Thread: Military in Middle of Political Brawl Over Social Issues

U.S. Senate
Military Caught in Middle of Political Brawl Over Social Issues

Published September 20, 2010
FoxNews.com
The U.S. military is being muddied in the trench as Democrats and Republicans fight a tug-of-war over social issues timed weeks before Election Day.

What should have been a routine budget bill for the Pentagon is now a political cauldron brimming with proposed policy changes over abortion, gay rights and illegal immigration. Senate Democrats have folded, or attempted to fold, all those issues into a single defense package, leading to accusations that the Senate is needlessly politicizing its annual obligation to fund the military.

As the parties hurl political hand grenades at one another, stuck in the crossfire is the military itself.

Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said Congress will avoid a Pentagon shutdown, as it always does, by passing a resolution to continue funding defense at current levels.

But he expressed concern about the "attachments" to the authorization bill.

The defense bill has become a flashpoint at the intersection of three distinct debates in the culture wars.

The package includes a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the military, a change in policy which the VFW opposes. Top military officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen support an eventual repeal but want Congress to wait until the Pentagon finishes its review.

The bill also includes a repeal of the law barring abortions at U.S. military hospitals overseas, which even some pro-choice advocates have a problem with if it means federal funding for abortion services.

Lastly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to propose an amendment for the so-called DREAM Act, which would give some young illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship if they go to college or join the military.

Democratic leaders are pushing these changes but question whether they have the votes and acknowledge the entire package probably won't come up for a verdict until after the November election.

"I don't know whether we have the votes or not," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Monday -- ahead of a scheduled vote Tuesday to open debate.

Despite the bleak prospects for any substantive movement on the bill and its controversial components, it has touched off a firestorm of finger-pointing in Washington, with interests representing each side of one of the three social issues accusing somebody of stonewalling.

The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, took out a full-page newspaper ad last week calling for Congress to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." The group this week accused "anti-equality senators led by John McCain" of threatening to filibuster.

Gay Republican groups also in favor of the repeal put the blame in Reid's corner.

GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia accused Reid of jeopardizing the "don't ask don't tell" vote by allowing language on immigration and abortion.

"Harry Reid should stop using gay soldiers as political pawns in a cynical attempt to win votes for his re-election and keep his liberal special interests happy," LaSalvia said in a written statement Monday.

Conservatives have accused Reid of needlessly politicizing the debate, particularly with the addition of a DREAM Act vote. Senate Republicans on Monday said the majority leader was at the same time limiting debate on the bill and other amendments.

"The Senate has traditionally considered the defense legislation for a week or more, allowing for robust debate and careful consideration of scores of amendments. This year, the majority leader has indicated his intent to limit debate and block all amendments to the bill except three that he has personally handpicked," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said in a statement.

"In doing so, he is ignoring the clear wishes of the American people and demonstrating that Washington remains deeply out of touch with everyday Americans," he said.

One conservative military group, while weighing in heavily against a "don't ask, don't tell" repeal, accused Reid of putting the military on the chopping block.

"Sen. Reid's addition of these controversial, non-germane measures demonstrates his pursuit of political agendas and election-year politics at the expense of our military men and women," The Center for Military Readiness said in a memo Monday.

The defense bill is one of the top orders of business on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourns for the remainder of the campaign season.

Reid needs 60 votes Tuesday to start debate. If he reaches that, he would still need to corral 60 votes on any amendment that is filibustered. And then he would need 60 votes again to shut down a filibuster preventing final passage, before moving onto the final vote.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09 ... al-issues/

This is proof they know they have lost, and lost big, in November. They are wrapping up as much of their agenda as they can and cowering behind the military shield.

Excuse me!!!! But they put themselves there!
They made deals with the weasel Harry Reid.

[list]Retired Gen. Colin Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former secretary of state, and other current and former military leaders are urging Congress to pass the DREAM Act because it would greatly enhance military recruitment. The DREAM Act is included in the Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2010-12 Strategic Plan to help the military “shape and maintain a mission-ready All Volunteer Force.â€

The Military is in the middle because this unpopular bill can not pass as a stand alone bill so the Democrats have attached it to the military's lifeline.

It's a Parasite Bill.

Dixie

Granted Dixie but it still had to have been approved by the miitary, just as DADT was, probably by Secretary Chief. Robert Gates himself.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

Granted Dixie but it still had to have been approved by the miitary, just as DADT was, probably by Secretary Chief. Robert Gates himself.

There's a lot of blame to go around.

So what are we going to do with all the extra illegal aliens who have joined the military, when we call the troops home like Obama promised?

Oh that's right, he increased the war by going into Afghanistan. What really has been accomplished there? That would drive up the need for more enlistment and justify giving illegal aliens amnesty for enlistment.

I feel hood winked and scammed.

Do we really want former illegal aliens guarding the border or airport security, if they enter into the National Guard? Isn't that a conflict of interest?

Dixie

Do we really want former illegal aliens guarding the border or airport security, if they enter into the National Guard? Isn't that a conflict of interest?

My thoughts as well. With their dual citizenship they'll probably go AWOL or join the cartels.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

Do we really want former illegal aliens guarding the border or airport security, if they enter into the National Guard? Isn't that a conflict of interest?

My thoughts as well. With their dual citizenship they'll probably go AWOL or join the cartels.

Didn't a Muslum "Immigrant" shoot and kill members of his own platoon ? .Fort Hood shooting suspect's hearing to be open 12:00 AM CDT on Friday, September 17, 2010
By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
lhancock@dallasnews.com
FORT HOOD, Texas – A hearing outlining evidence against U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan in last year's massacre at a soldier readiness center should be public, a military official ruled Thursday.

Defense lawyer John Galligan said he may appeal that ruling because he believes that closing the military's equivalent to a grand jury proceeding against Hasan next month is necessary for a fair trial.

Col. Michael Mulligan, the Army's lead prosecutor, belittled the request during a two-hour hearing Thursday at the post court building.

In his argument to close the Article 32 hearing, Galligan cited the relentless media coverage of the case. Mulligan noted that Galligan has been quoted in much of that coverage. Taking the case "behind closed doors" might fan public concerns, the prosecutor added. "The defendant can't shield himself from his activities."

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is accused of killing 13 colleagues and wounding 32 in the Nov. 5 shootings. An Article 32 proceeding scheduled to begin at Fort Hood on Oct. 12 will determine whether Hasan faces a court-martial. The proceeding is expected to include weeks of testimony from survivors, first responders, medical personnel and investigators.

Witnesses said Hasan began shooting after yelling the Muslim exhortation "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great." The attack ended when civilian police shot Hasan. He remains paralyzed from the chest down and is being held in an infirmary wing of the Bell County jail.

Hasan was brought into the post's main military courtroom Thursday in a wheelchair, wearing an olive-drab watch cap pulled low over his ears. The sleeve of a thermal undershirt was visible under his battle-dress uniform. He looked subdued, sometimes even dazed, as he silently watched the proceeding. He often rubbed his chin with his right hand, and toward the end of the hearing, repeatedly struggled to lift his body up with his arms.

The widow of one victim and the wife of one of the most severely injured survivors watched him intently from the court gallery. They kept staring, grim-faced, as police wheeled Hasan from the courtroom.

Hasan has struggled for months with regulating body temperature – a problem common for spinal-cord injury survivors. Galligan told the court that Hasan wears a catheter and has problems with blood in his urine and bedsores – physical struggles that the defense may use to argue for life imprisonment if Hasan is convicted.

Army officials have said no decision has been made on seeking the death penalty.

Also Thursday, presiding hearing official Col. James L. Pohl rejected a defense bid to block autopsy reports from the Article 32 hearing. Hasan stared into space, repeatedly rubbing his right index finger against his cheek, as lawyers discussed whether the autopsy reports would be used to highlight how victims suffered.

Pohl said he would wait to rule on a defense request to delay the hearing after prosecutors finish laying out evidence. Defense attorneys said a newly appointed defense forensic psychiatrist may need the delay to assess possible mitigation evidence.

The psychiatrist was hired last week after Hasan's lawyers reported that another forensic psychiatrist hired in January had developed "irreconcilable differences" with Hasan.

Pohl said he will halt the proceedings from Nov. 4 through Nov. 7, if needed, to avoid overlap with observances of the massacre's anniversary
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 6537f.html

Yea, he had a conflict of interest.

Dixie