The recent movements (or stall tactics, as they are) in Washington, D.C. around the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) reveals some interesting overtones in our country today. First and foremost to fully appreciate what is at work here one need only look at the convenient timeline Mr. Obama has created. He promised future constituents that he would tackle the hard issues of DADT from the very start – and then did nothing. He promised to address the issue of same-sex marriage and did nothing. He promised to bring a tone of civility around these issues and to encourage a broader “conversation” about the issues – and then did nothing. Now he has proposed looking at DADT and trying to find a way to bring it to conclusion. The problem, of course, is that Mr. Obama set forth no timeframe in which this had to be done. So, the military will launch a series of investigations and internal reviews, as only the military can, to determine whether abandoning DADT is possible, and that process will take approximately 10-12 months to complete.

Of course by then the country will have gone through another election cycle and once again the real issue of basic human rights will have been clouded by the right-wing hypocrisy machine and we will all take one giant leap backwards. The right-wing will have vilified every aspect of individual rights because it makes them uncomfortable. What’s interesting about the right-wing approach to DADT is that the rhetoric you hear frames the debate as a moral/morale question that harkens back to a time when African-Americans could not serve in the full military.  It is this polarizing tradition of the right-wing that is the lifeblood of the GOP. In the 1960’s it was the Civil Rights movement, in the 1970’s it was the anti-establishment, anti-War, pro-Abortion Rights that fed the beast, and in the 1980’s it was the liberal intelligentsia that kept the GOP moving forward with pro-business/anti-government sentiment. The 1990’s were especially sweet for the party of hate as it focused on everything Clinton. But the past decade has been the best so far for the GOP.  You can basically define the last 10 years as the Age of War for the right-wing because it’s the period of time when the right was at war with anything and anyone with a thought contrary to the Kool-Aid formula, which conveniently means that terrorists and gays get lumped together.

Political systems generally understand that in order to maintain control they must exercise control. Some use military force to gain and retain control over the people, while others use mental torture. Our political system, not just the GOP, has elected to take the later.  Fear is a rich element by which to rule the masses. Today we have a fear of gays the way we had a fear of African-Americans 50 plus years ago.  Fear is also a powerful tool to control the moral beacon of a people.  Frankly, I believe that what our society really fears is the face we see in the mirror. If your moral convictions are so high, and your spirituality allows you to have a close personal relationship with a deity, then what do you have to fear by allowing gays to marry, or even serve openly and proudly in the military. That is, of course, unless your moral convictions are shallower than you admit to, or perhaps your spiritual connection is not as clear as you might hope.

In either case, grow-up America!