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"Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple. It says, 'Raise an army.' It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation. You all joined for a reason: to serve. To protect our nation, right? How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble? Right? Get over it. We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines." - Command Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Michael Barrett, speaking to troops in South Korea.
A civilian employee of the Marine Corps writes us this morning to note that the USMC has blocked the website of the International Day Against Homophobia. The repeal of DADT is nearly official and the Secretary of State has issued a statement in support of the site's goals. But Marines still can't read about it. Or any other "LGBT" classified sites, apparently.
In a scare piece headlined "Military Indoctrinated On Gays Kissing," today's Washington Times notes the below scenario as laid out in a Marine Corps guideline to the repeal of DADT.
“Situation,” it begins. “You are the Executive Officer of your unit. While shopping at the local mall over the weekend, you observe two junior male Marines in appropriate civilian attire assigned to your unit kissing and hugging in the food court. “Issue: Standards of Conduct. Is this within standards of personal and professional conduct?” The answer to Marines: “If the observed behavior crosses acceptable boundaries as defined in the standards of conduct for your unit and the Marine Corps, then an appropriate correction should be made. Your assessment should be made without regard to sexual orientation.”The comments on the above-linked article are pretty much what you'd expect.
The Marine Corps has issued a memo declaring that May 31st is the deadline to complete its training for the implementation of the repeal of DADT. Six months from repeal to the completion of training is a timetable with which we should all be satisfied, yes? OutServe has the full (and all caps) memo. An excerpt:
SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDS ON LEADERSHIP, PROFESSIONALISM, DISCIPLINE, AND RESPECT, WHICH MUST CONTINUE TO BE PRACTICED AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL SITUATIONS. LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS MUST SET THE EXAMPLE AND MUST BE FULLY COMMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) INTENT TO SUSTAIN UNIT EFFECTIVENESS, READINESS, AND COHESION. IN THE PROFESSION OF ARMS, ADHERENCE TO STANDARDS OF CONDUCT IS ESSENTIAL, EACH SERVICE MEMBER MUST BE TREATED WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY, AND LEADERSHIP IS KEY TO CREATING AND SUSTAINING SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT AND COMMAND CLIMATE WHERE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE AND ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE IS AVAILABLE TO ALL.(Tipped by JMG reader Justin)
Longtime JMG reader Calvin writes to brag about his big brother, who has published a full-page pro-same sex marriage ad in New Hampshire's biggest newspaper.
From the official USMC YouTube channel:
On December 3, 2010, General James Amos testified that if DADT was repealed, the Marine Corps would step out smartly to carry out the new policy. On January 28, 2011, the Commandant and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps released this video to the Corps describing the way ahead.An amazing and welcome message.
Wingnut GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter plans to introduce a bill that would require all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to sign off on the certification of the repeal of DADT. As you may recall, USMC Commandant James Amos loudly protested DADT's repeal late last year.
Hunter’s measure would require the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps chiefs to submit to the congressional defense committees “written certification that repeal … will not degrade the readiness, effectiveness, cohesion and morale of combat arms units and personnel of the armed force under [each] officer’s jurisdiction engaged in combat, deployed to a combat theater, or preparing for deployment to a combat theater,” according to a copy obtained by The Hill. “The emphasis here is on combat troops,” said the aide, “because when Congress heard from the military chiefs, it was the leaders of the Army and Marine Corps who had the strongest concerns — the services that are most engaged in war right now.”According to an aide to Hunter, 15-20 other GOP reps have signed on to be cosponsors of his bill.
Geico pitchman R. Lee Emery now says he is awfully sorry for his speech to thousands of Marines in which he urged them to "rise up" against the president for his plan to "impose socialism."
"I recently appeared at a fundraising event designed to collect toys and raise awareness for underprivileged children. While that event succeeded in raising thousands of dollars and hundreds of toys for this cause, I regret that I delivered a monologue that was inappropriately critical of the President. I was trying to be entertaining and simply went too far in this instance. I am mindful that my success as an entertainer relates in part to my experience in the Marine Corps, my devotion to its members, and the deep respect I have for members of all our Armed Forces. My comments should not be seen as reflecting on them or their views. I was just very disappointed in the amount of success that we were having raising toys and money for the underprivileged children this season. The poor economy has greatly hampered our efforts. My comments were misguided, and emotionally based, and for that I am truly sorry."Somebody wants to have a job again one day.
