OK, now I'm mad.
Military ousts more gays for online ads
So, the military higher-ups are now trolling the Internet, to see if any Service Personnel have listed personal adds indicating that they are not lily-white heteros. If they find them... they are out. They are looking for keywords, like "Navy", "Soldier", "Army", and military jargon in screen names and in the texts of ads.
One scary thing is the quote from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN):
Sharra Greer, SLDN's director of law and policy, said the military interprets "don't ask, don't tell" more broadly than many people realize, and it can include seemingly innocuous statements or actions outside a professional context.
"Any statement of your sexual orientation at any time, to anyone, is a violation," she said. "But many service members don't understand that."
Now I realize that Freedom of Speech does not apply to all statements... like statements that put the general public at risk, in other words yelling "fire" in a crowded theater... and it does not apply to divulging Top Secret information... but to find out that the Military "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy means no service member is allowed to discuss his or her orientation with anyone at any time really startles me.
Of course, the naughty voice in my head asks.... really? I know that being hetero is not an offense in the eyes of the Military, but if telling someone, or implicating your orientation is a violation of policy... shouldn't any service person get at least reprimanded for dating, taking out personal ads, telling someone you are going home to see your girlfriend, mentioning dinner with your wife, subscribing to Playboy, etc?
The even more insidious scary moment in the news story is this: The individual focused on by the article was investigated at the behest of a commander who was senior to his direct supervisor. The commander started a secret investigation why? Because he suspected the man was gay? NO.
He started the investigation because the guy posted a picture of a bombed-out jeep on his blog. He didn't like the proof that not everything is hunky-dory over there... and so he started a secret investigation... I think he was trying to find out if the man was a closet liberal.
"Don't ask, Don't tell, Don't show us in a bad light... the war is good, we are saviors, rejoice and worship Bush 43"
Nice message.
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