Trump to Ban Trans People from the Military

My comments here: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/sho...re-Boorish&p=10222213&viewfull=1#post10222213

-cb

And today is the 69th anniversary of the desegregation of the US military, no less. Classy.

What about all the trans people already serving? Do they get dishonourable discharges?

And the next person who claims he's always been an ally and Killary is the one who faked an epiphany to con people out of votes because 45 is the one who's always supported same-sex marriage but $hillary's emails gets punched in the throat.

Gee, maybe *45 will tweet some specifics later. Like, as has been asked above, what happens to those currently serving. So far, I believe, that's all he's done, just tweet about this. I didn't think I could be angrier or more disgusted, but I guess I can be.

From Joshua Block (@JoshACLU), an ACLU attorney, on Twitter:

If you are a trans service member or reservist please contact me. If you know a trans service member or reservist tell them to contact me.

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Any suggestions for activism are welcome.

Shame on him.

Things will get even more interesting if we ever have a draft again.

A small and petty man does small and petty things. Trump is a small and petty man and for him to do this, particularly when he never served and denigrates those who did, elevates this deed to sheer malice.

nighttimer said:

A small and petty man does small and petty things. Trump is a small and petty man and for him to do this, particularly when he never served and denigrates those who did, elevates this deed to sheer malice.

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nail on the head here. thank you.

He is simply disgusting. This is a pressing issue to him?

Every day I think I can't possibly hate him more than I already did, and every day he finds a lower place. Every. Damn. Day.

John McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, released a statement that includes this gem:

Yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter

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The man is an asshat. But this move is effective in drawing away attention from the fact that millions of people are about to lose their healthcare. There's method in his asshattery.

Apparently the pentagon was caught unawares by this Pence/Bannon move (Mattis is on vacation; I wonder how much he regrets agreeing to this job) -- and McCain can go fuck himself, as always.

Lyv said:

John McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, released a statement that includes this gem:

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yet another example of why John McCain is a gutless 'Maverick'

This reads as if he's not against the actual policy, just how it was handled. Of course, he'll probably later give a stern speech about equal rights on the floor that will be applauded by the media, then 2 hours later vote to take away voting rights from transgender individuals. Because that's the kind of 'Maverick' John McCain is

Am I the only one convinced he did not write those tweets? They sound like Pence, and, frankly, they're not deranged enough in construction for DJT to have written them. (Also the lack of ALL CAPS!) So that means this bombshell was planned, and never discussed with military leaders. The trust-circle around Trump is getting smaller and smaller by the day.

I've wondered from the beginning what the military would do when we reached Authoritarian Regime status. We're getting damn close to finding out.

mccain's statement in full:

Jul 26 2017

STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON TRANSGENDER AMERICANS IN THE MILITARY


Washington, D.C. *– U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump’s tweet regarding transgender Americans in the military:

“The President’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter.

“The statement was unclear. The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today. Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military—regardless of their gender identity. We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so—and should be treated as the patriots they are.

“The Department of Defense is currently conducting a study on the medical obligations it would incur, the impact on military readiness, and related questions associated with the accession of transgender individuals who are not currently serving in uniform and wish to join the military. I do not believe that any new policy decision is appropriate until that study is complete and thoroughly reviewed by the Secretary of Defense, our military leadership, and the Congress.

“The Senate Armed Services Committee will continue to follow closely and conduct oversight on the issue of transgender individuals serving in the military.”

Permalink: https://www.mccain.senate.gov/publi...cain-on-transgender-americans-in-the-military

M Louise said:

What about all the trans people already serving? Do they get dishonourable discharges?

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No. Administrative (for the convenience of the government) discharges under honorable circumstances.

Albedo said:

And today is the 69th anniversary of the desegregation of the US military, no less. Classy.

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I honestly believe that Bannon has a little calendar. The first attempted ban on Syrian refugees was on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

ElaineA said:

Am I the only one convinced he did not write those tweets? They sound like Pence, and, frankly, they're not deranged enough in construction for DJT to have written them. (Also the lack of ALL CAPS!) So that means this bombshell was planned, and never discussed with military leaders. The trust-circle around Trump is getting smaller and smaller by the day.

I've wondered from the beginning what the military would do when we reached Authoritarian Regime status. We're getting damn close to finding out.

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Golly, what would make you think it was Pence? Heh.

In 2010, before "don't ask, don't tell" was ended, Pence warned that Obama should keep the policy in place. Pence said the policy had been "a successful compromise" since the 1990s, and that we shouldn't risk the readiness or recruitment of our military in "an effort to advance some liberal domestic social agenda."

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Let's not forget (my fave Pence thing of all time), the man is clearly up on current science --

As late as the year 2000, Pence denied that smoking could kill you. "Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill," he wrote in an op-ed at the time.

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Diana Hignutt said:

Can the government take away the right to serve in the military based on discriminatory reasoning?

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The ACLU is going to fight them, but there are problems -- transgender is not a protected class, to begin with. In general, you can discriminate as long as you're not discriminating against a protected class. Also, there's not a right to serve in the military. You can apply, but there's no guarantee anyone will accept you. They have rules, based on many factors.

Then there's the problem that the government kind of has the right to make staffing decisions based on things like readiness and cost and etc., which is how they were able to keep women out of combat for so long. It was bullshit, but they claimed it was based on actual reasons. This is clearly not based on actual reasons any more than that was, and Trump's stated reasons, stuff like cost, are easily disprovable, but I don't think there's any legal remedy for forcing the military to accept people based on 'saying it's X is bullshit,' when there's no compelling mandate in the first place, if you see what I mean.

The Obama-era decision will probably help a fight, as it likely had internal study backing it, but... I don't know there's remedy regardless?

On this day, July 26, 1948, Harry Truman signed Executive Oder 9981 banning racial segregation in the armed forces.

Today, Donald Trump announced Transgendered Americans who love their country cannot serve in the armed forces, "in any capacity."

The buck stops...somewhere else.