Bill Clinton's Dumb Idea: Don't ask, don't tell

I am a fan of Bill Clinton's. I think that he was probably the smartest president of our generation. However, for such a smart man, he really did do some dumb things. Take his affair with Monica Lewinsky for instance. How dumb can a decision be, right? One of his dumbest decisions, however, was not to repeal the ban on gays in the military. Instead, he started "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" which basically says that no one will ask you if you are having sex with another man and you should not tell anyone you are doing so, either.

Interesting idea, but it has failed miserably. In the 16 years since that rule was implemented, we have lost 13,000 military personnel. Now, I am a bit dyslexic and math is not my strong suit, but I do believe that a military that is fighting wars on two different fronts might be able to use 13,000 people.

Do not misunderstand me, I still get a little queasy when I see two men holding hands. I'm a little old fashioned. However, I work with gay people, I live around gay people and I have to tell you that I know a couple of my queer friends who I would rather go to war with than anyone. Most of us come into contact with gays on a daily basis and if they did not open their mouths about their sexual preferences, sometimes we would not even know. Still, we would deny them basic human rights.

I am not interested in what other people do in their bedrooms and the reason is that I do not want anyone in mine. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Now, I do not know about you, but that is pretty self-explanatory. We are all humans and our forefathers fought for this country next to men who were gay. There were even some women in those groups who fought in the revolutionary war as men and after the war continued to live their lives as men. We need to get over our petty grievances and remember that we are all humans and all humans should be treated fairly.

"Don't ask don't tell'' was dumb idea from a very smart person. There is a lesson in there somewhere.

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