| It seemed like just a few weeks ago when MoveOn.org was taken to task for a bad pun. In an ad. In a newspaper. Much hysteria ensued over MoveOn's little joke, apologies were demanded, condemnations passed in the Senate. I mean, if a general's reputation is at stake, you've got to act!
Enter Keith Kerr:
My name is Keith Kerr, from Santa Rosa, California. I'm retired brigadier general with 43 years of service, and I'm a graduate of the Special Forces Officer Course, the Command and General Staff Course, and the Army War College. And I'm an openly gay man.
Kerr apparently had the audacity to ask the Republican candidates why they supported a ban on gay service personnel. Each gave their answer, which ranged from gays are bad for morale to the offense that gays would mean to good, conservative Christians who apparently make up the bulk of our military.
Asked if he were satisfied with the answers, Kerr, who was in the audience, said "no."
GEN. KERR: American -- American men and women in the military are professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians. For 42 years, I wore the Army uniform on active duty, in the Reserve, and also for the state of California. I revealed I was a gay man after I retired. Today, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is destructive to our military policy. Every -- every day, the Department of Defense discharges two people not for misconduct, not for the unit cohesion -- (mike cuts off).
Steve Benen:
At which point, the Republican audience began booing the 43-year military veteran. It was an interesting contrast - at Democratic debates, veterans get standing ovations. At Republican debates, veterans get booed if they're gay.
Got that? The audience - presumably composed of Republicans and their supporters -- booed a brigadier general with 43 years of service...to his face! Because he's gay!
Naturally the media, pushed by the outpouring of patriot support for a man who gave four decades of his life to his country, took up his cause and hounded the presidential candidates into defending the general and his opinion and shamed the crowd. Right? Er, not so much:
The executive producer of the debate, CNN Vice President David Bohrman, said the cable network had taken some precautions, verifying Kerr's military background and that he had not contributed to any presidential candidate.
"We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates," Bohrman said. "We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
Okay, so a general gets booed on national television by Republicans because he's gay. So then people are surprised he's a Democrat? And CNN apologizes...to the Republican candidates?
But what am I thinking? We're not talking about an ad! In a newspaper! |
