Don't ask, don't tell

This is probably the only Lady Gaga video I'll ever post, but she focuses on a serious issue here, the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which is up for a vote in the Senate Tuesday. (It passed the House of Representatives in May.)

It's ironic that DADT has become the conservative position these days, isn't it? And as quickly as national opinion has been changing on this issue - and on gay rights in general - it's pretty clear that it's doomed, at least eventually.

(Gallup poll)

At the same time, though, the Republican Party has been rushing ever further towards the extreme right. You really can't be too extreme for the GOP these days. In fact, right now, nearly every Republican politician is terrified of that dreaded "moderate" label.

And so you have people like John McCain flip-flopping on nearly every position he once held, even denying that "maverick" label he used to embrace. He started running to the right as fast as he could in 2008, and he's been running ever since. But nevertheless, he had a primary fight on his hands this year, because he still wasn't considered to be loony enough. Funny, huh?

But he won't make that mistake again. Even now, he's leading the filibuster against ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Of course, that's another complete flip-flop. During the Bush administration, he claimed he'd go along with military leaders on this one. Well, I've long ceased to have any respect for McCain.

This has always been about discrimination. Right-wing distaste for the "immorality" of homosexuality is the whole point. Seventeen years ago, when Congress passed the DADT law, conservatives angrily fought against it. They wanted homosexuals rooted out of the military with McCarthy Era vigor. But since then, public opinion about homosexuality has changed dramatically.

In the Gallup poll noted above, acceptance of gays and lesbians has increased in every single group - men and women, conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, the religious and the irreligious. Acceptance among men age 18 to 49 has increased by 20 percentage points in just four years. As I say, it's increased in every single category.

Therefore, the right-wing doesn't even try to argue the morality of it now (except among themselves). Now, they claim it's all about "unit cohesion" (pretty much the same argument they used to fight integration in the military, too). And now, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is their position, the conservative position. But it's a losing proposition in the long run.

Public opinion is changing this rapidly because gay people have been coming out of the closet (a clear lesson for us atheists, wouldn't you say?). More and more people know someone who's openly homosexual - a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor. And more and more people are discovering that a family member is homosexual. Even conservatives frequently become supportive of gay rights when it's all about their own son or daughter. (It's really tragic when this doesn't happen, but the terrible stories about this also help change opinions.)

(CBS News poll)

This is happening much faster than civil rights for racial minorities, and partly, it might be because that long, difficult struggle came first. But mostly, I suspect, it's because homosexuals look just like you do. In fact, they're often a member of the family - literally. Segregation isn't possible when it comes to gays and lesbians, not really. And it's easier to hate and fear someone you don't know, and someone who clearly looks... alien.

It's telling that anti-Muslim bigotry seems to be increasing, in virulence and in frequency, at the same time that anti-gay hysteria is decreasing. But most people don't have Muslim sons or daughters - or even Muslim co-workers. And Muslims tend to be more distinctive in appearance (not always). It's easy to hate and fear "them." It's harder when "they" are more obviously just like you.

So, yes, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is probably doomed, in the long run. But in the short run, people's lives can still be ruined by it. Let's not be complacent. It's not inevitably doomed on Tuesday, that's for sure. Republicans are filibustering, like they filibuster everything. And these days, any politician or conservative pundit who won't go along with a filibuster is considered a traitor to the party.

In the GOP these days, you're not allowed to have personal opinions that differ from those of the party as a whole (or, at least, of the right-wing loonies, especially those on Fox "News," who currently control the party). In the GOP, obedience is the ultimate virtue. And, as I mentioned previously, you absolutely cannot afford to be seen as a "moderate." That's the kiss of death for Republican politicians right now.

Why do you think that John McCain has flip-flopped on this issue and is now leading the filibuster? He's learned his lesson. When the inmates are in charge of the asylum, you absolutely must demonstrate that you're just as loony as they are, if not loonier. It's the French Revolution all over again. When extremists rule, you can't be too extreme - and it can be a grave danger if you don't appear to be extreme enough. (But these days, Republicans only lose their heads in a figurative sense.)

What's hard to understand is why so many Americans seem to be OK with this. Ordinarily, when extremists take control, they lose elections in landslides. In the past, this has kept both parties near the middle. But that doesn't seem to be happening these days. Republicans have been nominating far-right lunatics, often tossing out mainstream conservatives, but it doesn't seem to be affecting their chances much. Well, this is our fault - too many Americans ignorantly buying into this Fox "News" lunacy, or else just being too lazy or too apathetic to bother voting at all.

There is no guarantee on Tuesday, and there is no guarantee in November. And there's no guarantee that America will prosper, or even survive, either. It's up to us. If we're too dumb, too cowardly, or too lazy, it's all the same. A democracy cannot last if the people aren't smart enough, brave enough, and determined enough to do what's right, no matter what. No excuses! You can't control what other people do, but you can control yourself. So, are you going to be part of the problem or part of the solution?