The Atrocity of Hope, Part 6: Put Not Your Trust In Princes

ObushmaThe Obama administration offers a legal defense of “don’t ask, don’t tell” – on the grounds that it’s “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” (In other words, the administration isn’t just delaying repeal, but is actively affirming the reasoning behind the policy – a policy our President Incarnate claims to oppose.)

The Obama administration offers a legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act – on the grounds that “courts have widely held that certain marriages performed elsewhere need not be given effect, because they conflicted with the public policy of the forum.” (Quite true – the Supreme Court did uphold anti-miscegenation laws, for example. Still, an awkward precedent for this administration to invoke, one would have thought.)

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

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10 Responses to The Atrocity of Hope, Part 6: Put Not Your Trust In Princes

  1. b-psycho June 12, 2009 at 11:10 pm #

    Y’know what would be funny? If after having revealed that stance on DADT, whoever was in charge on the ground in Afghanistan outed himself in protest.

  2. Currence June 13, 2009 at 1:27 am #

    A thought: does DADT + that the POTUS is the commander in chief of the armed forces => no gay POTUS?

  3. Chris June 13, 2009 at 2:07 am #

    Is there really anything unlibertarian about DADT? Or, for that matter, about actively making sure no gays end up in the military?

    It seems to me that the situation is something like this: The government steals money and other resources, so that it may set up a variety of programs and nonsense, and is then restrictive about the use of said nonsense. Much like the Mafia in restricting their members to Italians. But what would we think of two people arguing about the mob’s racist policies? “The mob really ought to be more open in their hiring. It’s discrimination!” “No no no. Standards must be kept. Mobsters have difficult jobs. They can’t just let anybody in, or they could never fully trust each other!” The argument seems to miss the real point: The mob is a criminal enterprise to be opposed root and branch. Arguing about the merits of their (non rights violating) practices treats the existence of the mob as a given. But it is the existence of the mob that is the real issue.

    My feelings about DADT are that arguments about whether the policy is just or unjust tend to assume the legitimacy (or unavoidability) of the government military. (And I certainly realize you are not doing this.) Keeping or abandoning DADT are both subsets of an unacceptable situation.

    Furthermore, would it really be that bad if the military discriminated much more severely? Only white males. Or, even better, only second generation Mongolian-American lesbians. It seems to me that the more restrictive the government is in its hiring, the less employees it will tend to have.

  4. Anon73 June 13, 2009 at 4:33 am #

    Is it…. a VEERUS (known as “virus” to us white folks)?

  5. Chris June 13, 2009 at 2:13 pm #

    Thanks Professor Long! That discussion addressed most of the points I was interested in.

    • Roderick June 13, 2009 at 5:04 pm #

      Why your reply appears before my post that you were replying to is one more of those unutterable mysteries …

      • Chris June 15, 2009 at 1:36 pm #

        No mystery here. Just an accident on my part.

        • Roderick June 15, 2009 at 3:10 pm #

          But your reply also has an earlier timestamp than the comment it’s replying to.

        • Chris June 16, 2009 at 1:12 pm #

          And the mystery resumes…

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