So you love a guy...why can't you carry a gun?

The military's policy of don’t ask, don't tell (DADT) is not only outdated, it never should have been. I suppose with that, it should be the end of my post. Well, I won't let people off the hook that easy.

What I suggest you do is take a look at federal law (10 U.S.C. § 654) is actually called Policy concerning homosexuality in the armed forces and spells out the details of why homosexuals can’t serve. Before you say anything stupid, you should at least read it.

Of course serving in the military at this point in the country’s history is a lot different then in the past. We have had an all-volunteer service for over three decades now. Only the people who really want to be here usually go. That alone should be reason enough not to disqualify a person because of their sexual orientation.

The problem I have with the policy is that on its face, it assumes people involved in same sex behavior are inherently lacking what it needs to be a good solider. At the heart of it is this clause:

...would create an unacceptable risk to the armed forces’ high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.

Why exactly would being homosexual put your unit at more risk than being a heterosexual? As far as morale, good order and discipline are concerned, when you join the armed services that is drilled into from boot camp. If you make it through that with your fellow soldiers then you emerge with that set of characteristic that the military needs to succeed. A lot of heterosexual can’t make it through that process.

Some people are just better suited for military service. Those that end up being successful soldiers are the ones who have the desire and drive to do it in the first place. Just like some people have talents and strengths for any number of occupations, a solider is a special kind of person.

The truth is that homosexuals have always been in the military. I don't know what percentage but it is far more than the number that have been found out and discharged. You can best believe there are thousand of homosexual soldiers who are in positions of leadership and serve the country well. They could serve better if there wasn’t a constant cloud hanging over them.

Of course, the loudest choruses of people who object to homosexuals serving are the ones who complain about everything anyway. They try to make a moral argument. Moral is different from morale. Besides, I don’t believe that being homosexual means you can’t be a moral person either.

Have the complainers stopped to think about the Arabic language expert who was kicked out for being gay who could have helped in the "War on Terror"? No, that haven't thought about that and they won't. It would be too much like right.

I say stop with the studies and hand wringing and dump DADT right now. Have standards of performance that are fair and mean something to the mission of the branch of armed services a person joins. If you can cut the mustard then you are in. If you can’t then you are out.

If Sergeant Bob goes home to his husband Jim and he is happy healthy and adjusted, we are all safer. We need good soldiers period. End the stupid policy and let’s move on to real problems to solve.

Hey! A nude male model just changed healthcare reform!

Healthcare reform was chugging along until Massachusetts had to go and have a special election for US Senator. Of course Senator Edward Kennedy dying is what triggered the whole thing. In the midst of all the canonizing of the late senator, the Massachusetts Democratic party forgot to get behind his replacement.

All the post mortems have been done about why the Democratic candidate lost. "She didn't run an energized campaign and people weren't motivated.” You have heard some variation of both of those themes.

There may be truth in both of those things. I think the reason why Martha Coakley lost to the nude male model is because Americans are completely crazy when it comes selecting their senators. In state after state there are situations like in Iowa and North Carolina where each senators couldn't be more different then the other. Not only are the in different parties but they are also at very different extremes to the left and right.

Never mind the fact that the Kennedy family held one of the seats in Massachusetts for 50 year there was a time when there was a Republican occupying the other senate seat. Senator Edward Brooks, a black Republican and the lover of television personality of Barbara Walters was a longtime representative for the Commonwealth.

Having two Senators that are so different like Senator-elect Brown and John Kerry is typical. It is proof of like how we Americans like to panic and vote against their own interest. Just think about the second term of the Bush administration. If that wasn't self-mutilation I don't know what is? The whole idea that a Senator "naked man" Brown represents what the majority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wants to get accomplished probably isn't true. People sat at home on their hands or voted from him because it doesn’t make sense.

The problem the Democrats have is not being able to keep people focused on why the programs they are proposing is better than what they have. There is a lot that people have to filter through to get a message. The news in this country is not really the news. We get a marketing campaign for a book, blockbuster movie or new product wrapped around some really important nugget of a story. The Democrats may have to figure out how to sponsor the release of the next Avatar-like blockbuster.

Hopefully Senator Brown keeps his clothes on and does a good job for his constituents. I don’t know whether or not he was the best person for the job. What the Democrats can’t do is dwell on the defeat too long. Move on and keep he recovery going.

Hey! A nude male model just changed healthcare reform!

Healthcare reform was chugging along until Massachusetts had to go and have a special election for US Senator. Of course Senator Edward Kennedy dying is what triggered the whole thing. In the midst of all the canonizing of the late senator, the Massachusetts Democratic party forgot to get behind his replacement.

All the post mortems have been done about why the Democratic candidate lost. "She didn't run an energized campaign and people weren't motivated.” You have heard some variation of both of those themes.

There may be truth in both of those things. I think the reason why Martha Coakley lost to the nude male model is because Americans are completely crazy when it comes selecting their senators. In state after state there are situations like in Iowa and North Carolina where each senators couldn't be more different then the other. Not only are the in different parties but they are also at very different extremes to the left and right.

Never mind the fact that the Kennedy family held one of the seats in Massachusetts for 50 year there was a time when there was a Republican occupying the other senate seat. Senator Edward Brooks, a black Republican and the lover of television personality of Barbara Walters was a longtime representative for the Commonwealth.

Having two Senators that are so different like Senator-elect Brown and John Kerry is typical. It is proof of like how we Americans like to panic and vote against their own interest. Just think about the second term of the Bush administration. If that wasn't self-mutilation I don't know what is? The whole idea that a Senator "naked man" Brown represents what the majority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wants to get accomplished probably isn't true. People sat at home on their hands or voted from him because it doesn’t make sense.

The problem the Democrats have is not being able to keep people focused on why the programs they are proposing is better than what they have. There is a lot that people have to filter through to get a message. The news in this country is not really the news. We get a marketing campaign for a book, blockbuster movie or new product wrapped around some really important nugget of a story. The Democrats may have to figure out how to sponsor the release of the next Avatar-like blockbuster.

Hopefully Senator Brown keeps his clothes on and does a good job for his constituents. I don’t know whether or not he was the best person for the job. What the Democrats can’t do is dwell on the defeat too long. Move on and keep he recovery going.

Pat Robertson, the devil and Haiti

Haiti must be the most hard luck place on the face of the earth. With the most recent earthquake, the country will fall even further behind the rest of its neighbors in trying to move out of poverty. This latest tragedy may be even worse than the never-ending civil strife that seems to go on.

The uniqueness of Haiti of course is that it was one of the first free countries to throw of it colonial overseers. Not only did they rid themselves of slavery before the United State they also put together a working democracy. Of course, a French speaking country run by blacks did find many friends around and has struggled since its founding to find a place for it self.

Thankfully, televangelist Pat Robertson was standing by to put everything into perspective. Haiti has suffered because it made a deal with the devil to get rid of slavery and their colonial master. That's right! Those voodoo practicing and zombie loving Haitians have the devil to blame for all of their problems.

If you don't believe me, look at it right here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbukkh_pat-robertson-on-haiti-disaster_news . I just wonder what people were thinking listening to old crazy Pat talk about the devil causing the earthquake.

Haiti is suffering because 80% of its economy is foreign aid. The rest of the countries in the hemisphere for once and for all need to get in Haiti and try to help it function as a real nation. There is an opportunity here to help rebuild and in a way that will for once and for all help bring the country into fold.

It is too bad people will actually hear crazy Pat and think he is saying something that makes sense. Instead of donating time, money or resources, someone may decide there is nothing to do because the people are being punished for their deal with the devil.

Don’t listen to Pat Robertson or anyone for that matter that will tell you it is not worth helping the people of Haiti, It is less than 700 miles from the United States. The people there have tried to bring the country up but we have had a history of turning our backs on them when they needed us most.

This time let’s do the right thing even if some people in Haiti practice voodoo.

Thank god! Micheal Steele is a light skinned black man!

I watched Mark Halperin and John Heilemann make the rounds hawking their new book, Game Change, a deeper look into the history-making '08 campaign. They were making all kinds of revelations about people that I think we probably already knew. Like John Edwards wasn't exactly who we thought he was and running mates Joe Biden and Barack Obama didn't always see eye-to-eye on everything.

What got everyone's attention was a statement from Senate majority Leader Harry Reid about the elect ability of the feature president because her was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

Of course the head Negro at the Republican Party went apoplectic and called for the ouster of the Majority Leader because of his “racist comments." Guess what, the same thing and worse has been said about Michael Steele from within his own party. You just won't get people to admit it in public.

Barack Obama was elected, in part, as the first black president because he did not scare SOME white people. His obvious mixed parentage and clear articulation is exactly what was needed for some people to pull the lever for candidate Obama. Step-and-Fetchit isn’t going to win many elections. Why are we pretending that racial characteristics, in Obama's case, the lack of those same characteristics, did not play a role in what people thought about his abilities.

Of course, most folks thought Obama was the better candidate without regards to race. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be lost on folks that people make calculations about who they trust based on whom they see. Black men are still viewed with suspicion if they look and sound a certain way. There is no doubt about it.

So I can just imagine the meeting at the Republican headquarters over the weekend as the talking points were being generated. How cynical and disingenuous must Michael Steele be to be able to go out in public and pretend they same thing has never been said about him.

Added on top of it all, the talking point that was generated has to be the silliest thing I ever heard. Someone honestly decided to compare Harry Reid to Trent Lott and his praise of Strom Thurmond. Come on people, are you serious!

I will give Mr. Steele credit for having balls of steel. He doesn't mind getting kicked there every time he opens his mouth. Especially when he tries to talk about race. Thank god he sounds intelligent when he is making a fool out of himself.

Someone beat me... My pants are on fire!

Of course, there is nothing funny about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempting to blow up a plane full of passengers on Christmas. It is a very serious matter and almost too serious for us to think clearly about how to handle such a problem. As Americans we tend to be knee-jerk in our responses. Say like going off to bomb Iraq after 9/11.

Abdulmutallab presents a very vexing problem. Americans know little if anything about the rest of the world. Unless it is the number of Perkins waitresses that Mr. Woods has shagged then we can't say we know much about it. So, when the news reports said he was from Nigeria, I am sure 90% of Americans were left scratching their heads trying to figure out why that would be.

What we have failed to acknowledge is that places like Nigeria have been Muslim countries for almost as long as places like Yemen. Significant populations of Muslims live and have lived from furthers reaches of Asia, all over Europe and almost everywhere in Africa. Our myopic view of Islam as just a problem of the Middle East has hurt us again.

I fear that Mr. Abdulmutallab is just one of millions of potential martyrs who will be strapping on bombs for a long time. There will be very little we can do to profile the suicide bombers because they are going to look like any and every race, creed and color of people that has ever inhabited the world. They will also be of every social class. So buying an expensive transatlantic plane ticket is a small cost to pay to terrorize the world.

I don't envy this President or any of the past ones for that matter, when it comes to dealing with the problem of Islamic inspired terrorist. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is something that can only be handled by one political party or the other. Neither party has been able to stem the tidal wave of resentment from the Muslim world. Isn't it time to start being honest that we have made some horrible mistakes when it comes to foreign policy? Both Democrats and Republicans have allowed money to from oil to endanger the lives of nearly every human being in the world. The fight against terror goes on just as much in China or Russia as it does in the United States. This is a world problem.

Some may call my solution to the problem defeatist because it doesn't involve troops and blowing up stuff. Nevertheless, I believe it would make everyone sleep better at night if we started looking for positive outcomes. Why not develop technology, right now, that would bring the oil business to an end. Use every available resource, all the best brainpower we can find and commit to decoupling with Saudi Arabia. Oil money buys the explosives that go in the underwear of a young man who is willing to die.

The other thing we can do is to know the world better. Understand that Mr. Abdulmutallab may be from Nigeria but his next incarnation can be a white guy from Slovenia who looks like the pizza man. There is no way to look at a person and tell he or she may be a suicide bomber.

A man with flaming underpants on a jetliner is sounds crazy and it is. That's because we have asked for it by our past dealings. We have slept with the dogs and now have fleas. Some of us seem perfectly willing to just stand by a scratch for a while and hope to temporarily relieve the problem. I say get rid of the dog (oil) and fumigate too.

Give me my bonus! I recovered the economy. Damnit!

I hear the economy is improving. We all should be happy for that. I suppose? Of course, with the economy bouncing back, that means we need to go back to worshiping the Wall Street wizards who make all of this lavish lifestyle we have possible. The best way to reward them is to give them a bonus. Right?

You know I am joking. The knuckleheads who don’t produce a damn thing have been trying for the past 30 years to get us to believe the world would not operate without investment bankers. The truth is the world revolved around the sun for a long time without them. The value of some guy pulling down hundred of thousands of dollar per year to manage your money is stupid.

There will be economists that are going to tell me I don’t know what I am talking about. They would be correct. I don’t know how Wall Street, derivatives and investment banking works. I will never know. Some guy sitting in a village in Thailand doesn’t care either. They want to have a place to sleep, some food to eat and a stable government.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear…. If Mr. Smith if ABC Widgets turned a profit for his widget company and negotiated a bonus for himself, then good for him. Mr. Jones who has set up some hedge fund that makes money by taking crazy risks with other people’s money should be shut down.

The arrest of one of the richest men in America for insider trading this week may be an isolates case. I suspect it isn’t. A rich guys with a billion dollars in his bank account but never produced a single widget makes me wonder just exactly how they got their money.

The greed that the US economy promotes causes a lot of problems at home and around the world. I don’t know how you put the genie back in the bottle at this point. I just wish we could.

For those idiots who keep trying to justify excessive bonuses, you are never going to convince me that you are worth any of it. I’m sure that won’t cause them to lose any sleep over my rant. Nevertheless, I feel better.