Behind DISCLOSEd Doors

To the surprise of few, the Democrats' DISCLOSE Act failed to proceed in the Senate, falling short of the needed 60 votes.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) knew the effort to influence this year's elections would fail, but brought it up anyway to further appease the liberal base that the Democratic Leadership has been trying to keep in line since they took over Congress four years ago. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has become an unmatched champion of free speech in the Senate, put it best when he pointed out, "A yes vote on this bill will send a clear message to the American people that their jobs aren't as important as the jobs of embattled Democrat politicians... If the Founding Fathers were here, they'd remind us. They'd hold up the Constitution and remind us of the oath we took to support and defend it."

While last night was a victory for those who believe in the First Amendment, there is little doubt that President Obama and Sen. Reid will try to bring up the legislation again and again before the November elections in their attempt to silence their opponents.  One day they may finally learn--the more they try to shut us up, the louder those of us who believe in democracy will get.

Defense Authorization Bill: Question of the Day

If Congress acts to overturn the ban on open homosexuals serving in the military, how could this impact recruitment?  Watch today's video clip with Sergeant First Class Benjamin Ratcliff (U.S. Army, Ret.) for his first-hand experience as a recruiter and his discussion of the challenges this policy change may create.

Q: "What might be the impact on recruiting should Congress overturn the current ban on open homosexuals serving in the military?"

The all-volunteer force will likely face tougher recruiting. Last year, the Pentagon met 103 percent of its fiscal year recruiting goal in part because of high unemployment and generous enlistment bonuses.   But the pool of eligible candidates is shrinking, because nearly three-quarters of today's high school graduates go on to college, compared to 50 percent in the 1980s. Other factors such as obesity, which affects one-in-four American youth, make finding fully qualified recruits difficult.   Repeal the homosexual ban and there will be some candidates, with the encouragement of significant others like parents, who remove themselves from the military's pool of eligible candidates. Conversely, there is no evidence that qualified homosexuals--a fraction, barely two percent of the American public--will flood into the military to make up any shortfall.

Judge Deserves a Doctorate in Indoctrination

Yesterday we wrote about a lawsuit filed against Georgia's Augusta State University by a counseling student, who was told she must submit to a program of indoctrination to change her disapproval of homosexual conduct.   The piece was written before we received word that a decision had been handed down in a similar case in Michigan, Ward v. Wilbanks, about a student who was dismissed from the counseling program at Eastern Michigan University for attempting to refer a homosexual client to another counselor because she could not affirm the client's homosexual behavior.

The record clearly showed that such referrals based on "value conflicts" are a legitimate part of counseling practice.   Yet U.S. District Court Judge George Carem Steeh ruled that the blatant violation of Julea Ward's freedom of speech and of religion constituted "an integral part of the curriculum." Alliance Defense Fund has announced their intention to appeal this misguided ruling.