The Real Reason for Don't Ask, Don't tell

[Rick Munroe]

From The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content//node/65102?utm_source=embedded_video_2

[Guest Jocoluver]

Sorry, not funny. 2 thumbs down.

[Rick Munroe]

I just watched it again and I still think it's funny. :7

 

And I like this one, too: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/al_qaeda_also_fed_up_with_ground

[mansniffing]

Add me to two thumbs down.

It is now four thumbs down.

 

Not funny at all. Neither is the one on the World Trade Center.

[Louis]

Its two thumbs up for me. I thought the two of them were quite good, and made their points very well.

[OneFinger]

I'm a veteran that served before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was started. To me, the issues of gays serving in the military is too serious a matter to be trivialized in this manner.

 

Add me to the two thumbs down list.

 

We need to solve the problem and not just make jokes about it. x(

[KMEM]

I, too, am a veteran who served before, "Don't ask, don't tell.

 

I find the videos a bit silly and perhaps mildly amusing but nothing to get upset either way over. We Americans have always been able to make fun of ourselves and the problems we have found us to be in. We have plenty of very serious problems. Now is no time to stop being humorous. :-)

 

Attitude is 90% of the right stuff.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[+ deej]

>I, too, am a veteran who served before, "Don't ask, don't

>tell.

 

Me too.

 

Frankly, I've always thought DADT was a joke. It changed nothing, EXCEPT that they couldn't ask.

 

Every one of us who served before DADT got asked a question during the induction physical: "Are you a homosexual?" and every one of us lied. They were not allowed to skip the question and you were required to answer it so you cannot sidestep it in any way: WE LIED!

 

Today we wouldn't be asked, so we wouldn't have to lie. That's actually forward progress, in baby steps I'll grant but it's forward progress.

 

The "Don't Tell" part certainly didn't change anything. If you tell (or get caught), you're out. DADT didn't change that a bit.

 

I don't want them to do away with the "don't ask" part, and we're a generation away from any real change in the "don't tell" part.

 

As for the videos, bleh. It's just not a funny topic.

[Louis]

I could easily see both of those as segments on Saturday Night Live. They are satire, and the purpose of satire is to get people thinking. The first is saying how stupid it is to ban open gays from the military, and the second is questioning the rational for making another tall sky scraper when it can easily become a target. At least that's my take on them.

[Rick Munroe]

>Frankly, I've always thought DADT was a joke.

>As for the videos, bleh. It's just not a funny topic.

 

So, it's a joke, but it's not a funny topic. That makes sense!

[Rick Munroe]

>I'm a veteran that served before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was

>started. To me, the issues of gays serving in the military is

>too serious a matter to be trivialized in this manner.

>

>Add me to the two thumbs down list.

 

One Finger, thanks for taking the time to explain your feelings, instead of just writing "two thumbs down" without attempting to engage in any type of discourse. I really appreciate this message board most when we (civilly) exchange opposing points of view. Anyway, I agree that it's a serious topic, but I disagree that the video trivializes it. It's mocking people like General Pace, who says we need to keep "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because homosexuality is "immoral;" I definitely don't think it's mocking those gay soldiers who bravely serve their country.

 

The reason I liked the video is that in real life, gay men are trivialized and ridiculed and bashed and harassed from all directions...teenagers love to say "That's so gay!" as a pejorative, to describe something that is uncool or gross or bad...the worst insult to use on a straight man is to call him a "fag"...and we're treated as second-class citizens by our own government. But in the video, we're glorified and treasured. My favorite part was when he said that one gay man = 7 straight men. I also loved the dream sequence from Ellen's first sitcom, where the whole world was gay and being straight was something to hide from your friends. Stuff like that is silly, but as Louis said below, it also makes people think about the bigotry and hypocrisy with which we live each day.

 

>We need to solve the problem and not just make jokes about it.

 

Well, I've signed anti-DADT petitions and called/written to my Congressmen and Sentators. As KMEM said, I don't want to stop laughing just because there's serious work to be done.

[+ deej]

Yes, Rick, some jokes are more sad than funny.

 

Sorry.

[Rick Munroe]

>Yes, Rick, some jokes are more sad than funny.

>

>Sorry.

 

deej, I don't work for The Onion and I didn't create the videos, so there's no reason to be sorry.

[+ deej]

Yeah, there is. But this is the wrong forum for it. :-(

[+ deej]

>but I disagree that the video trivializes it. It's

>mocking people like General Pace, who says we need to keep

>"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" because homosexuality is "immoral;" I

>definitely don't think it's mocking those gay soldiers who

>bravely serve their country.

 

If anything it reinforces the stereotypes in ways that make it funny to non-gays. Straights get a real chuckle out of it, I'm sure. It's funny because it's about fags.

 

Gen. Pace (better known to those who served under him -- ME! -- as "Peter Panic") is a boob. His statements in the media had the shelf life of day old bread, and he recanted which got NO notice.

 

>The reason I liked the video is that in real life, gay men are

>trivialized and ridiculed and bashed and harassed from all

>directions...

 

And the video did exactly the same thing, IMO. We were trivialized as a marginal group to be laughed about instead of a group that actually shouldn't even be thought about in the context of military service. We should just *be there*.

 

(And, for what it's worth, we are.)

 

>Well, I've signed anti-DADT petitions and called/written to my

>Congressmen and Sentators. As KMEM said, I don't want to stop

>laughing just because there's serious work to be done.

 

Oooh. I actually support DADT because I know what will replace it if it is removed. Things will go back to NOT WELCOME HERE.

 

I can still laugh about a lot. But I won't campaign to repeal the vote for women or blacks, and I won't campaign to repeal DADT.

 

Do not campaign against DADT. Campaign *for* a replacement that is better. Unfortunately, no serious proposal has been proffered.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Oooh. I actually support DADT because I know what will replace

>it if it is removed. Things will go back to NOT WELCOME HERE.

 

I have a slightly different view of DTDA and the whole American military's attitude to gays.

 

I frankly cannot for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to serve in the military. Put your ass on the line and fight under excruciating circumstances because some swaggering Texas Blowhard and his band of merry men have to scratch their testosterone itch?

 

When the Arabs are marching up 5th Ave, perhaps.... but until then let those oh so butch hetro's fill the gap. They deserve it.

 

I've always had the attitude - If you don't want me at your party then I don't want to be there, thank you very much.

[+ deej]

You know, I must be out of touch.

 

When I enlisted, the words "Texas", "Blowhard", and "Testosterone" weren't in the relatively short oath I took.

 

I'm really saddened to learned that the oath has changed, but thank you for pointing it out. x(

[KMEM]

As I (dimly) recall, the question was, "Do you have any homosexual tendencies?" Well, no, I don't. I have fully developed ideas and feelings.:-)

 

The truth was I was much more worried about going to war than I was about any personal questions. I was willing to serve my country but I wasn't too thrilled about being shot at. Those were entirely different times.

 

Today, I don't know what I would do. I think the US needs to be able to defend itself against terrorists but I am NOT in favor of how Bush, the TSA and others are doing it. However, I don't want to fight them in US city streets either. But, I am willing to do so, if necessary.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[Guest ReturnOfS]

I wrote a nice thoughtout response and it didn't post! I hate when that happens x(

[Guest skrubber]

Two thumbs up.

 

I laughed my ass off.

[Rick Munroe]

>I wrote a nice thoughtout response and it didn't post! I hate

>when that happens x(

 

If that ever happens again, just use your back button and it should still be there. Copy it to your clipboard, then open a new window of the message center, and paste & re-post it. Works for me...

[Philly Guy]

Hmm - Does this qualify as "politics" or "war" .... we may be in violation of the Message Center rules for the Lounge :-)

[Rick Munroe]

Don't ask; I won't tell.

[Guest alanm]

Another pre-Don't Ask, Don't Tell Vietnam Vet here.

 

I thought the video was mildly funny, nothing more or less.

 

I am surprised that vets would take offensive at such a silly video,

must have been a slow day for some people.

 

As others have said, I'm all for changing DADT but only if something better is put in place.

 

I also agree that Peter Pace is an idiot. How did he ever rise so high in the military? Wait a minute, I spent two years in the Army I know the answer myself.

[Guest zipperzone]

>I also agree that Peter Pace is an idiot. How did he ever rise

>so high in the military? Wait a minute, I spent two years in

>the Army I know the answer myself.

 

What do you mean? He gave good head?