Machiavelli got it right.
“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”
In this nation, where we allegedly have a government of the people, by the people, for the people, the people looked awfully stupid Tuesday.
Senate Republicans, spearheaded by John McCain (R-Ariz.), blocked the Senate from debating H.R. 5136, better known as the Defense Authorization Act, effectively stopping the push to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in its tracks.
Like neatly ordered dominos, Republican senators targeted by Democrats to help break the filibuster fell one by one. First it was Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), then Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.). Then a triple team of Sens. Shelby (R-Ala.), Thune (R-S.D.) and Alexander (R-Tenn.) whipped Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) back into shape. Even Lady Gaga’s rally in Maine, an odd but noble attempt to wrestle the heavyweight title of pop-star activist from Bono, failed to sway the two senators from Maine. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) stood dumbfounded, unable to recall “when there’s been a filibuster against getting to the defense authorization bill.”
And that’s because it’s never happened before. And the Senate has never failed to move to debate on the Defense Authorization Act because it’s simply dangerous. This delay means that our government’s money will sit untouched until after the midterm elections. That money would have gone to buy fighter jets, missiles, bullets and body armor. That money would have allowed the military to improve its bases and its hospitals. That money would have helped provide more psychological services for our servicemen and women. That money would have improved the quality of life of those who have chosen to make the greatest sacrifice in name of country, liberty and our right to do use parliamentary procedure to delay moving the Defense Authorization Act to debate.
Yes, there are unaddressed issues with repealing DADT. Depending on which poll you prefer, either 70 or 80 percent of the American public support repealing the ban on gays in the military. But it’s a much different narrative inside the barracks. A high-ranking Marine commander stationed in Baghdad sincerely believes that eliminating DADT will hurt combat readiness and decrease recruiting standards.
“Having openly gay people in the military will hurt unit cohesion,” the Marine said. “Gays will be a significant minority and discrimination will be rampant. The military is not a place for social experiments.”
While this Marine doesn’t necessarily further the stereotype of the military as the worst of crude college fraternities and profane locker-room machismo, his words confirm that the disconnect between the military community and the rest of Americans is real. Other examples from some of our Western counterparts offer promise that our military will catch up with society. All member nations of the European Union, minus Greece, reversed their policies barring openly gay men from serving without any major disruptions in military operations or loss of personnel.
Right now, we sit ignominiously next to China, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and Iran (and a few other human rights delinquents) on the list of countries that bars gays from serving in the military.
But only the Senate can transform an issue deserving of serious debate into a sordid game of Roulette – compromise is obscured by the sound and fury of the campaign season, the potential electoral payoff huge, but the players betting straight up against impossible odds. Tuesday’s defeat is by no means a mortal wound to Senators fighting to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” There will be another chance, another role of the dice for them. Maybe when some of their colleagues’ professional lives are no longer at stake, maybe then reason will rally to defeat these partisan Maginot lines to progress.
Machiavelli said, “The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.”
Until then, these gamblers in the Senate, who we entrust with our hopes and dreams, have, for now, thrown away our military readiness with a flick of the wrist governed by their lust for cheap political points. If we’re to be judged by the quality of those who we elect to govern us, I don’t want to stick around for the verdict.
Jason Seher is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
