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Flashback: John McCain’s Gays In The Military Humor

By Michael Scherer | @michaelscherer | December 2, 2010 | +

This morning, Sen. John McCain addressed a panel of military brass at an Armed Services Committee hearing, where he explained again his opposition to changing the U.S. military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

At this time, we should be inherently cautious about making any changes that would affect our military, and what changes we do make should be the product of careful and deliberate consideration. I’m not saying that this law should never change. I am simply saying that it may be premature to make such a change at this time and in this manner, without further consideration of this report and further study of the issue by Congress.

Suffice it to say, this is not the first time McCain has addressed these issues.

Back in March of 2007, his presidential campaign kicked off with a no-holds-barred bus tour of Iowa, where he held fourth for hours with reporters in extended, on-the-record gab fests in the back of the bus. At one point in that ride, a portion I videotaped as a reporter for Salon.com, the issue of gays in the military came up. McCain was asked about comments that had recently been made by the top U.S. Military Officer Peter Pace, calling gay relations “immoral.” He was also asked if he had ever cross dressed, a reference to video that had come out showing McCain’s then rival, Rudy Giuliani, performing skits in drag.

His answer was typically lighthearted.

“No.”

“Not even in college?” asked a second scribe.

“At the Naval Academy it was frowned on,” McCain said. “We caught a couple though. I think my commanding officer …” Everyone laughed.

Related Topics: dadt, john mccain, Uncategorized

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  • allthingsinaname

    I reserve the right to blow with the wind, or to just blow.

  • Paul-no not that one

    I couldn’t watch this morning, did the honorable McCain apologize to Sec Gates for distorting Gates military background?

  • artraveler

    The military couldn’t have done a survey question that would satisfy McCain or Pryor (DINO-AR). When you have a 1980′s mind, I am surprised you aren’t wearing bellbottoms.

  • jsfox

    John McCain is not going to change his mind, again, on this issue. You cannot change a mind that has been lost and cannot be found.

    However will give Admiral Mullen a shout out for giving McCain a bit of smack in his testimony this morning.

    One final word. And with all due respect, Mr. Chairman and Senator McCain, it is true that, as Chairman, I am not in charge of troops. But I have commanded three ships, a carrier battle group and two fleets. And I was most recently a Service Chief myself. For more than 40 years I have made decisions that affected and even risked the lives of young men and women.

  • grape_crush

    McCain moves the goalposts again, denying a minority of American soldiers the rights that a few enjoy…but really, he’s not that bad of a person, right Scherer?

    What a worthless post, Scherer; a too-kind glossing over of a bitter, nasty man who goes back on his word time and time again. If ever there was a time for the straight media to call ‘bullsh*t’ en masse, it’s right now, and on this jacka*s Senator.

    Not holding my breath until that happens, however, with “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” being the modus operandi of the professional media.

  • freeinpa

    Just to be clear: DADT was passed with a Democratic president and Democrats in the majority in both the House and Senate.

    Damn those Republicans are good!

  • jsfox

    And this has what to do with the present debate besides nothing?

    It was a mistake then and it is even a bigger mistake to continue a bad policy.

  • michaelfury

    “These conspiracy theories are a distraction from the proper lessons of 9/11. And so it is imperative to confront them with facts. The innocent thousands who perished on that terrible day deserve to be remembered with honor and truth.”

    - John McCain

    http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/critical-mass/

  • deconstructiva

    Forgive him, jsfox. It’s Pavlovian. He’s been conditioned to parrot DADT RWTP’s whenever “gays” are mentioned, hurl mindless insults in lieu of facts, welch on bets he loses, etc. He can’t control himself. So much for that “personal responsibility” thingy conservatives are supposed to value, but I digress.

  • michaelfury

    “To blame not a gang of terrorists but some American conspiracy for September 11 insults the police officers and firefighters who raced into the burning towers”

    - John McCain

    http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/were-not-safe/

  • koabd

    Michael, isn’t this the type of post — the too close to your subject type post — that earned you the ire of many commentors on this blog during the election? “Grandpa made a joke about the gays, how funny!”

  • http://therealestamerican.wordpress.com therealestamerican

    FreeInPa! FTW!
    .
    Everyone who isn’t a card carrying member of the ACLU knows that the Republicans are far more supportive of homosexualized Real Americans than the party of pretenders. After all, it was the Dimowits calling for Larry Craig to resign, not the Republicans!
    .
    Wotta bunch of hypocrites libtards are! The only reason they pretend to support gays in the military is so that THEY don’t ever have to risk their cowardly behinds in defense of America the Exceptional!

  • http://shortplaysaboutrealpeople.wordpress.com Michael Maiello

    That’s true, free. In the 1990s a Democratic president and a Democratic congress tried to resolve this issue in a manner that was consistent with the party’s view on civil rights. They were, however, strongly opposed by a country just really beginning to explore the notion of equal rights for homosexual citizens and so DADT was born as a kind of compromise for the times. It was an improvement over the existing order as it allowed homosexuals to serve so long as they were discreet and it forbade the military from actively seeking out such information while recruiting and evaluating troops. But, as with many compromises it was flawed and the people who passed DADT knew it from the start. Now some serious time has passed and public opinion has evolved. The idea of equal rights for homosexual citizens is no longer new or even novel. More and more people accept it every day. So now the authors of the DADT compromise would like to revisit the issue and to come up with a better solution.

    So what’s wrong with that, Free?

  • freeinpa

    “And this has what to do with the present debate besides nothing?”
    ..
    “. It’s Pavlovian. He’s been conditioned to parrot DADT RWTP’s whenever “gays” are mentioned”

    .
    It has everything to do with it As typical of the bile filled brain dead left it is they who deliver the Pavlovian response. It’s the evil Republicans responsible for all the world ills- ooops but not DADT. Republicans are just the punching bag for the stupidity of the left. Every post from the so-called journalists here is just a cheap shot at Republicans. Facts are an inconvenience to the lying bankrupt philosophy of the left. They passed it and they could have changed it anytime since 2008. They didn’t!

    .
    Just liberals lying to themselves,,AGAIN

  • Asharaxx

    No, it doesn’t. Who set it up has nothing to do with the removal.
    .
    Unless you’d like to refute the point that the Republicans are opposing the repeal of DADT. Because that’s what they’re being blamed for in this instance.

  • freeinpa

    Nothing. What I take exception to is the daily haranguing of the Republicans (who BTW aren’t blameless) but the Demos get a pass and pretend to be the saviors even though they passed it and they could have changed it. They didn’t it.

    But it should also serve as a reminder to nightmares that are caused in the name of doing good to have compromises passed as bills with the “its a good start” nonsense. HC just like DADT is a disaster that passed (unread) and countless billions will be wasted

  • freeinpa

    “No, it doesn’t. Who set it up has nothing to do with the removal.”
    .
    Thanks for proving the brain dead part of liberalism. If Dems believed that it was wrong why did they pass it? Oh yeah no principles. And why did they not repeal it. Same there. So a pattern. Blaming Republicans when controlling WH, Congress and Senate is just liberal crap.

  • http://shortplaysaboutrealpeople.wordpress.com Michael Maiello

    Like you, free, I tend to like more liberal ideas and conservative ideas then I like middleway between them ideas, which never seem to make any sense and always have to be revisited later.

  • apr2563
  • apr2563

    Michael, never post a video showing the press sucking up to McCain again. It reinforces the Village mentality of the bbq brigade that propped up their hero McCain for so long.

  • Ivy_B

    Very much agreed, apr!

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