothing to do with your service in the military.

Second paper has nothing I disagree with.

[SlowwHand]

Goldwater was a nut.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Your sexual preferences should have nothing to do with your service in the military.

Yep, which is why "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is silly.

Oh, and Goldwater was pro-choice.... He was pretty anti-Christian Right (which is why I think I like him so much ).

[Ben Kenobi]

I see now why he destroyed the Republican party.

Yep, which is why "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is silly.

Why?

If you don't ask then it doesn't become an issue.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Why?

If you don't ask then it doesn't become an issue.

Gay soldiers being seen or known to "fraternize" with members of the same sex = "telling"

DADT is essentially "You can be gay as long as nobody knows about it." How this is different than the previous policy of frightening people into silence and discharging them when the truth was known, I don't know.

[Ben Kenobi]

Gay soldiers being seen or known to "fraternize" with members of the same sex = "telling"

Somehow I suspect your definition of 'fraternising' is different from my own, and rather more steamy.

I agree, that if they have a gay partner, fine, but don't go out of your way to flaunt the point. Too often what happens is that all of these points are taken to be affirmations rather than expressions of indifference.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
I agree, that if they have a gay partner, fine, but don't go out of your way to flaunt the point. Too often what happens is that all of these points are taken to be affirmations rather than expressions of indifference.

What do you define as "flaunting?" If gays are expected to behave differently wrt to their partners than straights (which they are), then it's discrimination, pure and simple.

And do you actually know anything about specific cases where people have been discharged under DADT?

[Ben Kenobi]

If gays are expected to behave differently wrt to their partners than straights (which they are), then it's discrimination, pure and simple.

Rather clever, Boris.

So a partner = a husband or a wife?

I think the military has the right to grant privileges to husbands and wives that are not granted to other partners.

[Boris Godunov]

Maybe you're being dense deliberately, but I doubt it.

Does the military discharge straight men for having girlfriends or straight women for having boyfriends? Or fiancees?

Under DADT, gays can and do get discharged just for it being discovered they are gay. No explicit sexual conduct needed.

[Ben Kenobi]

Under DADT, gays can and do get discharged just for it being discovered they are gay.

Really?

I thought they got discharged for telling the military they were gay. They are making their sexual preferences an issue, so the military makes it an issue.

Do you have any evidence that supports your point?

[Boris Godunov]

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9241/INFO.HTML

Timothy R. McVeigh, case in point.

Regardless, being known to have a boyfriend is, to the military, "telling." Is having a girlfriend making an issue of being straight?