Thursday, March 18, 2010

From JMG: Gen. John Sheehan: The Bosnian Genocide Happened Because Of Gay Soldiers

Retired Gen. John Sheehan testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, claiming that openly gay soldiers in the Dutch military were partially responsible for the failure of the NATO peacekeeping action in Bosnia, a failure which resulted in the genocide of thousands of Muslims.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, pressed him to clarify his comments about Srebrenica. "Did the Dutch leaders tell you it (the fall of Srebrenica) was because there were gay soldiers there?" asked an incredulous Senator Levin. "Yes," Gen Sheehan said and added: "They included that as part of the problem." Gen Sheehan, who retired from the military in 1997, said he had been told that by the former chief of staff of the Dutch army. Senator Levin vehemently rejected Gen Sheehan's allegation, saying that drawing a connection between the massacre at Srebrenica and gays in the Dutch military was "totally off-target". The failure of the Dutch UN troops to fend off an attack by Bosnian Serb forces had "nothing to do with sexual orientation" but was related to "their training and the rules of engagement", Senator Levin said. Nearly 8000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed after Serb forces captured the eastern town on July 11, 1995, in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

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posted by Joe

From JMG

The HRC Wants You To Know Their Side

Concerned about the "Lt. Dan Choi Kanye'd the HRC" story being reported on some blogs (including this one), the HRC has posted the following elaboration of their earlier comment.
Singer Tom Goss kicked off the event followed by the first American wounded in the Iraq war, retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva. Also speaking were Ben Mishkin of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Alex Nicholson of Servicemembers United. Finally, Kathy Griffin took to the stage, talking about her experiences this week in Washington, welcoming Lt. Dan Choi to the stage to make a few remarks and then calling for a moment of silence to honor our troops who serve in silence.

There’s been some confusion about Lt. Dan Choi’s role in the rally. As Joe Solmonese was walking to the stage, Lt. Choi asked Joe if he could have a speaking role. Joe explained that it wasn’t his sole decision to make on the spot given that there was already an established program that included Kathy Griffin, other organization and veterans. After Choi then spoke with Kathy Griffin, she agreed to bring him up on stage and speak to the crowd during her remarks.
So basically, it appears that it was Kathy Griffin who made the call to override Joe Solmonese and bring Choi to the podium. Good for her. I have to wonder why a DADT protest in the nation's capital wouldn't have included the nation's most famous and well-spoken gay veteran in the first place. (Not to disparage Sgt. Eric Alva in the least, whom I think is fantastic.)

UPDATE: John Aravosis at AmericaBlog says the HRC statement is "utterly untrue."
That is simply untrue. I was there, standing next to Dan, about 10 feet from Kathy Griffin and Solmonese. They were behind a rope line, to keep them from the rally attendees. They looked over at Dan when he asked them, for the second time, to come with him to the White House (mind you, they had no idea that he was planning to handcuff himself), and they just stared back at him. They were not helping engage the rally about how to build pressure - the rally was over, they were already off the stage, behind it actually, getting ready to leave behind a secure rope line to separate them from the crowd. I'm sorry, but this statement is flat out untrue. They were getting their photos taken. Unbelievable.
UPDATE II: It looks like Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo will be spending the night in jail.

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another repost from JMG

From JMG

Ranker's Top Ten Anti-Gay Activists Caught In The Act Of Being Gay

Ranker.com has posted their list of the top ten anti-gay activists who've been caught in the act of being gay. Go to the site for photos and how each were caught. Here's their list of self-haters, all of whom have been exhaustively covered on this here website thingy.

1. Troy King
2. Jim West
3. Richard Curtis
4. Bruce Barclay
5. Roy Ashburn
6. Larry Craig
7. Ed Schrock
8. Robert Allen
9. Ted Haggard
10. Mark Foley

List-topper Troy King's story was hilarious, but my personal favorite remains Richard Curtis' night of shame.

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reposted from JMG

FRom JMG: Joy Behar At The GLAAD Awards

GLAAD is trickling out the video clips from Saturday's Media Awards in NYC. This one is pretty good for Joy Behar's digs at Barbara Walters, Eric Massa, Sarah Palin, and John McCain. Joy also gives credit for her success to the gay clubs in the West Village. NSFW for Joy's potty mouth.

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a repost from JMG