'Military: gays ok to serve as cannon fodder' and other tales of horror

All of these pieces are worthy of essays of their own but there are so many, I don't have time.

-The anti-gay sentiment among many in the military is no secret. You have the military's top man Gen. Peter Pace condemning homosexuality as immoral. Many resisted the farcical 'Don't ask, don't tell' non-policy not because it too strong, but because it was too weak. But it turns out the military brass is more tolerant gays now that it's having such a hard time finding anyone else to serve as cannon fodder for the latest militaristic adventure. The number of soldiers discharged under the 'Don't ask, don't tell' charade in 2006 was more than 50 percent lower than in 2001.

-Turns out the 'gays are ok as cannon fodder' mentality hasn't completely permeated all levels of the military.The behavior of many military recruiters in chasing their prey borders on unethical, if not completely crossing the line. But at least one recruiter was honest enough to vent her feelings toward a recruit. US Army Sgt. Marcia Ramode emailed a potential recruit in New Jersey asking him if he was interested in signing up. The young man, who is black, informed Ramode that he is gay and that he opposed 'Don't ask, don't tell.' A professional with the tiniest hint of ethics would have simply replied, "Sorry, but the military does not accept openly gay people. Good bye." Or simply not replied at all. Instead, Ramode initiated a hysterical series of tirades (which the young man eventually returned) with comments like:

GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE.

and

YOU HEAD OF FTO [sic] GAY LAND OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO MORALS AND GET RID OF YOURSELF....

and

TAKE YOUR GAY ASS OFF SOMEPLACE...

The recruiter, who's Native American, added:

MY ROOTS RUN MUCH STRONGER THAN YOURS... I HAVE MORE RIGHTS THAN YOU.

Before repeating the insidious lie:

YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH WAS GIVENM [sic] TO YOU BY THE US MILITARY

And concluding one email with:

TAKE YOUR ASS BACK WHERE YOU BELONG.

and adding in another

Go migrate to another country.

It's a heck of a lot more vile and loathsome than what Don Imus said. But then again, Imus isn't given immunity for being one of 'our heroes.'


-Iraqi deaths survey 'was robust. Remember that study by the British medical journal The Lancet estimating that over 650,000 Iraqis had died (beyond what would be expected from natural attrition) from the beginning of the Aggression through the middle of last year? Remember how the US and British governments fell over themselves attacking the peer-reviewed study from highly respected non-partisan journal? It turns out that the British Ministry of Defence's chief scientific adviser said the survey's methods were "close to best practice" and the study design was "robust". Another expert agreed the method was "tried and tested". Looks like the Blair government took a page from their mates in the White House in ignoring its own people's expert advice for political reasons.

-The situation in Iraq is so bad that it was recently decried by three of the most pro-respectful of authority, establishmentarian entities around. Pope Benedict XVI noted, 'Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees.' Mr. Establishment himself, Henry Kissinger, pointed out what's fairly obvious to clear-headed observers: military victory not possible in Iraq. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that 'the suffering that Iraqi men, women and children are enduring today is unbearable and unacceptable.' This is particularly remarkable for an organization reknown, and often heavily criticized, for its insistent neutrality. Its warnings are far more credible than a US senator strolling in a Bagdhad market in a flack jacket surrounded by a gargantuan security detail and declaring the place safer than Fort Knox.

-There's been an homicide bombing inside the Iraqi parliament, which is located inside the massively fortified Green Zone of Iraq's capital. Eight people were killed in what is supposed to be the safest place in Iraq. I wonder how the head of the Straight Talk Express, Sen. John "Baghdad is safe" McCain, will try to rationalize this.

-Incidentally, I hear incessant warnings from Chicken Littles about Christianity is under threat. About how anti-theocrats like myself want to ban the Bible and criminalize anyone from saying 'Bless you' to someone who sneezes on a public sidewalk. So given this supposed War on Christianity, I was surprised to see a banner in the bandstand in local park from the local Catholic school encouraging people to sign their kids up. If the hysteria were true, the ACLU would've filed a lawsuit long ago. There would have been anti-Catholic school marches and Bible burnings. Go figure.