2 GOP Senators who are rumored to be gay, serve in the military and support DADT. . .

[wndycty]

. . .so if it is not repealed should they be discharged?

Given that a significant number of service members that were discharged didn't voluntarily come out, but were outed should these two be exempt from the policy?

I don't care to name these two Senators but a lot of folks know who I am talking about.

The policy sucks. Outing people is wrong. But I can't stand watching these two Senators opposing the repeal of DADT, while others who follow the rules have been involuntarily outed and face discharge.

Your thoughts?

[joeybee12]

1. I'llname them...Graham and McConnell...come January, they'll have 3 - Mark Kirk...nt

[era veteran]

20. Mitchie. Private fondles Private's privates

Chinless bastard can't grow a beard so he married one. Hypocrite chickenhawk.

[wndycty]

21. He is not in the military is he?

:kick:

[joeybee12]

24. Well, neither is in in the military now...are you saying the two currently serve

both in the Senate and the military concurrently?

[dsc]

40. Graham for sure does

and I think Kirk does to. Both in the reserves which have the very same DADT.

[era veteran]

29. Almost, was discharged for an eye problem that you

get treated as an outpatient & they don't medically discharge you for,,, BUT rumor is that the cross dressing Mitchie was busted in Basic Training and being KY Senator John Sherman Coopers young protege things were arranged. Eye ache my Ear, could be another Cheech and Chong hit. ( If your in the service for under 180 days, it doesn't count. < I think that's the right # > )

[cyborg1966]

35. Partially correct...

I remember from my AF days that if you are on active duty for under 180 days, you can get (approved by your commander) an Entry-Level Separation, which is an "uncharacterized discharge," meaning it's neither good nor punitive. It happens quite a bit with Basic Trainees who cannot adapt to the military. It's a lot easier to ELS them than to pour more time and money into trying to make them Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen/Marines/Coasties, for which they're completely unsuited. Sometimes it's the result of malingering, but much of the time it's the fault of recruiters under the gun to fill quotas who fudge enlistment contracts and examiners at MEPS who don't take enough time to assess the mental state of a recruit.

[karynnj]

22. Kirk is already there - he was sworn in this week, because Burris was appointed

and Kirk won the special election and the regular election.

Is McConnell in the service?

[joeybee12]

25. That's right!

I'd forgotten that closet case was already embarrassing Illinois.

[cyborg1966]

36. Colonel Lindsey Graham, USAF Reserve

I hadn't known about McConnell, but the last I knew, Lindsey Graham was a Colonel in the Judge Advocate General corps of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

[tularetom]

2. If nobody asks, these two won't have to tell

I'm pretty sure I know who one of these guys is.

Who is the other one?

[wndycty]

4. What was the criteria used to investigate those who were involuntarily outed?

:kick:

[justiceischeap]

3. If DADT isn't repealed, then they should be outed and discharged

Just like any other gay soldier. Just because they're Senators doesn't give them a free pass to break the rules. 'Cause even though the DADT policy is in place, you know they STILL actively hunt down teh gay.

[wndycty]

5. Would that be something a significant number of people would get behind. . .

. . .the rumors about both Senators have been covered in the press before, so it would be so easy for members of the media to ask the question:

In light of the rumors swirling about Senator X and given the fact Senator X serves in the military and supports DADT shouldn't they be investigated?

[justiceischeap]

7. I feel it's a totally fair position for someone in the media to take

If there have already been rumors, then the military should be investigating them anyway. That's how other gays get outed in the military, generally, someone is either caught in the act, admits it or someone they wouldn't date turns them in and an investigation is done.

[wndycty]

10. Exactly, a think if something has been covered in the media its raised to a certain level . . .

. . .that can't be ignored.

[Segami]

6. Whats good for the goose is also....

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. If anyone has any evidence, I would love for them to give it to the press

[justiceischeap]

11. From things I've read over the years, you don't need evidence to start an investigation

Just a rumor of homosexuality.

[wndycty]

12. Then I think the military needs to explain as to why these two have not been investigated. . .

. . .and are not facing discharge.

[justiceischeap]

13. One word, would be my guess

Senator... that buys a lot of safety, unfortunately.

[dgibby]

27. They're republicans.

Free pass. If they were Dems, they'd already be gone.

[era veteran]

42. That's what this guy does

Mike Rogers exposing hypocrites.



http://blog.blogactive.com/

[MadMaddie]

9. Well as of a month ago all it took was a rumor

to get outstanding soldiars kicked out.

These Senators have put themselves at the forefront of a civil rights issue. I have no sympathy for them.

[Tippy]

19. Same here.......Out them to the world....

[Angry Dragon]

14. Perhaps you should write a letter to the editor

[wndycty]

16. I'm open to that. . .are others?

:kick:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

15. Wait, Senators who serve in the military?

Aren't both senatoring and soldiering full-time jobs? Or are they honourary soldiers, or something?

[justiceischeap]

17. Reservists maybe

[Tippy]

26. Mitch McConnell

McConnell became a member of the 100th Division (Training), U.S. Army Reserve, in Louisville, Kentucky, during his final semester of law school; and he reported for his six months of active service, primarily for training, in July 1967. After induction at Fort Knox, Kentucky, McConnell was released early from his active-duty military service in August 1967.<4> In August 1967, U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper (R-KY), for whom McConnell had interned, wrote to the commanding general at Fort Knox, asking when McConnell would be "cleared" from active duty to attend New York University. Consequently, McConnell completed no actual military service. According to a former campaign manager, McConnell received a medical discharge for optic neuritis, which is a symptom of multiple sclerosis.<5>

From Wikipedia

Representatives from McConnell’s office offered two differing statements regarding McConnell’s discharge.

“Senator McConnell had polio as a child and he never served in armed services.” said Robert Steurer, press secretary for McConnell in Washington. “I am not aware of him ever serving.”

Kyle Simmons, McConnell’s campaign manager in Louisville, offered a different story about the senator’s military record during a phone conversation yesterday.

According to Simmons, McConnell enlisted for four months of active duty with the Army reserve at Fort Knox.

Simmons said that McConnell failed his physical examination as a result of a doctor’s diagnosis of McConnell having the medical condition of optic neuritis.

http://www.hillbillyreport.com/blog/2007/02/senator_mitch_m_1.html

[bluedigger]

31. Who cares if he's gay?

That there is the profile of a chickenhawk draft dodger.:puke:

[Tippy]

33. I don't care one bit that he is gay...but I do believe he and Graham

are hypocrits

[era veteran]

43. Head of nail, hit

[wndycty]

18. They are both reservist and use their military credentials to drive their political careers

:kick:

[Tippy]

23. Graham,,,,,,,

Lindsey O. Graham was elected to serve as United States Senator on November 5, 2002.

A native South Carolinian, Graham grew up in Central, graduated from D.W. Daniel High School, and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Graham logged six-and-a-half years of service on active duty as an Air Force lawyer.

From 1984-1988, he was assigned overseas and served at Rhein Mein Air Force Base in Germany. Upon leaving the active duty Air Force in 1989, Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard where he served until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.

During the first Gulf War, Graham was called to active duty and served state-side at McEntire Air National Guard Base as Staff Judge Advocate where he prepared members for deployment to the Gulf region. His duties included briefing pilots on the law of armed conflict, preparing legal documents for deploying troops, and providing legal services for family members of the South Carolina Air National Guard. He received a commendation medal for his service at McEntire.

Since 1995, Graham has continued to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is one of only two U.S. Senators currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. He is a colonel and is assigned as a Senior Instructor at the Air Force JAG School.

http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/

[crazyjoe]

28. it's ok as long as we are outing republicans, or people who support republicans,

or people who have friends that are republicans, or people who have kids that have attended a tea party, or are republicans, or anyone who has ever watched Bill Oriellys show, or listened to at least 30min of Rush's show, or.............
or maybe, just maybe, If we believe something is wrong, and shutter at the injustice shown to gay people, we don't go around pointing fingers at people screaming "GAY GAY GAY" !!!!

I have to say, of all the hypocrites I see on this site acting like republicans because "they do it" and "they are hypocrites, so it's ok" (haha, <<facepalm>>), this one about outing gay people is the most ridiculous.

I'm embarrassed for you (you know who you are)

[gratuitous]

30. Generally speaking, I despise "outing"

But people who build their career on homophobia, and who advance themselves through selective discrimination against other gay people, knowing that they're protected from the same sort of discrimination by dint of their position or their friends, deserve whatever happens to them. If there are people in the Senate who have advanced their political careers and personal fortunes by practicing discrimination that they themselves would be subject to if not for their position or their friends, I hardly think it ridiculous or hypocritical that they should get a little taste of what they've inflicted on others. After all, nobody in the Senate is going to lose his seat or his pension or his benefits simply by being outed. None of them are likely to get beat up by their colleagues in the Senate Cloak Room. They will be subject to public embarrassment, but that's hardly on the same plane of what a service member risks by a charge (even without evidence) of being gay.

[foxfeet]

38. Agreed. Out them.

They are doing harm to other LGBTQI people and deserve no protection from our community.

[crazyjoe]

39. Generally speaking, I despise "outing"

thanks for making my point.

[gratuitous]

41. Uhm . . . sure

Tell you what, when you're back on planet Earth from your perfect world where oppressed and oppressor never overlap, we'll all sing a round of Kumbaya and hope real hard that people safeguarded by their power and position don't abuse it anymore.

[justiceischeap]

34. As a lesbian I will be the first to say...

Some closeted gays DESERVE to be outed. That being said, this whole discussion is about why when there are rumors about allegedly gay Senators who also happen to be reservist members of our military, why are they not being investigated just like the other service members? A rumor is enough in the military for an investigation into one's homosexuality. So, why aren't these Senators being investigated? It actually has nothing to do with being outed--at this moment. If they are discharged because they're gay, that's another issue where privacy comes in.

You need to watch the following documentary to see what "closeted" gay politicians have been doing to the gay community and they needed to be outed...
Outrage argues that several American political figures have led closeted gay lives while supporting and endorsing legislation that is harmful to the gay community. The film examines mass media’s reluctance to discuss issues involving gay politicians despite many comparable news stories about heterosexual politicians and scandals. Outrage describes this behavior as a form of institutionalized homophobia that has resulted in a tacit policy of self-censorship when reporting on these issues.
http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/outrage/index.html

[cbdo2007]

32. I've heard of at least 15 GOP senators who might be gay.

[kenny blankenship]

37. What's this? Have you guys begun trying to out-GayBait each other now?

[cbdo2007]

44. I'm just starting a rumor....now everyone else can pass along this "rumor" they heard

that at least 15 GOP senators are gay. Aren't rumors great? You can start them yourself, everyone passes them along, and most people beleive them.