This morning while on the Political Buzz panel for CNN we discussed the reported “booing” of the gay soldier who asked about DADT at last night’s debate. Considering the amount of print devoted to painting the entire crowd out to be bloodthirsty haters with zero regard for military service, it’s no wonder that it would become a question the next day.
Unfortunately for the progressives writing the spin (who forget that it was their idol Bill Clinton who enacted DADT in the first place), the entire story of the debate audience booing is a lie.
Sara Rumpf was in the debate audience and what she witnessed was vastly different than the account the outlets linked above are reporting:
I want to put this on the record now about an incident that happened at tonight’s Republican debate. It’s important that the truth is shared, because I have already seen liberal bloggers and some people on Twitter completely distorting what happened.
The debate included video questions that were submitted on YouTube, and one came from a soldier serving in Iraq who is gay and asked about the candidates’ opinions on don’t ask don’t tell. There was audible booing after his question…however, please note that it was not the crowd booing. It was only one or two people.
Frankly, I don’t care where you stand on DADT, you don’t boo a soldier in the battlefield, period. The audience at last night’s debate believe this which is why they verbally took apart the men who yelled. Conservatives police their side.
If progressives want to talk about bigotry, let’s talk about the unfiltered racist hatred they dumped on Twitter the night Troy Davis was delivered justice. Look at Michelle Malkin’s Twitter stream for that. I’m waiting for progressives to clean up their house.
Dear Dana, they DID boo the soldier, you lying moron! And no, Conservatives do NOT police their side.
SANTORUM: The fact that they’re making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we’re going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege and removing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I think tries to inject social policy into the military and the military’s job is to do one thing — and that is to defend our country. We need to give the military, which is all volunteer, the ability to do so…and I believe this undermines that ability.
KELLY: So what would you do with soliders like Steven Hill. Now he’s out…so what would you do as president?
SANTORUM: Look, what we’re doing is playing social experimentation with our military right now and that’s tragic. I would just say that going forward, we would reinstitute that policy if Rick Santorum was president. Period. That policy would be reinstituted and as far as people in, I would not throw them out because that would be unfair to them because of the policy of this administration, but we would move forward in conformity to what was happening in the past, which is — sex is not an issue. It should not be an issue. Leave it alone. Keep it to yourself — whether your’re heterosexual or homosexual.
From the 09.22.2011 edition of FNC's Fox/Google Debate:
(Washington, D.C.) – “Tonight, Rick Santorum disrespected our brave men and women in uniform, and he owes Stephen Hill, the gay soldier who asked him the question about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, an immediate apology.
“That brave gay soldier is doing something Rick Santorum has never done – put his life on the line to defend our freedoms and our way of life. It is telling that Rick Santorum is so blinded by his anti-gay bigotry that he couldn’t even bring himself to thank that gay soldier for his service.
Last night, Stephen Hill, who is serving in the Army in Iraq, had the courage to come out as gay to a national audience and ask the Republican presidential candidates about how they’d handle troops like him. The audience responded to his question with boos, and Rick Santorum said he’s reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (a promise he doubled down on later in the evening).
The big question today, even among conservatives, is: Why did none of the candidates stand up for the soldier? Here are some of today’s reactions to the offensive moment.
So people like Loesch, Santorum, and the GOP will lie about anything to get their homophobic agenda out.
UPDATED: On Fixed Noise's America Live w/ Megyn Kelly, Rick Santorum claims "he didn't hear any boos".
From the 09.23.2011 edition of FNC's America Live w/ Megyn Kelly:
Dana Loesch was on tonight's Joy Behar and was worried about getting her tax cuts for the rich more than getting our openly Gay troops to serve honestly. Ron Reagan was spot on with his arguments.
Loesch defended DADT's policy and made homophobic excuses to defend the policy and to deny openly LGBT troops the right to serve, much like I'd expect with Dana The Diva's rival, Dr. Gina Loudon. She loves to play the "Will Of The [Conservative] People" card when it suits her, such as the Health Care Reform and the Park51 building. Dana, I have news for you, the ACTUAL "Will Of The People" and about 7/10ths to 3/4thsof the active Military service members support DADT's repeal.
From the 12.16.2010 edition of HLN's The Joy Behar Show.
Transcript:
BEHAR: "Don`t ask, don`t tell" the controversial law banning gays from openly serving in the military could soon be a thing of the past -- I hope. The House voted yesterday to repeal it and now it is in the Senate`s hands. Some Republicans there have changed their minds to support the repeal but will that be enough?
Here now to discuss this and more are political commentator Ron Reagan and Dana Loesch, editor of bigjournalism.com and radio host on KFT 97.1 FM.
You know, I`m sorry I say Reagan. I get confused.
RON REAGAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is a difficult name.
BEHAR: There was a Don Regan. There is a Ronald Reagan. There`s a Ron Reagan.
REAGAN: We used to be Reagans. We used to actually -- back in Ireland we were the O`Reagans.
BEHAR: See, I just went back to Ireland for a second there.
REAGAN: Yes.
BEHAR: So, Ron, the Senate is going to vote to repeal DADT?
REAGAN: We hope so. Now, Harry Reid says he is going to allow this to come up for a vote. We really have to watch to see whether he schedules a vote and whether that vote is scheduled before Christmas.
If he waits until after Christmas, which the Republicans would like him to do, it`s possible that some Democrats could not come home from Christmas vacation or come back to Washington from Christmas vacation and you`d lose votes. We`re at 60 right now, apparently, with four Republicans now onboard or three Republicans and Blanche Lincoln now back in the senate.
BEHAR: That would be Senators Snowe, Brown, and Murkowski?
REAGAN: Right, exactly. Exactly. So, you know, if Reid can schedule a vote now the votes seem to be there; 60 votes for the repeal.
BEHAR: Yes.
REAGAN: But it`s all about the timing.
BEHAR: Ok. Dana, now, why are most Republicans not willing to appeal it, despite the polls showing almost 8 in 10 Americans support gays openly serving in the military? Why can`t they just do it?
DANA LOESCH, BIG JOURNALISM.COM: I think right now, Joy, it`s not so much as substance but looking at this from a procedural point of view.
And that you have to remember Republicans back before the lame duck session started they said, look. These are some of the things that we need to have done. The tax extension -- the tax rate extension must be passed before we start considering other pieces of legislation. So if they flinch at all it`s going to look very bad in public relations terms for the GOP.
I think that they`re just looking at it as to what is immediately going to impact people after the first of the year.
REAGAN: They`re playing all sorts of games, Joy. Jim DeMint wants the entire 1900-page omnibus spending bill read aloud.
LOESCH: Why not? They haven`t read it. They haven`t read it.
REAGAN: I think it`s probably they don`t need to read it.
(CROSSTALK)
LOESCH: Ron, are you telling me that they don`t need to read legislation before they pass it?
(CROSSTALK)
REAGAN: Do you think that senators actually read 1900-page bills, Dana? You really think that they do?
LOESCH: Well, they ought to.
(CROSSTALK)
REAGAN: Ordinarily? Do you really think that Jim DeMint wants to educate the senate by having this bill read or do you think he is trying to push things back into the next term?
LOESCH: No, no, no. So you support passing a trillion dollar legislation without reading it?
BEHAR: Cut.
REAGAN: Yes. In this case.
BEHAR: Ok. What about Senator McCain? Who is he pandering to, Dana?
LOESCH: McCain, I don`t -- I don`t really try to pretend even to want to get into John McCain`s mind. He is not one of my favorite people on earth.
BEHAR: Why not?
LOESCH: Well, I haven`t been very impressed with his big RINO record. I think that a lot of the stuff that he does is pretty much just advantageous. He is not one of my favorite Republicans.
BEHAR: Is he not conservative enough for you?
LOESCH: No, he`s never been conservative enough for me.
BEHAR: Well, he is on this topic. Even though, you know, Defense Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen support repealing, he still doesn`t want to appeal it. He should know better.
LOESCH: Well, then again, too, Joy, I look at it like this. Personally, "don`t ask, don`t tell", when I look at what this is, what the military should be, when you go into the military when you volunteer to be a part of the military, individuality ceases to have any significance once you join the military.
It does -- nobody cares or should care what your sexual orientation is. They shouldn`t care what music you like, what your favorite food is, nobody gives a crap. People need to get over self-importance.
REAGAN: But apparently they do.
BEHAR: To me it`s bad policy. I mean I was reading that dozens of Arabic translators were kicked out of the military because they were gay. That`s really stupid. That is just stupid and dangerous.
REAGAN: It is. What is amazing is to recognize the low opinion the people who support "don`t ask don`t tell" appear to have of our fighting men and women. You would really think that the people in the Marines, if you listen to General Amos, are all a bunch of juvenile bigots, that they can`t handle the stress of having a gay person or a gay man or lesbian anywhere near them.
LOESCH: Well, that`s not -- that`s not the perspective that I hear.
REAGAN: Well, it`s the perspective I hear.
LOESCH: What I hear from people and just on my show today I had a ton of veterans who called in from all branches of the service and they were saying, look. We don`t care. We served with gay people. Gays have served before "don`t ask don`t tell" which I don`t know why Democrats put it into effect in the first place.
REAGAN: I don`t either.
LOESCH: But they`re freaking out trying to get it out of the way.
REAGAN: Yes, I don`t know.
BEHAR: That was a bad idea.
LOESCH: Gays will serve after "don`t ask don`t tell".
The point that I heard from every single veteran who called into my show today was, look, the most important thing is, can you serve? Can you serve? Can you serve well?
REAGAN: Exactly.
LOESCH: We don`t care what you are. Quit putting the focus on individuality. It`s all about breaking a person down, rebuilding them up to be a part of a cohesive unit.
REAGAN: That`s what I`m saying Dana.
BEHAR: But it`s they`re out -- if people find out you`re gay, you lose your job. It`s a job, too, you know.
LOESCH: It is a job, too. But also, infidelity is illegal. You can get court-martialed if you cheat on your wife in the military. There are a lot of things in the military.
BEHAR: This is different. This is about who you are. It is very difficult I think to be in the closet all day and all night constantly. It is very unfair.
REAGAN: Well, it also forces people to lie, which would seem to be against, you know, military ethics.
BEHAR: One would think.
REAGAN: Yes. One would think. But again, Dana was making my point. I don`t think our military personnel, our fighting men and women if you will are all, really (INAUDIBLE), as Sarah Palin might say, about serving alongside gay people. They know they already do. It is just some of the people that are fighting this repeal who seem to think that they`re such juvenile bigots that they can`t handle it.
BEHAR: Let me ask you something, Ron. Yes, Ron.
REAGAN: Yes.
BEHAR: President Obama released this statement. "We must ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally by their country."
If this gets repealed do you give any credit to the President or do you blame him for taking so long?
REAGAN: Well, I don`t think he got out in front of this parade if you will. He may have made a political calculation in that, though, that if he did get out in front too much on this that the Republicans would get even more obstructionist about it, would dig in their heels even more about "don`t ask, don`t tell" because they would see it as a signature issue for him and of course they want to stop anything that he`s going to do.
So he may have made that political judgment. I`m not sure. I don`t know what --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: The Tea Party seems to be all about the will of the people. Well, this is the will of the people. It`s time to move on from this. Don`t you think, Dana?
I`ve got to go. Thank you guys very much.
REAGAN: You bet.
BEHAR: We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
== Last night on Anderson Cooper 360, Paul Begala and Loesch were on, and you guessed it, making excuses for supporting the Republican Party's obstructionist tactics while claiming to despise all political parties.
Transcript:
I spoke about -- about repealing don't ask, don't tell, as well as the congressional work ethic, earlier tonight with Democratic strategist Paul Begala and Dana Loesch, editor over at BigJournalism.com and host of KFTK Radio in Saint Louis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Paul, we just heard Senator Lieberman sounding very optimistic about the chances for repeal. But, obviously, he and other supporters sounded optimistic before last week's vote as well. How confident are you about the -- the chances now?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, it's -- it's usually a safe bet that things die in the Senate. That's been the pattern for many years now.
But, you know, Senator Lieberman's been working this issue hard. I'm impressed that Senator Snowe has come out in favor of it. I -- I -- President Obama, I know, called her last week and personally lobbied her on this. So -- so, with her addition -- the don't ask, don't tell repeal lost by three the last time around. So, she comes around.
So, now the supporters only need two more. Well, Lisa Murkowski, the senator from Alaska, Republican, has said she supports repeal. Scott Brown, the senator from Massachusetts, Republican, he supports repeal. Blanche Lincoln, the Democratic senator, outgoing, but the still the senator, from Arkansas, she supports repeal, but was at the dentist when they cast the vote.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: Right. She was at a dentist last time.
BEGALA: So you could pick up -- and maybe even Joe Manchin, the new Democratic senator from West Virginia. So you just need two out of those four. It's getting awfully close. So, forgive me for being a little optimistic.
COOPER: Dana, what do you make about the brouhaha over schedules, people's schedules? I mean, basically, you know, there's -- there's more than a week until Christmas. I'm working today. You're working today. Most of the country is working today.
You know, firefighters, policemen, people who have really important jobs, work on Christmas Day, work on Christmas Eve. Are senators' complaints making any sense here about -- you know, about -- I mean, is this really the kind of argument that's going to fly with most Americans, that they don't want to work up until Christmas?
DANA LOESCH, EDITOR, BIGJOURNALISM.COM: Yes, I don't think so, Anderson.
I have no sympathy for elected officials. They knew what they were signing on for when they decided to run for elected office and when they were campaigning. They're in it for the long haul. This is about the future of the country. There's a lot of huge things at stake here.
And it's not like they're on the street in the cold in Washington, D.C., under a cardboard box. They're -- they're in -- they're in the Capitol Building. They have nice accommodations. So, I don't feel -- I don't feel sorry for them at all.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: Paul, any time, like, I complain about my job or listen to these people on Capitol Hill complain...
BEGALA: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: ... about their jobs, like, you know, there are folks working in coal mines around the clock. There's, you know, people working all night long in bakeries, you know, and, as Dana said, delivering newspapers out in the cold. It just -- it kind of makes my head explode.
BEGALA: Well, and, in fact, this is -- you know, it's Senator Kyl of Arizona, Republican, who's like the chief whiner about this.
And Senator Kyl and all of his Republican colleagues are the guys who blocked even debating the 9/11 health care bill. I mean, this is for -- there's 58,000 men and women who inhaled -- frankly, inhaled the pulverized particles of the World Trade Center. Many of them are ill. They need health care. It's a national priority.
The Republicans filibustered against that. I guess that's in keeping with the Christmas season, as Senator Kyl is very concerned about offending his -- his Christmas celebrations. Of course, Jesus would have wanted those 9/11 first-responders to not get any health care.
LOESCH: Oh, come on. I have heard... BEGALA: And let's -- let's kill the nuclear...
LOESCH: I have heard Harry Reid invoke Christ: What would Jesus spend? I already heard him talk about Christ on the floor earlier.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: This was the Republican talking point. See, they're saying that, if the senators have to work, somehow, that offends Jesus. So, they're going to -- they're going to...
LOESCH: That's not all Republicans' talking point.
BEGALA: They want to go home -- yes, that's...
LOESCH: Paul...
BEGALA: It's the Republicans who are saying this. They want to go home because Jesus would want...
LOESCH: We would not in this position. Democrats had two years. What were they doing, twiddling their thumbs?
BEGALA: What they were doing was...
LOESCH: I mean, come on, we wouldn't even be having this decision -- this discussion...
BEGALA: What they were doing was...
LOESCH: ... if they had been doing something.
BEGALA: What they were -- what they have been -- this is like -- Lincoln told a story about the man who murdered his parents and then threw himself on the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: The Republicans caused this. They delayed, delayed, and delayed. And this -- now they want to invoke Jesus because it will offend Jesus if we have like a nuclear arms treaty. Jesus, hey, he loved nuclear weapons. Jesus would want us to not control nuclear arms with the Russians. It's nuts.
COOPER: I just think, in a day and age where you have, you know, tens of thousands of U.S. forces serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, for people to be complaining about their work schedule, for public officials to be complaining about their work schedule, just boggles my mind.
LOESCH: No, I...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But -- but, Paul, realistically, though, time is running short. There is a whole lot left on the Senate's plate. Even if they work every available minute, can they wrap up their -- their -- their lame-duck agenda?
BEGALA: The problem is, the majority doesn't rule in the Senate. The Senate is supposed to be deliberative and slow and difficult.
But it also -- and I have checked the Constitution -- it's supposed to run on a majority, not 60...
LOESCH: Yes.
BEGALA: ... 50.
And the Democrats have tried in good faith to bring up this legislation. The Republicans have, using the filibuster rule, which only used to be used once or twice a year...
(CROSSTALK)
LOESCH: It used to be 67 votes, instead of 60. And it was a Democrat who changed it.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: They even filibustered -- they even filibustered the -- the -- the help for these 9/11 first-responder responders. They will filibuster anything in order to get their tax cuts for the rich.
And that seems to be their one agenda.
LOESCH: Oh, don't even go down the "tax cuts for the rich" road, Paul.
BEGALA: ... which, of course, in the Christmas season, again to come back to the baby Jesus...
(CROSSTALK)
LOESCH: Come on.
BEGALA: No, Jesus said...
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Didn't he say it's more difficult...
LOESCH: What would Jesus spend?
BEGALA: ... for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a poor person to get a tax break...
(CROSSTALK)
LOESCH: You know what? That's -- that's -- that's the little-known 11th Commandment.
BEGALA: Yes. No, it's just silly.
LOESCH: Paul, did you know that? That's the little-known 11th Commandment. It was written on the side margin of the tablets that Moses had.
(LAUGHTER)
LOESCH: Thou shalt not pimp Jesus for the sake of an argument.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LOESCH: Nobody -- nobody -- because it was written on the side, because there wasn't enough room, nobody remembers that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: I'm simply -- I'm picking up the motif the Republicans have given us. Senator Kyl has said that...
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: ... somehow, it's going to offend the baby Jesus if these guys have to work over the holiday. And I -- I just don't -- I have been talking to Jesus about it. I haven't heard back from him, but...
LOESCH: Harry Reid said that: Do it for Jesus.
BEGALA: No.
LOESCH: Pass the big porker omnibus bill for Jesus. What would Jesus spend?
COOPER: Wow.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: I haven't heard Jesus mentioned so much in a political debate in quite some while...
