[QUOTE=jayjay]
Also, the armed forces, as a body, are officially politically neutral (well, were politically neutral). But because the military is a self-selecting cohort since the ending of the draft, and rural areas (which are generally more conservative) have contributed by far the largest percentage of volunteers, the individual members have skewed right-wing. This has recently begun to change, but it’s still nowhere near parity.
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How did the Army react to racial integration? D’ya think those Southern infantry boys were really all that partial to “niggers” in 1950? I’m guessing not.
Clinton caved, while granting that the actions of Colin Powell, America’s most respected poltroon, were utterly deplortable and torpedoed any chance of a quiet success. Nevertheless, the principled stance would have been to impose the policy with the message that if you don’t like it, hand in your uniform and get the fuck out.
I was in the Canadian Forces in the early 90s when the same policy was changed. When I joined in 1989, the Forces did not allow homosexuals to serve and hatred of homosexuals was quite open and officially accepted. The Canadian armed forces was every bit as stridently, nastily homophobic as the U.S. armed services is today, or was in 1993. When the order came down in (I believe) 1992 to complete abandon this position, it was unequivocal; This is the new rule, and if you don’t like it we invite to you find work in the civilian sector. Here’s the new rule and there’s the door. End of story. There was muttering and grumbling for a few months and that was it. No mutiny. It’s really quite amazing how fast people’s attitudes will change - or at least be suppressed - when you apply the “this is the new reality and we’re not fucking around here” approach.