Monday, September 26, 2011

Silience is Not an Option, When Military Service Members are Booed


This weekend at a fundraiser in California, President Obama had this to say about the republican debates.
 “It’s true. You’ve got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don’t have health care and booing a service member in Iraq because they’re gay.” “That’s not reflective of who we are,” he added.
Not one of the nine candidates on the stage said a word about the crowd booing a service member in Iraq.  Huntsman and Santorum have issued statements following the debate, criticizing the booing, but the other 7 have remained silent.
To the Republican presidential candidates:

Each and every one of you owes our American service members an apology.

Thursday night, during the Republican presidential debate in Florida, an American soldier serving in Iraq was booed by the audience simply for saying that he was gay, and for asking a question about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Nine of you were on that stage, and none of you said a word.

After the debate, one lone candidate, Jon Huntsman, had the decency to speak out in defense of the soldier, saying: "You know, we’re all Americans, and the fact that he is an American who put on the uniform says something good about him."

This isn't about politics, it doesn't matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat, and it has nothing to do with where you stand on the issue of gays in the military. This is about showing an American service member a basic level of respect for serving this country.

We urge each of you to speak out against the disrespectful way in which soldier Stephen Hill was treated during your debate.

Sincerely,

Tanya L. Domi, former Army Captain
James E. Pietrangelo, II, former Army Captain
Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, former Army Captain
Jonathan Hopkins, former Army Captain
Justin Elzie, former Marine Sergeant
Katherine Miller, former West Point cadet
John Aravosis, AMERICAblog

Sign the letter here

1 comment:

  1. This military info is disgusting and apauling. Anybody who disrespects an active duty service member serving in a war zone such as Iraq should lose their citizenship! Sorry to be so radical but that is the way I feel!

    ReplyDelete