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GLTNewsNow: Supporters of DADT Finally Jump the Shark

"Supporters of DADT Finally Jump the Shark"
GLTNewsNow.com
March 23, 2010
By Michael Magee

In all likelihood you have heard the metaphor: “to jump the shark.” Usually it refers to that moment when a long running television show has finally run out of new ideas and simply loses whatever it was that once drew people to watch it. The phrase’s origin dates to the final years of the 70’s television show “Happy Days” when, in an episode, the Fonz went to California, put on a pair of water skies and jumped over a bunch of sharks in the ocean. Well, like “Happy Days,” I think we have finally seen a moment when supporters of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy have jumped the shark.

This past Thursday, I spent the better part of the day at the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing in Washington, DC, where members of the Committee heard testimony from both sides of the DADT fight. Retired Marine General John Sheehan, the former Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for NATO, testified for the opponents of repeal. Former Air Force Major Mike Almy and San Diego’s own former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Jenny Kopfstein testified in support of repeal. In every sense of the word this could have been a very bad day for our side given the symbolism that comes with the voice of a retired four star Marine General. But, oh how appearances can be deceiving.

The more the General spoke the more it became clear the opponents of repeal had badly miscalculated their new champion. Audience members literally gasped when, toward the end of his testimony, Sheehan said that the comparison between the European experience of implementing open service and the American experience is erroneous due to what he called the “liberalization” of European militaries, which included allowing gays to serve openly. In order to back up his claim, the good General pointed to the “Genocide of Srebrenica” of July 1995 when 8,000 Muslim males under the protection of the Dutch military were massacred by advancing Bosnian Serbs. Sheehan claimed that the massacre was allowed to happen, in large part, because the effectiveness of the Dutch military was impaired as a result of open service. In essence, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly will lead to the destruction of our military’s effectiveness as evidenced by one of the worst acts of mass murder in history. Digging himself in deeper, General Sheehan, when asked by Senator Roland Burris whether or not he had ever commanded people of color, answered that he had, in fact, served with and commanded “blacks, Hispanics and ‘Orientals’ just to name a few.”

Lt. Kopfstein and Major Almy were more than up to the task of standing in the face of this rank bigotry and ignorance. Their honesty and courage only served to highlight the juxtaposition of a retired flag officer’s loopy and arcane worldview vs. the reality of these two honorable and articulate victims of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This fact was not lost on people in the audience and more importantly nor with the Senators on the dais. Committee Chairman Carl Levin’s dismissal of the General’s characterizations as a real stretch of the imagination was mild compared to the outrage Sheehan sparked in the Netherlands. Both the Prime Minister and Defense Minister have issued statement after statement condemning Sheehan’s remarks as outrageous and untrue. What could have been a bad day for our side turned out better than anyone could have expected.

My point here is that the fight for repeal has finally begun to come full circle and the arguments against full repeal are being exposed for the empty-headed ignorance we have always known. Despite what the world of media punditry may claim, the far right has been knocked back on their heels beginning with the election of President Barack Obama and continuing through to this week’s passage of healthcare reform. The far-right has thundered and blustered mightily but with virtually every major legislative confrontation in both Chambers of Congress they have lost when it really counted. With an election season upon us, we must now be more vigilant in the fight for repeal and continue to fight as hard as ever.

The far-right needs an enemy to succeed. Now that they have lost healthcare, cap and trade, the stimulus and the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, just to name a few, they will return to what they know best – rank homophobia and the threat “the gay menace” presents to the American way of life. What better way to highlight this “threat” than the idea of predatory gays and lesbians lurking in the barracks, destroying military effectiveness like they did the Dutch?

Over the next eight months, the Pentagon’s Working Group will study how best to implement repeal of the ban. Our opponents are going to argue that the group needs to study whether to repeal, which is why engagement of grassroots lobbyists is so important. Repeal will continue to be in the news because Senator Joe Lieberman’s bill S.3065 is also scheduled for markup in the Senate around mid-May, which will be an incredibly important time in this fight. How the bill’s markup plays out will have great impact on whether the bill advances out of committee and will also impact the important parallel efforts to get repeal language inserted in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2011.

In order to get full repeal this year, we need to exert enormous pressure on Senate Armed Services Committee members such as Senators Jim Webb of Virginia, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and the venerable 92-year-old West Virginian Robert Byrd. We do not have these votes committed, and if we lose any one of them it will make it very difficult for our great ally and champion on that committee, Chairman Carl Levin, to advance the issue forward in the Senate chamber.

Despite what some may say, SLDN, HRC, the Center for American Progress, Servicemembers United and others are working collaboratively together. Each organization has their own mission and, yes, every now and then there are tactical disagreements. But, one thing we do not disagree on is that anything other than full repeal this year is a non-starter. Nor can we ever forget for whom we fight this battle because each and every day service members pack up their uniforms for the final time due to nothing more than being who they are. It does not matter if you are a Jen Kopfstein or Mike Almy or Victor Fehrenbach, honorable and courageous service is quickly tossed aside when the investigative services begin their work. That is why when it comes to this fight, all of us are fighting like hell to secure votes every day.

Everyone has a role to play in this fight. If there was ever a time to get engaged this is it. If we let repeal fail now, the political reality is we could be looking at years before another shot comes along. Whatever your organization of choice may be, please call them today, get involved and for, God’s sake, don’t let anyone tell you it does not matter or you don’t have a voice because they are simply wrong.

Michael Magee is currently the National Board Co-Chairman for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Prior to his work with SLDN, Magee served on the campaigns of a myriad of elected officials including a Governor, US Senator and President of the United States. For nearly eight years he served on the staff of the Governor of California primarily as the Director of the Governor’s District Office in San Diego. In the private sector he served as the Senior Vice President for Public Policy of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce where he worked to bring together the city’s diverse business community to develop a cohesive regional growth strategy for one of the nation’s fastest growing regions. Presently, Magee is in business for himself as the owner-operator of a successful real estate holding company with properties located in San Diego, Malibu, Ventura and San Luis Obispo, CA. As a volunteer for SLDN for more than a decade, Magee has chaired numerous events and outreach efforts to benefit SLDN as well as to raise the profile of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at both the local and national levels.

03-23-10 By Michael Magee, SLDN Board Co-Chair |