One of the more remarkable features of the Iraq war was the way in which American and British soldiers cooperated and allied to great effect. In fact, that very triumph points up an obvious fact: there is no practical disadvantage to having a handful of openly gay servicemembers in combat or anywhere else in the armed forces. The Brits did away with the ban a couple years ago; it was a huge non-event; no one even remembers the drama that existed beforehand; and the military is not losing good soldiers (and translators and technicians) because of dumb policy. There are signs that the military leadership itself is beginning to recognize this. Take a look at one of the studies making inroads in military thinking on this matter by one Aaron Belkin. I find it persuasive, and I say that as someone who would not support lifting the ban if I believed for one minute it would harm military efficacy or morale. More and more, I’m reliably told, the military leadership agrees – which may be one reason why under Bush, the number of gay discharges has started to decline.
THE POWER OF BLOGS: Hugh Hewitt says a handful of blogs could have a real impact on the coming election season. I hope so. I have plans to blog from campaigns and from the conventions. And I have a feeling that this election cycle will be the moment that blogs really hit the big time.
STILL ON THE PARK BENCH: Verizon hasn’t managed to fix my phone line so I’m still WiFi-ing from the park bench. Kinda fun, actually. Except the sea-mist can’t be good for the laptop.
The Dish 