# What did McCains remarks mean re DADT-elites-sacrifice... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 19, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693 "2010-12-19T07:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/1 "2010-12-19T07:03:41Z")
What is he [saying](http://whitenoiseinsanity.com/2010/12/18/rational-americans-to-john-mccain-after-dadt-was-repealed-go-phuck-yourself/), exactly? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/2 "2010-12-19T07:43:38Z")
English is not my first language. What does it mean that “there will be gold stars put up in windows”? What I got of it is: DADT is going to be repealed. Those snooty liberals who are completely foreign to the military will be thrilled about it. People who are part of the military know there will be problems with the repeal of DADT. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/3 "2010-12-19T08:06:59Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > English is not my first language. I’m beginning to wonder if McCain can say the same. [QUOTE=MichaelEmouse] What does it mean that “there will be gold stars put up in windows”? [/QUOTE] A Gold Star family- a phrase that goes back at least as far as WW2- is a family that’s lost a member in active duty. Evidently McCain either thinks there are no Gold Star families who have either 1- Lost gay members of their family in combat 2- Greatly gave a damn whether or not somebody their dead son or daughter was serving with may or may not have been gay 3- Lost a member of their family in combat and support the repeal of DADT anyway since it’s completely unrelated to losing a family member > [@MichaelEMouse](#): > > What I got of it is: DADT is going to be repealed. Those snooty liberals who are completely foreign to the military will be thrilled about it. People who are part of the military know there will be problems with the repeal of DADT. That’s pretty much it, except for the part about shamelessly exploiting dead servicemen and servicewomen as if their deaths are somehow connected to DADT and as if their families are all good salt of the Earth groupthink who view queers in uniform as the next worst thing to a dead child. It’s absolutely disgusting. Everytime I think McCain, who I always thought was slicker than owl shit but did once have some respect for, could sink no lower he surprises me. What a putrid disgusting stinking repugnant ulcerous sack of partisan pus he has become. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/4 "2010-12-19T08:12:09Z")
Apparently, Mr. McCain believes that the repeal of DADT is somehow going to cause service members to die: [answers.com link](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_did_gold_stars_in_windows_mean_during_World_War_2) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/5 "2010-12-19T08:25:38Z")
Addendum: Full transcript of McCain’s comments in that clip > [@](#): > > I’m aware that this bill will probably pass today in a lame duck session, and there will be high fives all over the liberal bastions of America, and we’ll see (on) the talk shows tomorrow, a bunch of people talking about how great it is. Most of them have never served in the military or maybe not even known someone in the military. And you know, we’ll repeal it, and all over America there’ll be gold stars put up in the windows in the rural towns and communities all over America that don’t partake in the elite schools that bar military recruiters from campus, that don’t partake in the salons of Georgetown and the other liberal bastions here around the country but there will be additional sacrifice. I hear that from Master Sergeants, I hear that from junior officers, I hear that from leaders. Yeah, the “real” America you know. People in NYC and Chicago and Miami and L.A. aren’t patriotic to begin with, and there’s hardly a liberal out there who has friends or family or loved ones in service. But good ol’ Honest John McCain is like you, just plain folks, who didn’t have the advantages of the elitists but worked his way up from being just the son of another Admiral and oil heiress, but with hard work and discipline graduated ahead of 5 other people in his class of 900 at Annapolis and then demonstrated his belief in the integrity of marriage in his own unique way by setting his first wife free. (Okay, he was a spoiled brat son of privilege who slacked off in school and in the military and womanized and then left the woman who stood by him for a younger healthier one, but that’s okay because he was a POW.) I have come to like and respect Sarah Palin more than I do McCain (and I’ve met iguanas I like and respect more Sarah Palin). She’s an on-the-make bullshit artist but at least I think she’s sane and not a complete joke and political Norma Desmond with delusions of his own relevance and a soul that’s been sold so often the SoulFax listing is still six owners behind. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/6 "2010-12-19T09:05:06Z")
I honestly can’t think of another politician for whom I’ve lost so much respect. Hope it was worth it, Mr. McCain. /“Librul”, but respected the guy back in 2000. Respected him in 2008 until the VP selection. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/7 "2010-12-19T09:15:11Z")
WTF is he blathering on about - > [@](#): > > I’m aware that this bill will probably pass today in a lame duck session, and there will be high fives all over the liberal bastions of America, and we’ll see (on) the talk shows tomorrow, a bunch of people talking about how great it is. Most of them have never served in the military or maybe not even known someone in the military. And you know, we’ll repeal it, and all over America there’ll be gold stars put up in the windows in the rural towns and communities all over America that don’t partake in the elite schools that bar military recruiters from campus, that don’t partake in the salons of Georgetown and the other liberal bastions here around the country but there will be additional sacrifice. I hear that from Master Sergeants, I hear that from junior officers, I hear that from leaders. Damned near every service member I know doesn’t give a rats ass about the sexual orientation of their co-workers, they just care that they get the damned job done. There are a small percent of rabid homophobes, just like any other walk of society. It is long past time that people stop trying to legislate sexuality and judge people on if they are effective in their jobs or not. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/8 "2010-12-19T09:23:28Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Addendum: > > Full transcript of McCain’s comments in that clip > > Yeah, the “real” America you know. People in NYC and Chicago and Miami and L.A. aren’t patriotic to begin with, and there’s hardly a liberal out there who has friends or family or loved ones in service. But good ol’ Honest John McCain is like you, just plain folks, who didn’t have the advantages of the elitists but worked his way up from being just the son of another Admiral and oil heiress, but with hard work and discipline graduated ahead of 5 other people in his class of 900 at Annapolis and then demonstrated his belief in the integrity of marriage in his own unique way by setting his first wife free. (Okay, he was a spoiled brat son of privilege who slacked off in school and in the military and womanized and then left the woman who stood by him for a younger healthier one, but that’s okay because he was a POW.) You aren’t being fair to McCain, he also managed to crash several planes. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/9 "2010-12-19T09:56:47Z")
I understood that he wasn’t happy, but I’m still puzzled as to the exact inference. It seems beyond belief that he would think that gays in the military would lead to deaths! HOW? Didn’t McCain support the repeal of DADT once upon a time? ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/10 "2010-12-19T12:18:57Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I understood that he wasn’t happy, but I’m still puzzled as to the exact inference. It seems beyond belief that he would think that gays in the military would lead to deaths! HOW? It is confusing. He seems to be arguing that either openly gay or lesbian service members are going to somehow cause the deaths of other service members or potentially even that other service members are going to cause the deaths of openly gay or lesbian service members. If he truly believed that, then he should have been arguing for a complete ban on homosexuals in the military rather than support DADT, if homosexuals were that much of a deadly threat. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/11 "2010-12-19T12:23:46Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I understood that he wasn’t happy, but I’m still puzzled as to the exact inference. It seems beyond belief that he would think that gays in the military would lead to deaths! HOW? When gays soldiers come out of the closet, the remaining homophobes will fall on their own bayonettes rather than knowingly shower with a queer. That’s my interpretation. Win-win. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/12 "2010-12-19T12:23:59Z")
It has been explained to me that IF you have two gay lovers in the same \ and IF that unit is engaged in combat, one of the two gay lovers WILL desert his position to rush to the aid/defense of his lover thereby abandoning his comrades and leaving a gap in our defensive line that will certainly be exploited by the enemy and that exploitation will definitely lead to the total destruction of our way of life. I mean, come on, I knew a horseshoe nail was all important but I had no idea two gay lovers could cause the loss of a kingdom. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/13 "2010-12-19T13:30:25Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > It has been explained to me that IF you have two gay lovers in the same \ and IF that unit is engaged in combat, one of the two gay lovers WILL desert his position to rush to the aid/defense of his lover thereby abandoning his comrades and leaving a gap in our defensive line that will certainly be exploited by the enemy and that exploitation will definitely lead to the total destruction of our way of life. > > I mean, come on, I knew a horseshoe nail was all important but I had no idea two gay lovers could cause the loss of a kingdom. ?! As opposed to the army thing of 'battle buddies" which can apparently be a fery close relationship… How about the original [Sacred Band,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes) which kicked some serious arse for quite some time. The whole argument is stupid. Until someone who is part of a couple does it, don’t worry. Once it happens, take it on a case by case basis. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/14 "2010-12-19T14:09:18Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > It has been explained to me that IF you have two gay lovers in the same \ and IF that unit is engaged in combat, one of the two gay lovers WILL desert his position to rush to the aid/defense of his lover thereby abandoning his comrades and leaving a gap in our defensive line that will certainly be exploited by the enemy and that exploitation will definitely lead to the total destruction of our way of life. > > I mean, come on, I knew a horseshoe nail was all important but I had no idea two gay lovers could cause the loss of a kingdom. You could use this exact argument to say why women shouldn’t be in the military too. As soon as the girl gets hit (or her boyfriend) she rushes in, and then next thing you know… And you see what happened when we let \*them \* in the military! One little skirmish and the Army as we know it was completely destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/15 "2010-12-19T14:57:59Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > You could use this exact argument to say why women shouldn’t be in the military too. As soon as the girl gets hit (or her boyfriend) she rushes in, and then next thing you know… . She might break a nail? LOL ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/16 "2010-12-19T16:19:28Z")
The man is clearly in the throes of dementia. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/17 "2010-12-19T17:11:26Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > You aren’t being fair to McCain, he also managed to crash several planes. And burn down a whole aircraft carrier! (Okay, I know it wasn’t his fault, but I’m just sayin’ if I were assigned him as a roommate I’d see if I couldn’t trade. Might be healthier.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/18 "2010-12-19T17:29:24Z")
His assumption is that the change will cause more US soldiers to die. As opposed to kicking out Arabic translators who might be able to provide intelligence about attacks because they’re gay. That current policy evidently saved lives or something. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/19 "2010-12-19T17:48:42Z")
Guns don’t kill people, homos do. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693/20 "2010-12-19T17:54:28Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > It seems beyond belief that he would think that gays in the military would lead to deaths! HOW? He fears they’ll blow the mission. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-mccains-remarks-mean-re-dadt-elites-sacrifice/564693.md?page=2)