The military leadership has endorsed DADT repeal. Even back in 1993, studies showed that gays and lesbians could serve openly. Subsequent studies have shown that DADT hampers military readiness by ejecting service members with critical skills. The Pentagon is set to release a study showing that most service members support or are indifferent to gays and lesbians serving, in stark contrast to the 1940s, when most white service members opposed integrating the military, and Harry Truman integrated the armed services anyway.
Sen. John McCain has no substantive reasons left to oppose DADT repeal. So on Sunday, he offered a personal one:
MCCAIN: And it's an all-volunteer force. I understand your point of view, and I understand the point of view by the majority of the media, but the fact is, this was a political promise made by an inexperienced president or candidate for presidency of the United States. The military is at its highest point in recruitment and retention and professionalism and capability, so to somehow allege that this policy has been damaging the military is simply false.
McCain is now reduced to denying gays and lesbians their civil rights because he is angry that he wasn't elected president. As always, McCain's politics can be boiled down to a battle between good and evil in which he represents all that is good and genuine, and his opponent represents all that is evil and phony. The actual substance of what is at stake is irrelevant, which was why he was to the left of George W. Bush on cutting taxes, and to the right of Obama on DADT.
