The absolute worst nightmare of diehard defenders of “don’t ask, don’t tell” has become reality: They’re now fighting the Pentagon, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Adm. Mike Mullen said in riveting, military-man eloquent testimony Feb. 2 before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“No matter how I look at this issue,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs continued, “I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”
The nation’s highest-ranking military officer concluded: “I also believe that the great young men and women of our military can and would accommodate such a change. I never underestimate their ability to adapt.”
Game over.
Now, of course, the losing team can’t be expected to look at the one-sided score and just walk off the field.
Sen. John McCain — the Arizona Republican who in 2006 said if military leaders ever told him DADT should be repealed “we ought to consider seriously changing it” — peevishly lectured Mullen and the Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also testified “I fully support” repeal:
“Well, I’m happy to say that we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell, despite your efforts to repeal it, in many respects by fiat,” McCain told them.