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Cunning Linguist Ousted from Army

Mephisto

Philosopher
Mephisto
Joined
Apr 10, 2005
Messages
6,064
This is completely unfair and will prove a costly error in our "war on terrorism." It's not like you can find Arab linguists on any street corner and certainly not linguists with the drive and initiative this young man has. It's a shame that, "all men are created equal," isn't quite so self-evident in this country. :(

Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist

He was 'outed' by anonymous e-mails

Thursday, July 27, 2006; Posted: 8:00 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT)

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) -- A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified.

Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
 
I think there's a problem with your thread title. If this guy was a cunning linguist he wouldn't have been kicked out. Anyway…
So how doers "don't ask, don't tell" work? Gay people can join the armed forces so long as they don 't tell anyone that they're gay, and they wont be asked, but if they are constantly under the threat of blackmail, because if anyone else "outs" them, they're going to be kicked out?
 
brodski said:
So how doers "don't ask, don't tell" work? Gay people can join the armed forces so long as they don 't tell anyone that they're gay, and they wont be asked, but if they are constantly under the threat of blackmail, because if anyone else "outs" them, they're going to be kicked out?
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Yeah, apparently that's the way it works. But to be fair, the Army doesn't care if you're a lowly cook, a lowly grunt or someone with fluency in the language of the people we're fighting, they'll kick you out (not even once taking into consideration the dropping recruitment levels).
 
Mephisto said:
This is completely unfair and will prove a costly error in our "war on terrorism." It's not like you can find Arab linguists on any street corner and certainly not linguists with the drive and initiative this young man has. It's a shame that, "all men are created equal," isn't quite so self-evident in this country. :(

Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist

He was 'outed' by anonymous e-mails

Thursday, July 27, 2006; Posted: 8:00 a.m. EDT (12:00 GMT)

JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) -- A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, though he says he never told his superiors he was gay and his accuser was never identified.

Bleu Copas, 30, told The Associated Press he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
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Yet more evidence that the threat posed by terrorists has been hyped by the administration.
 
Tony said:
Yet more evidence that the threat posed by terrorists has been hyped by the administration.
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Yeah, apparently they've got enough linguists to go around. We should worry when they don't discharge gay linguists who speak Farsi, huh? ;)
 
The military policy on gays is a joke. I live in a military town. The gay bars are full of military guys. A couple of weeks ago I was in such a bar talking to a guy who introduced me to his commanding officer.

I was also told of a popular pasttime called "Military Bingo". Click the spoiler if you really want to know. I'm being nice and shielding the delicate from too much information.

Military Bingo: Sleep with someone of each rank in order, from E-1 to O-however high it goes. For extra points, do it in order. Once you've gotten them all for one branch of the miltary, move on to the next. Not many guys bother with the Marines in this game, because Marines (and I'm sorry if this offends anybody) are notoriously easy. The point is to compete with someone else in terms of speed. It's not a challenge to "collect them all".


Anyone who thinks the occasional booting out of a limp-wristed translator is cleansing the military of the gays is deluded. The gays are firmly entrenched, in large numbers. If they all left at once, there would be a serious crisis.
 
Mephisto said:
Oh well, as they say, there's nothing new under the sun.
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Except the sun-destroying doomsday device I'm building. I'm pretty sure that's unique, because you only get a single chance to use it. I might have been willing to build one for the Army, but, you know. Fine. I know when my doomsday devices aren't wanted. Sniff.
 
Tony said:
Yet more evidence that the threat posed by terrorists has been hyped by the administration.
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Sad but true. Just wait to see how "important" the "fight against terrorism" will become as we edge towards the November elections ....

Charlie (the sky is following) Monoxide
 
Tony said:
Yet more evidence that the threat posed by terrorists has been hyped by the administration.
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The administration? You mean the Clinton Administration, right?

I ask because I'm confused as to which threat posed by which administration you're writing about.
 
Charlie Monoxide said:
Sad but true. Just wait to see how "important" the "fight against terrorism" will become as we edge towards the November elections ....
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I can see it now, the "Civilization is in the Balance so Vote Republican or Hate America" campaign.
 
"Don't Ask Don't Tell" is an indefensible policy both in intent and in effect.

As it is written, it is supposed to mean that homosexual tendencies/proclivities/whathaveyou are totally acceptable, but acting on them and advertising them is not.

In other words, it's okay to be gay in the military; just don't tell anybody and don't do anybody.
 
Garrette said:
"Don't Ask Don't Tell" is an indefensible policy both in intent and in effect.

As it is written, it is supposed to mean that homosexual tendencies/proclivities/whathaveyou are totally acceptable, but acting on them and advertising them is not.

In other words, it's okay to be gay in the military; just don't tell anybody and don't do anybody.
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Puzzling, isn't it? In a country founded on equal rights there have been vast groups of people who've had to fight for their equal rights from the conservatives who believe they're right in denying those rights. From African-Americans, to women and now gays, the conservatives will find any excuse worthy of demonizing any group they don't like.

Using the military's policy as it's written would sound utterly ridiculous against hetero people - you can be heterosexual, you just can't tell anyone or have heterosexual sex with anyone. I'm sure the most fanatical conservatives would wish no one was having sex at all, but since we can't ban ALL sex, we'll just go for the ones WE consider abberant (but we'll shuffle pedophile priests to help them avoid prosecution).
 
TragicMonkey said:
Except the sun-destroying doomsday device I'm building. I'm pretty sure that's unique, because you only get a single chance to use it. I might have been willing to build one for the Army, but, you know. Fine. I know when my doomsday devices aren't wanted. Sniff.
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You'll just have to impress the military through what we'll call a "Hetero-Proxy," which just means someone whose made the "right choice" sexually can place the bid for you. :(
 
TragicMonkey said:
The military policy on gays is a joke. I live in a military town. The gay bars are full of military guys. A couple of weeks ago I was in such a bar talking to a guy who introduced me to his commanding officer.
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I'm not doubting that the military has more homosexuals that conservatives would like to admit. However, is it not possible that a lot of the "gay military" are civilians playing a role? Military fetishes are common regardless of one's sexual orientation and pretending to be in the military might make someone a bit more popular. The main reason I thought this is that one does not generally hang out with one's commanding officer.
 
Dragonrock said:
I'm not doubting that the military has more homosexuals that conservatives would like to admit. However, is it not possible that a lot of the "gay military" are civilians playing a role? Military fetishes are common regardless of one's sexual orientation and pretending to be in the military might make someone a bit more popular. The main reason I thought this is that one does not generally hang out with one's commanding officer.
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If TM didn't live in a military town that might be true, but it was also my pleasure to know many gay men when I served in the early 70s. They were great people before I knew their "secret" and became friends when they realized I didn't care about their orientation and I wasn't a blabbermouth.

I wonder if Native Americans like to dress traditionally when visiting gay bars and whether gay telephone linemen go to gay bars straight from work? As for the cowboy - well, we all know there are no gay cowboys. ;)

(edited to add) As for normally hanging out with your commanding officer, I think you're right, but if you both share a passion for something (whether model airplanes, or an alternate lifestyle doesn't matter) you might spend time together.
 
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"...but it was also my pleasure to know many gay men when I served in the early 70s."

Hey, be careful there Mephisto...;)
(only pulling your leg lol)
 
Dragonrock said:
I'm not doubting that the military has more homosexuals that conservatives would like to admit. However, is it not possible that a lot of the "gay military" are civilians playing a role? Military fetishes are common regardless of one's sexual orientation and pretending to be in the military might make someone a bit more popular. The main reason I thought this is that one does not generally hang out with one's commanding officer.
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Not really. It's very difficult to fake being in the military. Civilians lack the insane vocabulary. My dad was in the military, and even though I had tons of exposure to the life, I couldn't fake my way past actual military for more than a minute.

And he wasn't hanging out with his CO; they just wound up at the same place at the same time. I got the impression it had happened before, since neither seemed the slightest bit surprised.

What's really awkward is when you run into one of your former high school teachers in a gay bar. "So, what have you been up to since tenth grade, Mr Monkey?" "Uh, let's see, I've done college, some travel, and the blond guy over there."
 
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