Yesterday Brian Lehrer, the smart host of a public radio talk show in New York, had on Scott Garrett, a Republican congressman from New Jersey, to talk about economic policy. Lehrer also made a point of bringing up an issue dear to his listeners’ concerns: gays in the military. Lehrer supports repeal of don’t-ask-don’t-tell. (So do I.) He quizzed Garrett intently about Garrett’s opposition to repeal. He bored in on him, as a good questioner does. Garrett said that he would vote for repeal only if it was not politically-motivated, if commanders and soldiers convinced him that the change would have "absolutely no impact whatsoever" on the daily performance of their duties.
Lehrer persisted: "And if it took some time to bring people along [in the military] who were resistant, it wouldn’t be worth it for the equality?"
Garrett said Only if it didn’t degrade the performance.
I admire Lehrer’s position here. Change involves discomfort. Equality is an important goal of all public policy. It’s why we integrated the army racially in 1948.
But Lehrer is PEP: He is Progressive Except for Palestine. (And yes, he is Jewish and yes that is relevant.) A liberal in almost all spheres, when it comes to the Middle East, he gives his mike to neocons such as Frank Gaffney. Imagine the values that Lehrer took on Garrett with brought to bear on a Democratic American Zionist in the name of what many think of as a liberal ideal: a binational polity in Israel/Palestine that treats all citizens as equal. Or even the end to Jim Crow in the West Bank.
What if it took some time to bring American Jews along who were resistant to the idea, it wouldn’t be worth it for the equality? I don’t think I will ever hear him ask that question.
It’s all about myth making, isn’t it?
The myth that African Americans are dirty, treacherous and lazy is not true, as most of white America realized after desegregation.
The myth that homosexuals will somehow ruin the fabric of American society and or military is not true, but you still hear a bigot or two peddling such nonsense in this day and age.
And then there’s the myth among many American Jews that Israel is a force for good in the Middle East, a light unto the nations, that which every Arab country wants to destroy. Well, that myth needs to be shattered. It’s going to be hard for many to break away from that myth, much in the same way it was hard for many to get used to the idea of using the same public restrooms as blacks.
Shatter the myth. Make it mainstream.
Would it help if the Palestinians should claimed they were homosexuals?
Would it help if the Palestinians claimed they were homosexuals?
(Fossilised “should” in previous post.)
Should the US Army integrate its young enlisted men and women who now live in separate barracks and use separate common showers and toilet rooms?
Citizen, when people are homosexual, they do not actually turn into the other sex.
Shocking, I know. Sometimes they don’t even lipse, or wear dresses
This gay vs Palestinian stuff reminded me the Jewish journalist and blogger, Simon Jones’, post “Jews and gays – birds of a feather? Please don’t blame me for his views – because I never considered myself to be a Hasbara “expert” on that matter.
link to simonjones1.blogspot.com
“Jews and gays – birds of a feather?”
It’s a play on words. Yiddish for “fag” is faigeleh or “little bird”
…there is a longer tradition in European antisemitism painting Jews as the effeminate man. Paradoxically by the time of the Nazis he had the sexmaniac, the raper image too. Hmm? I remember I once read about Jews in the Russian military. Mainly mythoi but widely spread–painting Jews as potential deserters.
Actually my heart has always been more with deserters. … But fact seems to be some Russian Rabbis even allowed Jewish soldiers to eat what they were given.
“Garrett said Only if it didn’t degrade the performance.”
I have no doubt there are gays who can be part of a murderous, thieving gang.
I just can’t wait to see what PTSD does to a gay man. Would his partner or spouse have more of a chance than a girlfriend or wife?
“degrade the performance”? The only way the US military could do worse is by turning over the entire thing to Bin Laden.
Me, I’ve always been able to rein in my homophobic tendencies (besides, it’s nice that somebody makes a pass at me now and then) til I found out how important it was to gays to join the military. You would think by the time they reach the age of enlistment, they would lose patience with all that latency.
seems I have to cut and paste: “Hmmm, your comment seems a bit spammy. …”
Homosexuals and the military reminded me of studies ages ago a while back on Pat Lang’s blog. I realized that many of my favorite writers were homosexuals, I got curious and read a little on the matter. But yes, I too somehow had the impression then, that the military was somehow at the center of matters. The ultimate bastion of masculinity?
It took me a while to realize that I work in such a “colony”, and I like it for many reasons. Not long ago somebody said, meant as praise: Yes that’s what they are like, the homosexuals. I have an instinctive dislike of this type of positive generalizations by now too. I don’t really trust “philosemitic” versus “antisemitic” statements anymore either. Feels unstable. In the context above it was an allusion to something our boss did, something really human … Why not leave it there but declare it the typical action of a specific group?
Many American liberal Zionists have a difficult and precarious position. They come across as very inconsistent on human rights, with respect to Palestine. On one side they’re all for equal rights, as long as it doesn’t interfere with Israel’s growth trends.
It’s looks bad for liberal Jews in America who claim to be such staunch supporters of justice when they can’t discuss issues like Palestinian plight. Couldn’t Brian Lehrer do more? It seems very shallow, when they can’t see the forest for the trees. They know there forest is there, but they prefer to look at the trees. Another example is Mark Green.
Judeofascism covers this topic all too well. ~ the hypocrisy of the left wing media and Israel.
Good point, Phil
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