Is that how you measure a man?

It's only 2007, but the queers are shaping up to be the whipping boys once again for the '08 Presidential election. All the candidates are being asked to give their opinions on the military's policy regarding homosexuals in the service. One of our highest ranking military officers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wasn't satisfied to simply reiterate his support of the Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy. He felt it necessary to say that homosexuals are immoral and have no place in military service. His basis for this statement? His upbringing and his personal feelings. Hey, Peter, feel this. Why is this even a discussion when there is a war on and people are dying every day? But it is, and I was surprised, impressed and moved by former Republican Senator Alan Simpson's response to this ridiculousness in his op ed piece in The Washington Post. Here's part of it:

"In World War II, a British mathematician named Alan Turing led the effort to crack the Nazis' communication code. He mastered the complex German enciphering machine, helping to save the world, and his work laid the basis for modern computer science. Does it matter that Turing was gay? This week, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that homosexuality is "immoral" and that the ban on open service should therefore not be changed. Would Pace call Turing "immoral"?

Since 1993, I have had the rich satisfaction of knowing and working with many openly gay and lesbian Americans, and I have come to realize that "gay" is an artificial category when it comes to measuring a man or woman's on-the-job performance or commitment to shared goals. It says little about the person. Our differences and prejudices pale next to our historic challenge."

Meanwhile, thanks to this misguided policy, our military has discharged thousands of highly trained personnel, including desperately needed Arabic translators.