Voters Want to End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

When is it time to end a discriminatory policy? Well, the correct answer is always. But the cynical political answer is when poll numbers indicate that the discriminatory policy is so unpopular, they make John Edwards look desirable.

Such is the case with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." A new poll out today from Quinnipiac University shows that a huge number of people not only want to see "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" packed away, but that the term itself conjures up images of blatant discrimination.

Results show that 57 percent of the country believes that we should be allowing openly gay troops the opportunity to serve their country in the military, while only 36 percent oppose opening the military up to gay soldiers. On top of that, 66 percent of the country recognizes that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is rooted in bigotry.

With poll numbers like that, who would resist overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," save for a few Republicans in primary races with Tea Party members?

Meanwhile, the Washington Post is out with a story today that talks about how a younger generation of commanders and troops has created pockets (bubbles, if you will) of tolerance within the military, where gay troops might not be open, but are certainly keeping their sexual orientation about as much of a secret as the 2012 Presidential campaign of Tim Pawlenty.

"In recent years, service members and researchers say, a growing number of gay troops have disclosed their sexual orientation to supervisors and comrades," the Post reports. "They say they are buoyed by a sense that wartime commanders are increasingly reluctant to lose skilled troops to a ban many now view as archaic."

Archaic. That's what gay troops are calling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That's what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is calling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And now, it's what a huge majority of the country are calling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Photo credit: US Army