When he backpedaled from his previous statement, Marine General and Joint Chiefs Of Staff Chairman Peter Pace only peddled 180 degrees, but even that half circle was too far.
Commenting on a Democrat-backed Congressional bill that would change the current "Don’t ask; don’t tell" policy of our Armed Forces and instead allow gays in the military to come out of the closet, General Pace opined the following to the Chicago Tribune:
"Saying that gays should serve openly in the military, to me, says that we, by policy, would be condoning what I believe is immoral activity. I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way Just like I would not want it to be our policy that so-and-so- is sleeping with somebody else’s wife, that we should look the other way. We do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior between members of the Armed Forces."
General Pace was later rebuked by Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member, John Warner (RINO-Virginia), who opined that he disagrees with the General’s view that homosexuality is immoral. Thank you for your unsolicited opinion, Senator Warner, but it’s as irrelevant as it is wrong.
Even beyond religious circles, the most of global society in history has considered homosexuality not only immoral, but also contradictory to the civilized furthering of the species via the long accepted and traditionally interpreted institutions of marriage and family. Until capitulating to bullying from the radical gay lobby in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) deemed homosexuality a mental deviance. The APA’s cowardice aside, homosexuality is still a deviant behavior. Appropriately, many of the APA’s members have stridently protested that cowardly capitulation ever since.
We all too often hear people today saying they do not wish to be "judgmental." If "judging" is so wrong, then let’s fire all those jurists wielding the little wooden hammers while wearing black robes, and let’s open all the cages and let all the animals (no offense to the real animals) out of our correctional institutions and back out into "non-judgmental" society.
There is very much a place for "judging." We can debate until sundown about the superiority of the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, the Democrats vs. the Republicans, or blue vs. red as a favorite color, politics aside. Those are opinions, and only opinions. There is no right or wrong. However, right and wrong is determined by a combination of ethics, morals, traditions, laws, and yes, like it or not, all emanating from most religions. Contrary to radical and anti-social trends of our present day through the empty excuse of moral relativism, right and wrong are concrete, and opinion need not apply. If we were to eliminate all boundaries and rules from any gridiron or diamond, how or when could any football or baseball game ever be played, let alone determined, and if determined, by what score? Why does such fundamental logic flee us when we step off the athletic field and back into the real world?
Our immoral society continually and increasingly hurts gays by both tolerating and encouraging their abnormal and immoral behavior. Instead of being tolerated and encouraged, gays should be rebuked for their behavior and counseled to treat it. Some gays already have been successfully treated.
The military isn’t meant to be a social engineering experiment, although in recent years, it has become one in several ways, due to the outright cowardice of some politically correct military brass and the politicians who so often gratuitously intervene in their duties. This new trend is as dangerous as it is ludicrous and abhorrent.
The foundation of the military is discipline. That is why the military still, to its credit, severely punishes its members for infidelity, as General Pace pointed out. While homosexuality may be the cause celebre’ it still should not be condoned. We don’t need a crystal ball or some tea leaves to predict what would happen if men and women troops were allowed to live, shower and sleep together. Likewise, and despite the inane "Don’t ask; don’t tell" Clinton brainstorm, a male soldier should be allowed some reasonable semblance of peace of mind that we he enters a shower the guy next to him is not ogling and fantasizing, even if he isn’t doing so overtly. There are many gays who do very gallantly serve our country, but their personal feelings, while not unimportant, are a moot point in comparison to the functional effectiveness of a taxpayer funded entity of our government that is charged with the awesome responsibility of protecting lives with little acceptable margin for error. To quote Clint Eastwood, playing Inspector "Dirty Harry" Callahan in the movie, "The Enforcer, "That’s a hell of a price to pay for being stylish."
It’s no surprise that the now Democrat-controlled Congress is now trying to further open the door to Pandora’s Box. Political issues usually just don’t happen; they more typically evolve incrementally and over time. As the riddle goes, How do you eat an elephant?" the answer is, "One bite at a time." This is the strategy for many political issues, and the gay issue is no different. That is why the more savvy, patient and moderate gay advocates push for civil unions before gay marriage, which they know and intend full well to be the next step. Allowing open homosexuality in the military is the next step after "Don’t ask; don’t tell."
While he stood enough of his ground to not apologize for his remarks, General Pace did later suggest that he should have focused more on his support of the policy and less on his personal views. You are wrong on both counts, General. The policy is not principle, and policy without principle is grossly flawed. As for your personal views, as you were siding with what is indeed, the morally correct view, your "views" were more than just your opinion. You were being a true leader. Now, albeit only to a limited degree, you are being a politician. As history has revealed, any country not rooted in morality is doomed for peril, and ditto with any equally immoral military force that defends it. Morality is as necessary as bullets, bombs and body armor. Opinions are little more than speed bumps to a tank. The promulgators of political correctness, of both the uniformed and the civilian varieties, have undermined our security and are now seeking to undermine our already compromised security even further, and all for being "stylish."
Marines, including General Pace, live by a motto they often exchange with each other, "Semper Fi," short for "Semper Fidelis," which is Latin for "Always faithful." The Latin word "fidelis" literally translates into the English word, "fidelity," defined in part by the Second College edition of The American Heritage Dictionary as "faithfulness to obligations, duties or observances." General Pace, like all men and women who wear the uniform have a "duty" and an "obligation" to remain "faithful" in protecting the American people to the best of their ability. Despite his later, but somewhat diluted recanting of his previous remarks, as correctly proclaimed, General Peter Pace should rightfully hold his head high for doing his duty, and for being "semper fi." No apology is needed, General.
As for you, Senator Warner, we’re still waiting.
Doug Wrenn
