Comments on: Press, Congressmen Skewer Donnelly’s Testimony

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:25:46 +0000

A copy of the thank you note I left for Ms. Donnelly at the CMR website:

Dear Ms. Donnelly;

Just a brief note to say thank you for the excellent job you did illustrating that DODT is a ridiculous policy. Tales of lesbian swarmings, stumbling, and insulting answers. You’ve done more to promote the cause of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military than you can possibly imagine.

Keep up the good work!

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:25:40 +0000

perhaps he was less concerned about the spirit of the troops and more worried about the spirit of the drapes.

By: tristram

tristram — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:10:35 +0000

You missed the gem from Mr. Jones –

[Donnelly was followed by [retired Army Sgt. Maj. Brian] Jones, a tough-talking businessman who suggested that the military’s tradition of “selfless service” would be undermined by gay men and lesbians. “In the military environment, team cohesion, morale and esprit de corps is a matter of life and death,” he said. His written statement spelled it “esprit decor”;]

What kind of nincompoop thinks having more of us around wouldn’t result in vast improvements to any kind of DECOR !!

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:49:00 +0000

I think we should all write Ms Donnelly a nice thank you note for doing such an excellent job of illustrating why DODT is just plain stupid.

By: Richard W. Fitch

Richard W. Fitch — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:40:11 +0000

Is the prepared statement of Ms. Donnelly’s testimony on public record? She tried to explain a chart in her written stmt that dealt with the numbers of personnel separated for various reasons. It would be worth studying to see such things as disabled, homeland -vs- deployed overseas, by skill levels, etc. She claims that separation due to DADT is only a small percentage, but what is the real impact on critical assignments?
RWF – Indianapolis IN

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:47:22 +0000

Richard,

As far as I can tell there is no record at all of this event ever occuring other than a letter that Donnelly claims to have received.

“I have received a letter…” may be very effective for televangelists but it’s incredibly stupid to present such “evidence” as testimony in a Congressional Hearing.

By: Adam Robertson

Adam Robertson — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:38:39 +0000

I’m delighted that Donnelly & Jones were ruthlessly mocked in a public forum. And I second Richard Fitch’s request for a heads-up on the next hearing. I almost missed out on this one. Had I not checked a few blogs and listened to NPR this morning, I would have missed out entirely, right? I mean, where were Katie Couric & Charlie Gibson?

By: Richard W. Fitch

Richard W. Fitch — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:27:42 +0000

Tim: Does anyone have the hard facts regarding the alleged attack on corpsman Yost? I spent nearly 4 hours last nite reviewing the CSPAN video of the hearing and a couple hours today hunting info on Donnelly and the related materials. SDLN, HRC, et al could not have done better had they been allowed to choose the witnesses on either/each side of this hearing. Coleman, Darrah and Vila gave coherent and to-the-point testimony. Donnelly and Jones not only rambled and stammered but felt at liberty to interject their skewed fantasies, without invitation, during the presentations of the Congressmen. Someone, please, give us a heads-up for the next rounds of this hearing.

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:20:03 +0000

Donnelly went to Congress to report on a letter she received about the recollections from 1974 of an incident that was never reported. A story, we note, that had decidedly racist overtones.

Is it any surprise that the media is having a field day with her testimony?