GOPer: Military “Inconsistent With American Values” (VIDEO)


The House voted today to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but not before Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) gave us the holiday gift of these three minutes—think of this as a sort of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Explains Why He Loves an Illiberal Military That Hates Homos.”

Somewhere in there, after calling out the gays of Congress and casting aspersions on the ambitions of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Gohmert beseeches his colleagues to uphold DADT because:

The military isn’t consistent with American values! It does not have freedom of speech! It does not have freedom of assembly! It does not have the freedom to express its love to those in the military the way you can out here! Because it’s an impediment to the military mission! You can’t do that! Can you imagine military members being able to tell their commander what they think of him, using freedom of speech, or assembling where they wish? It doesn’t work!

Wow, I didn’t realize the military sucked that bad. And I’m a vet! Thanks, Rep. Gohmert, for selling a new generation of young Americans on the joy of national service.

Of course, to anyone who’s familiar with Terror Babies-gate, Anderson Cooper-gate, and Moo Goo Dog Pan-gate (as well as his fear that direct participatory democracy is un-American), this is just Louie being Louie. Game on, Gohmert Pyle!

(h/t Spencer Ackerman, “The Vilest Thing You Will See Today“)

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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