A phrase I’ve been hearing lately about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, finally bubbled up enough times for me to notice it.
Sen. John “No, wait, the goal posts are over here now!” McCain was painfully, reluctantly describing how his son, a former Marine, felt about the controversy:
MCCAIN: You know, my son is now out of the Marine Corps. The proudest moment of his life is having serving in the Marine Corps. His words to me, as so many thousands of others’ words have been to me: it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
KING: So he wants to keep it just in place as it is right now?
MCCAIN: They believe that it is working and I’m very reluctant to discuss my children’s views.
Oh, sorry for imposing on you by twisting your arm, Senator.
But look at that phrase: “It’s isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
You who don’t want to see gays openly serving in the military probably think the system is working. Gays aren’t openly serving in the military. If there are closeted gays, they can always be dealt with if they become open enough to file charges.
So, yeah, for you the system is working. So, of course, you don’t want to fix it. Arguably, it’s even working better than the old explicitly witch-hunting days, which (a) took time and effort and manpower and made an unpleasant, inconvenient stink, and (b) were more likely to rob the service of those few gays who were interesting in serving their country, even while lying about who they were and who they loved. DADT is like a win-win for you.
Because, of course, you can still get rid of they gays if they become visible. If they step out of the shadows they’ve been pushed into and suddenly make you uncomfortable.
You can even argue to the extent that the military is functioning without openly gay service members. See? It’s working! We’re fighting two wars! Of course, maybe we’re short a few people we’ve spent a lot of time and effort training up, or who’ve served with distinction, or even those who never bothered to enlist in the first place. But, hey, there’s no sign that’s causing us to lose the wars we’re fighting.
So, yeah, the system “works.” It “isn’t broken” … for some values of “broken.”
Of course, we could have a system that “worked” with other conditions. No open Muslims. No open atheists. No open Mormons. No open Jews. No people of Korean descent. No people from Vermont. No people of a particular political belief. No people who … well, fill in your blank for any relatively small population that you figure the military could, in theory, get along without.
The system could “work” that way, too. But it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be just. It wouldn’t be what we’re fighting for. Nor is the current system.
The system only works, today, for you who like the current system. The system isn’t broken for you who think the results are what the system should do.
And for those for whom the system doesn’t work? Those who are thrown out of a valuable, productive career because they were discovered, spotted offbase in a compromising hand-holding, or because they could no longer live a lie? Or those who serve because their love of country is so great, but have to do so in secret, never opening up, never being able to trust, never being able to laugh or love in a genuine fashion for fear of discovery?
The system doesn’t work for them. It’s broken for them.
But Sen. McCain is very reluctant to speak about their views, as well.