U.S. Conservatives: Toward a Gayer Military!

Michael C. Moynihan | June 5, 2009

According to this new Gallup poll, while Americans still overwhelmingly favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the United States military, a majority of self-identified conservatives now support dumping "don't ask, don't tell." Says Gallup, "While liberals and Democrats remain the most supportive, the biggest increase in support has been among conservatives and weekly churchgoers—up 12 and 11 percentage points, respectively."

Full story.

Update: Be sure to read Reason Foundation senior analyst Shikha Dalmia's latest column at Forbes on "don't ask, don't tell." Also, Dalmia will be making an appearence on today's episode of The Glenn Beck Show.

Comments

Spoonman|6.5.09 @ 4:58PM|#

So...can we get this done, already? No, because for some reason Obama has no balls?

|10.7.09 @ 4:38PM|#

More likely, Obama is just too busy thinking of new ways to tax us.

|6.5.09 @ 5:07PM|#

Would seem that political calculation isn't the reason for procrastinating, since majorities obviously support repealing DADT. Obama's holding strong on closing Gitmo despite polling that indicates more people want it to remain open. Can't Congress take a few minutes off naming post offices to throw the gays a bone?

Kunal|6.5.09 @ 5:29PM|#

You know all this is just going to lead to soldier-on-dog, don't you?

|6.5.09 @ 5:30PM|#

Can't Congress take a few minutes off naming post offices to throw the gays a bone?

pun intended ?

MNG|6.5.09 @ 5:30PM|#

"throw the gays a bone"

If you throw your bone at any gays make sure you don't tell your CO.

MNG|6.5.09 @ 5:31PM|#

"No, because for some reason Obama has no balls"

The man was elected to provide hope, not balls!

|6.5.09 @ 5:31PM|#

Ms. Dalmia forged a courageous effort on the Glenn Becknut show with the fill-in Fox News blowhard Andrew Napalitano and his constant attack on personal liberties.

But that is why Fox News pays him.

Give her kudos for the effort.

Civil Discourse|6.5.09 @ 5:43PM|#

Damn you Will & Grace!!!

Civil Discourse|6.5.09 @ 5:44PM|#

"You know all this is just going to lead to soldier-on-dog, don't you?"

Absolutly.

Rhywun|6.5.09 @ 6:33PM|#

Hang on. We're measuring "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly", not "dumping don't ask, don't tell", right? Because they are not the same. Well, that's what the survey says. As long as all the respondents understood that they're supporting not just dumping "don't ask, don't tell" but replacing it with something like "mind your own damn business", I'm on board.

|6.5.09 @ 7:14PM|#

Maybe conservatives are finally realizing that:

Gay marriage ==> less gay sex

Gays in military ==> more dead gays

|6.5.09 @ 8:36PM|#

"The man was elected to provide hope, not balls!"

It takes balls to lead a country.It doesn't matter how hope-inspiring you are if you don't have the balls to do what is right and sometimes unpopular. Obama does not have the balls to do either and that doesn't give me much hope.

|6.6.09 @ 1:03AM|#

So why on earth don't Obama and the Democrats allow gays to serve openly if it is so popular? Are there some swing states in the electoral college that this would alienate? Or some congressional districts that would go back into the R column?

A breakdown of voting by state, or at least in the swing states that Obama flipped to the Blue column compared to 2004, might shed some light on this seeming mystery. Because Obama is nothing if not politically calculating ...

Mike Laursen|6.6.09 @ 2:13AM|#

I'm just guessing, but maybe Obama doesn't want to go near the Don't Ask Don't Tell issue because it would make it hard for him to maintain his silence on the gay marriage issue.

|6.6.09 @ 7:19AM|#

Prolly he respects the caution of the Generals and Admirals.

|6.6.09 @ 10:29AM|#

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|6.6.09 @ 1:35PM|#

An important category missing from the poll: active and veteran members of the military. Or does their opinion not matter?

|6.6.09 @ 5:47PM|#

Bronko | June 6, 2009, 1:35pm | #
An important category missing from the poll: active and veteran members of the military. Or does their opinion not matter?

I am guessing that most of them want DADT gone too, but in the way that Rhywun alluded too.

They want it replaced with "thou shalt not serve".

Well, some non-insignificant percentage does.

|6.6.09 @ 6:08PM|#

Prolly he respects the caution of the Generals and Admirals.

Heh. Yeah right, I'm sure that's it. Too funny.

An important category missing from the poll: active and veteran members of the military. Or does their opinion not matter?

Well, certainly their opinion doesn't count any more than anyone else. This wasn't a story about the views of the military, it was a story about the views of conservatives so it makes sense to show the break down of opinions in categories relevant to the topic. It didn't have a category for the views of baseball players either, but I don't think the implication is that their views don't count.

But at any rate, the military's job is to follow the orders and policies set by the civilian leadership. In that respect, we don't need to ask their opinion since they should shut up, do what they're told and not whine about it. Just like when the military was ordered to integrate its units, nobody needed to care what they thought individually or whether any racists would be offended or have a hard time working side by side with blacks. They were simply expected to comply.

hmm|6.6.09 @ 8:31PM|#

Prolly he respects the caution of the Generals and Admirals.

The only reason Generals and Admirals are cautious is because you don't get a start by not kissing ass and picking the right side. The damn positions are more political than getting elected president. You just have few, more picky people to please and kiss the ass of.

There is nothing to be gained from changing the position. No control to be realized, no power to be gained, no future manipulative value. Why waste political capital on a few votes you don't need.

|6.7.09 @ 1:54AM|#

The damn positions are more political than getting elected president. You just have few, more picky people to please and kiss the ass of.

Oh, I would never doubt that. I'm sure there are plenty of quality officers who are stillf field-grade instead of general simply because they weren't good at/didn't want to play the political game.

|6.8.09 @ 10:05AM|#

Shouldn't that be:

According to this new Gallup poll, while not only do Americans still overwhelmingly favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the United States military, a majority of self-identified conservatives now support dumping "don't ask, don't tell."

Bill|6.8.09 @ 11:39AM|#

"The man was elected to provide hope"
I'm LOLing, but it's mostly to avoid weeping bitterly.