Saturday, May 15, 2010

Blah Blah in Iraq, Gaga in Afghanistan














(Click pic to enlarge)

As the Great War on Terror continues, and young people continue to fight and die so old people can feel safe.

And in the United States the Generals and the politicians continue to drag their heels on whether gay soldiers should be allowed to serve openly.

Three years ago Don't Ask Don't Tell silenced me from reporting repeated abuse by fellow soldiers and my unit chief, all because they suspected I was gay. But when I told my story to Congressman Dan Lungren's (R-CA) Legislative Director Kevin Holsclaw, he dismissively replied, "The Representative does not support social experiments in our armed services."

A group of straight soldiers in Iraq put out a video to say what they think about Don't Ask Don't Tell....



And manage to offend EVERYBODY.

To many gay people, including veterans, who watched the ''If the Army goes Gay'' YouTube video – a take-off of pop singer Ke$ha's song ''Blah Blah Blah'' staged by U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq – it was funny and hot, as reflected by comments on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

To others, however, the video played off homophobic stereotypes of gay soldiers that have been used by those opposed to ending the ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy in the military.

To the Army, the video was ''clearly … in poor taste,'' and Army spokesman Col. Collins on Friday, May 14, told Metro Weekly that he had ''sent the video on to the people in Iraq'' to address any specific concerns regarding the soldiers who participated in making the video.

One gay soldier I sent the video to thought it was homophobic. The former soldier who lives with me thought it was moronic...or débile as we say in Québec. 

But I loved it eh?

Because it's a generational thing. They're making fun of the bullshit. It's the attitude and the blah blah blah that counts.

And I'd be devastated if people couldn't laugh at me, and with me, if you know what I mean. Because I spend about eighty percent of the day laughing about everyone and just about EVERYTHING. 

So naturally I also love this parody of Lady Gaga's Telephone video, made by a group of American soldiers in Afghanistan...



The one with a happy ending...and a proud lesbian mum.

“I am the VERY proud mom of the handsome redhead, Sgt. Aaron Melcher! He's been a class clown his whole life! He's an amazing son, PHENOMENAL husband and AWESOME soldier. He's found a way to bring humor to a very chaotic place. I couldn’t be prouder.”

See...I was right. It is a generational thing. Today is bullshit.

But tomorrow will be BETTER...

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Awesome Photo: David Guttenfelder/Associated Press

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