The Coalition of the Swilling

Rules is rules. There's no need to make an exception for this one.

But seeing as how Arabs generally think women are for breeding and men are for fun, it would seem to make it harder to find Arabic speaking people who aren't poofters.

working to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

And therefore, I assume, to go back to the old rules of "ask and kick them out"? What an ass. He should be working toward "Don't Ask Because It's None of Your Fucking Business and Completely Irrelevant".

Jeez, Mike! THAT was cranky and mean.

"Don't Ask Because It's None of Your Fucking Business and Completely Irrelevant".
That's pretty much how I've always felt, Ken. And it's really true. I always said the military is already full of gays, working their tookuses off just like everyone else. As a WM, like I've never seen a lesbian? (Male Marines are so special, they shouldn't deal with it? Communal bathrooms, hello? We're all green in my eyes.) At my baby shower when pregnant with Ebola, there were about ten of us WM's sitting around the dining room table. One of the girls piped up with "Hey! Do realize this is all the straight WM's we know?" We all lost it howling. And it was true.

The other thing about the guys who reflexively protected their crotches in horror at the thought of gay male gazing upon them ~ a fair number of them would come back to base from 'the ville' (Olongapo) bragging about how they 'scored' another 11 or 12 year old. major dad pointed out this flaw in their thinking ~ "Homosexuals are 'sick', but pedophilia is 'okay'? Is that how it works?"

That's what irritates me when people bitch about "Don't ask don't tell", as if it were a horrible policy implemented by the evil Bush regime (never mind that it was Clinton, that doesn't seem to matter). Stupid as the policy is, it's still a step above what it modified.

Whenever this subject comes up, I'm reminded of Lenny Bruce (out of date, but still an appropriate analogy). "I like what they do to fags in this country - put them in prison with lots of other men."

Mike is pretty right in describing the mentality but I don't think you can call them "gay" they're just frigging weird.

THS, you bring up an interesting point. There's this mistaken belief that heterosexual men are "afraid" of homosexual men. That's not the case with anyone I know. Men generally don't care who sees them naked, and no man that I know of has so little self-respect that he is afraid that homosexuals exist.

This is why the often used term "homophobia" when used to label anyone who disagrees with the current popular beliefs concerning homosexuality is so rotten. Just because someone disagrees with the modern psychologists (a large percentage of whom are themselves homosexual) who have decreed that homosexuality is normal, doesn't mean that they are afraid of or hate homosexuals. Yet, those that disagree are said to be "afraid" with the implication that if they really confronted homosexuality they might find themselves to be homosexual themselves. It's a passive aggressive attack to stifle dissent.

That's not the case with anyone I know.

You inhabit a different military sphere, Mike. The mid-crew knuckle-draggers covered with hydraulic fluid and airplane grease ~ average Joe from WVa ~ who run their mouths at 4 a.m. haven't read anything you talk about. He could give a shit about Freud and thinks 'latent' is some kind of stretchy material. That's who's girding their loins whilst stalking the streets for the next little girl. 'Gay' really freaks them out ~ all their brains see are feathered San Francisco queens mincing down the barracks passageways. If they knew how many 'gays' they interact with every single day of their military careers, they might not be so...mean.

I don't think those arabic speaking folks count as 'poofters', Mike. I mean, shit, have you every seen how they decorate?

Maybe if the mad bombers stop paving them into highways, we'll see the Arab Nate Berkus or Isaac Mizrahi on "Home Makoever."

Mike R - I have a similar problem with the term "homophobia," especially when I get twitted for using the term "gaydar." I don't see how it's mean to have a little fun with a concept that describes real-world behavior; and what's more, behavior that is (to my mind) more important for a gay man than a straight man. (My gaydar doesn't need to be as good as Nate's or Isaac's in order to find a romantic partner.)

LOL, Bingley!

The funniest story came out of our Lima company. The first sergeant was trying to sleep, and they had somehow gotten some cots this time. The Iraqi army leaders were in the same room with him. During the night the guy in the cot next to him went and brought back one of his soldiers for the night.

What did the first sergeant do? He got a bunch of boxes and stacked them between their cots so he didn't have to watch.

But the story doesn't stop there. He said, "The worst part was when the good looking one kissed the other one on the mouth in the morning."

Of course he never heard the end of it for being able to identify the "good looking" one!

who have decreed that homosexuality is normal

Hmm, I can't say that I've ever heard it called 'normal'. If it was normal, i.e. 'the norm', we'd all be gay, n'est pas? Now if you'd said 'natural', then yes ~ like one of nature's occasional burps, you are born with the mix predetermined for you.

Bwahahaa, Mike! (On a like note, I would have a problem with ANYONE gettiong some in a tent I'm trying to sleep in, male female or Cissaldan. I'm cranky that way. "GET A ROOM" kind of cranky.) major dad said it drove everyone to distraction in Saudi, getting used to the robed ones holding hands all over town and their...fond goodbyes. Cultural thing. ::rolleyes::

And if Diptera channels Kathy Griffin one more time, I'm going to get mean....

If they ever do allow homosexuals in the military fully, we WILL have queens traisping through the barracks.

I think the best thing to come along is the don't ask, don't tell rule. It allows the military to control behavior to ensure it complies with proper martial spirit without going on witch hunts.

(to clarify my reference earlier ~ "How's the Nightlife on Cissalda?")

Oh, you will not. Barracks life won't allow such foolishness by it's very nature. Get too obnoxious on any level and you get thumped. Rule of the jungle down there in the lower echelons, Mike. (Although "Tailhook" could take on new meaning...)

The APA, along with the AMA, several decades ago redefined homosexuality as being a normal condition. I've tried surfing the APA website, but since I'm at work I decided I'd better not look too hard! :)

Note that they didn't say that it was the only normal condition, just that it was normal and not a disease or disorder. I'm pretty sure the word they used was "normal" but it may have been "natural" which is about the same thing.

My brother used to work for the APA and said that they were all nuts.

Which is only natural, or normal, of course.

THS, you seem to think I'm oblivious to what goes on in enlisted spheres. I may be an elitist to you, but I'm not totally unaware of human behavior especially among Marines.

Ahh, in that context then normal makes sense.

Elitests are normal, too, Mike. Look at Bingl...never mind.

The APA, along with the AMA, several decades ago redefined homosexuality as being a normal condition. I've tried surfing the APA website, but since I'm at work I decided I'd better not look too hard! :)

Don't look too hard in the men's room, either, Mike.

Too late.

I don't know Mike I'm inclined to agree with THS. Ever notice two or three Marines going to the movies not sit within two seats of each other if possible? I always found it funny that guys would get all freaked out on gays and denounce them as Sodomites but sure did like those lesbo spreads in Penthouse and the anal sex scenes in the porno flicks they watch. Why they get worked up over the "queens" I understand, they are irksome but it's the guy in the weight room who can bench press the room and is gay they might want to lookout for.

There's this mistaken belief that heterosexual men are "afraid" of homosexual men. That's not the case with anyone I know.

Anecdotal story here, from the Washington Army National Guard.

During one gubernatorial election, one candidate had promised the position of Adjutant General to a Guard officer working on his campaign. This was an incredibly stupid thing to do (for a number of reason, and I suspect it was a major reason why said candidate lost), but somehow the possible TAG candidate's name and agenda came to the attention of the Guard. I knew this guy slightly.

But one of his agenda items was to allow openly gay people into the Washington Guard.

At least one, well thought of officer (who I knew quite well) approached this character to explain to him why that was a bad idea. One of the reasons so stated? Heterosexual males are afraid of homosexual males. A fair number of others in the unit felt the same way. I don't agree with this, but that's the way they felt.

This all happened around the time Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer was in the news. So it wasn't exactly an exception to the behavioral patterns.

I don't know Mike I'm inclined to agree with THS.

Guess somebody wants dinner tonight...

Okay pencil neck you know who the grillmaster is around here. "somebody want's dinner" you say? Always get dinner but she does threaten to hide the Beefeater's. BTW don't they call you Brokeback Bingley?

Kathy Griffin? You should know me better. In this case I guess you're referring to "gaydar," but I've been using the term for some time without knowing its source.

The Clinton legacy slithers onward (and downward).