I Have Wanted To Say This

I guess I will!

I am a conservative, I have been one all my life.  When I was 18 years old I voted in my first presidential election, I voted for Bush Sr.  I have never voted Democrat.  I am registered Republican, although I consider myself a conservative first, THEN a Republican. 

I want to talk about gay stuff.  I am not gay.  I have no stake in the debate, other than being a member of a shared society with gay people.  I think gays should be allowed to be open and serve our nation if they so choose it, and are qualified to do so.  I think it is wrong to exclude them from the armed forces.  Gay people are part of society, and I am thankful to any person that feels the call to join, train, and defend our country.  I think Republicans are wrong to stand in the way of this happening. 

There are already gays in the military.  The argument has been presented that openly gay people would be the target of other people in the military who are uncomfortable sharing close quarters with gay people.  I do not believe that a man would harm another man fighting on the same side unless he has more than a few screws loose in his head, in that case court martial would be the best method of retribution, however I believe it would be a rarity and not a norm.

The military is much more politically correct than many people might realize.  Men and women work side by side in jobs that women were once excluded from, the same goes with people of different races and religious creeds.  They find ways to get along, and I don't think it would be any different with gays.  Of course there are people within the armed forces who do not play well with others for whatever reason, as has always been the case I suppose, those people are dealt with in one fashion or another.  Not being able to get along with people is a sure way to have a short military career. 

Unfortunately, there is a large number of little Caesars with far too much power in the military as well, however the chain of command is never ending if someone is brave enough to take things that far, but it is often the case that people suffer through until the next set of orders comes where they get sent to a new duty station, one that hopefully is not run by complete idiots.  Such is military life.  One learns quite quickly to subordinate himself to the next higher rank, that is just how it goes it's taught from the moment the recruit steps off the bus. 

Despite all that, the comraderie and brotherhood in the military exists quite strongly to this day, despite the many different races, religions and cultures that are moshed in together.  I've seen it with my own eyes.  The military is probably far ahead of the rest of society in that regard, the unit is greater than the individual.  That's how it works, much like team sports, only the team is much much larger, and from what I've seen it is working.  I don't see gays being allowed to serve openly having much effect on that dynamic, especially since they are already serving anyway.....

On another note, Gays need to wake up and smell the coffee, and start asking what with the Democrat stronghold in the White House and Congress in the last 2 years, WHY hasn't the DEMS done anything for them?!  I'll tell you my theory, as long as they can convince gays that the right wing stands in the way of gay rights and equality, and that the Democrats are the only hope for such things, they can continue to pander for the gay vote.  The right is playing into the Dem's hands by failing to accept that homosexuality is part of society, and is not honoring the ideal that individuals should have equal opportunities, do I really need to state here that I refer to consenting adults where no coercion is involved?  Well, that's why, and as long as people feel they "need" them they will continue to vote for Democrats even though they have only given lip service to gay rights up until now.  They had 2 years...

Just In Case You Wondering

For a couple months now I've been wondering why the hell my dishes don't come out of the dishwasher clean, they have a white milky film on them.  I also recently bought a new dishwasher, and I didn't think it could possibly be failing so soon.  My parents are also having the same problem at their house, my dad told me it had something to do with phosphates being removed from the dishwasher soap.  Ugh.  Well what he said is correct.  If curious, you can read about it here and also the comments here are informative.

I may just start washing the dishes by hand, the grimy residue makes me feel like they aren't clean, and it's ruining all of my plastic cups and utensils.