Mullen & Gates v. McCain

 

Admiral Mike Mullen and Sec. of Defense Robert Gates give John McCain a serious slap down during the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hearing.

MULLEN: It is true that as chairman I am not in charge that I am not in charge of troops, but I have commanded three ships, a carrier battle group and two fleets. I was most recently a service chief myself.

MULLEN: For more than forty years, I have made decisions affected and even risked the lives of young men and women. You don't have to agree with me on this issue, but don't think for one moment that I haven't carefully considered the impact of the advice I give on those who will have to live with the decisions that that advice informs. I would not recommend repeal of this law if I did not believe in my soul that it was the right thing to do for our military, or nation and for our collective honor.

Gates was even harsher.

GATES: And with respect to polling the services... I didn't spend a career in the military, but I read a lot of history. I can't think of a single precedent in American history of doing a referendum of the American armed forces on a policy issue. Are you gonna ask them if they want 15 month tours? You gonna ask them if they want to be part of the surge in Iraq? That's not the way our civilian-led military has ever worked in our entire history.

McCain previously said he would support the recommendations of military leaders. Now that military leader are publicly saying it is time to repeal DADT McCain want to poll service members. Unfortunately for McCain, the poll is not in his favor. 70 percent of military personal polled in the DAT survey support repeal.

McCain then rejects the DADT didn't survey numbers. Accept the numbers that helps McCain make his case.

McCain expressed an "alarming" concern over the 12 percent of troops who said they'd leave the military earlier than planned if the repeal is imposed - a number that climbs as high as 32 percent among Marines.

The hypocrisy. McCain can't claim the 70 percent approval number for repeal is wrong and then express shock that 12 percent would leave the military if repeal takes place. For the record: the survey polled 400,000 military personal and has a 1 percent margin of error.

McCain was once treated with respect by military officials. In 2010, Mullen and Gate mock McCain in front of the Armed Services Committee. McCain has really fallen.

Talking Points Memo has a rundown of the shifting rationales of Republican senators for not supporting a repeal of DADT. I have have more respect for these senators if they just said they were scared shitless of the Christian Right.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Graham, a close friend of McCain's, made a similar argument, saying, "We should be listening, not dictating."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

Chambliss said that, based on the survey, more than 250,000 servicemembers would leave the military if the ban were repealed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, said that the survey also shows that those who serve alongside a gay troops are much more open to repeal and, therefore, experience with gay colleagues would drop that number significantly.

"If I believed that a quarter of a million people would leave the military immediately if given the opportunity, I would certainly have second thoughts about that," he said. "But I don't believe that."

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

And, finally, Sessions (R-AL) argued that the debate itself has already damaged troop readiness and morale, and that Don't Ask, Don't Tell has served the military just fine.