McCain takes shot at 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal

(CNN) -- Now is not the time to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. armed forces, Sen. John McCain said at a hearing Thursday.

"At this time, we should be inherently cautious about making any changes that would affect our military, and what changes we do make should be the product of careful and deliberate consideration," the Arizona Republican said at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

His position is not that the law should never be changed, he said, but that "it may be premature to make such a change at this time and in this manner."

In contrast, Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged that the repeal be signed into law as soon as possible, to avoid the issue being taken up again by the judiciary, where a repeal of the ban could be ordered immediately, rather than on the military's timetable. A judicial fiat would be "hazardous," he added.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said he believes that even among those combat forces, a transition to a new law is possible.

"Should repeal occur, some soldiers and Marines may want separate shower facilities. Some may ask for different berthing. Some may even quit the service. We'll deal with that. But I believe, and history tells, that most of them will put aside personal proclivities for something larger than themselves and for each other," he said.

My Opinion

First, I think it is very funny that my very blog post was about Senator McCain and my very last post coincidentally is about him too. However, in my first blog post I criticized him on his policy views toward immigration. I have matured since then. I will not criticize him on this, because I don't believe his views towards this issue are wrong. I feel like he is being reasonable on this and is just looking out for the safety of the country. Not that he was not looking out for the safety of the country with the immigration issue, but I believe his beliefs on this issue are more noble than the ones from immigration.

He believes that the DADT policy should not be repealed because it may affect our military conditions. In a sense I believe he is right. There are a lot of people who strongly oppose gays and lesbians. Somewhere in the military some of these people exist. So, I just think he is looking out for the safety of the country, and the safety of those troops who are gay or lesbian.

On the other hand, I also agree with Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. I have no military experience, neither does anyone in my family so I speak for myself when I say this. I believe that in the military is not about being gay, lesbian, straight, Black, White, Latino, or Asian. I believe that in the military a brotherhood exist. I believe that each and every one of those soldiers will have each other's back at any given moment. Like the soldier who recently received the medal of honor, with his story I highly doubt that if his wounded brother was gay that he wouldn't have returned for him. I think that if that soldier who eventually died was openly gay then he would have still went back for him. At least I would.

I think that the media could play a little bit more of a role in this issue. They could interview soldiers about how they would feel if this policy was repealed. That way the world could see that it is not about being gay or lesbian, but about staying alive. In this sense I agree with McCain when he said he was bothered that the soldiers did not get asked how they felt about this. They wouldn't care, they probably know already who is gay and who is not.

Closing Commentary

Welp, just like my first post I will end this one with a few comments. It's been fun blogging this semester, I have learned a lot. Reading you guy's blogs has kept me informed with the many stories that I don't keep up with. Just like I said before, our mission entering this class was to get out with an "A." I hope we all do that, and we all succeed in the future, and also thanks to Dr. DeWitt for a fun semester. My fellow classmates, good luck the rest of the way with your education/ professional career, and life. I wish you all the best, and many blessing your ways.

Over and OUT!!!
-Hector Rojas

Amazon Pulls Plug on WikiLeaks

Amazon.com has severed ties with controversial website WikiLeaks, the organization that just released a trove of sensitive U.S. State Department documents.

Computers run by Amazon's Elastic web Computer service in Tulsa, Portland, New York and elsewhere had been hosting the site cablegate.WikiLeaks.org, the Wall Street Journal noted on Tuesday, as well as WikiLeaks.org, the controversial site's front page.

Joe LLieberman, chairman of the Homeland security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said that Amazon told him of the decision to end the relationship between the two companies.

"This morning Amazon informed my staff that it has ceased to host the WikiLeaks website," Lieberman said in a public statement. "The company's decision to cut off WikiLeaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies Wikileaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material," he said in a statement.

"I call on any other company or organization that is hosting WikiLeaks to immediately terminate its relationship with them," Lieberman added.

My Opinion

Most of us know what happened here with this developing story. If you are new to the story then I will take a second to explain the situation. WikiLeaks, a website know for publishing anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive governmental, corporate, organizational, or religious documents. The contributors to this website are unknown.

Recently the website has leaked  thousands of documents that detail with the nation's diplomatic interactions with other countries. To just name a few of the issues leak: ---Saudi King Abdullah urged the United States to attack Iran to halt its nuclear program, warning that if Tehran we to go nuclear, other countries in the region would, too. --- The United States keeps bombers ready to strike al Qaeda targets in Yemen if "actionable intelligence becomes available.'


So, this is what is going on recently in the world of politics today, as long with many other things. Many Politicians, including President Obama, are saying that with the release of the documents we are hurting our relations with foreign countries. I completely agree. It is almost like when that one pastor down in Florida was contemplating on burning the Koran or not. People all of the sudden became aggressive and threats against the United States arose. Well, with the release of the leaks, I feel like the same could happen. The release of more sensitive documents in the future could lead to possibly new foreign enemies.

Amazon backed out I think because of the pressure from the media. Although in this article, provided by Fox mobile, says that Amazon would not comment on decision. I still believe that they backed out because of pressure form the media and the government. I have read lately that the government plans to file suits on WikiLeaks, maybe this is why Amazon backed out. Maybe they did not want to be affiliated with them  just in case they did go down.

Again this is one of the many ways how the media is so powerful. Once something gets out, its out forever. It is down in the record books and no one can erase it. In this sense the media is so powerful.

-HR