CMR News & Commentary

Personnel-Stressed Aussie Navy Takes Christmas Break

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:15:00 +0000

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the Australian Navy will be closing for Christmas, due to personnel shortages and child-care difficulties facing families in its ranks. The article quotes the navy chief, Vice Adm. Russ Crane, stating his belief that this action will help "significantly reduce some of the separation rates we're seeing at the moment." More...

Marines Honor Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.)

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:31:00 +0000

On November 7 I attended the funeral of Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.), a hero of the Vietnam War. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Naval Academy. As I wrote in my recent article titled "The Commandant, the Colonel, and 'Making Marines,'" Colonel Ripley and Gen. Robert H. Barrow, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who passed away on October 30, were special to the Center for Military Readiness and to everyone who knew them. More...

The Commandant, the Colonel, and "Making Marines"

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:11:00 +0000

When a great man dies, someone is sure to say, "They just don't make them like him anymore." This is true of Gen. Robert H. Barrow, the 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who passed away quietly at his home in St. Francisville, Louisiana, last Thursday at age 89. Retired Marine Col. John W. Ripley was another great man who died late last week, in his Annapolis, Maryland, home at the age of 69. More...

The Pentagon: No Place to Play Games

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:16:00 +0000

By now everyone should know that Sen. Barack Obama, if elected Commander in Chief, will raid the defense budget for redistribution elsewhere. Obama said so himself in a 1-minute 30-second video for a leftist group called Caucus for Priorities, in which he pledges to put an end to "misguided defense policies." More...

Where Is Colin Powell on Military/Social Issues?

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Now that retired Army general Colin Powell has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for President, it is hard to tell where he stands on social issues that will affect the military of the future. Among other things, we need to know whether Colin Powell endorses the extreme consequences of repealing the 1993 law stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military, which is constantly mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." More...

Plumber Joe and the Culture of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:25:00 +0000

The attention given to "Joe the Plumber" in the October 15 presidential debate was encouraging. Finally, fundamental issues of economic freedom vs. social engineering are getting the attention they deserve in the presidential race. More...

Candidates, Co-Ed Combat, and Conscription

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:59:00 +0000

Are voters aware that presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to deny their daughters student loans unless they register with Selective Service? This should not be a surprise. In the July 23, 2007, CNN "YouTube" debate, Obama said he would impose Selective Service obligations on young women, though "not necessarily in combat roles." More...

McCain Shouldn't Wobble on Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:25:00 +0000

If Sen. John McCain is asked in tonight's debate about his position on the issue of homosexuals in the military, what will he say? His answer should be easy, unless he creates needless controversy by saying something similar to his rival, Barack Obama. More...

Slick Strategy on Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:33:00 +0000

Is Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama consulting with Bill Clinton? Could be. Recent statements from Obama appear to suggest moderation on the issue of homosexuals in the military, even though his goals remain quite extreme. In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton downplayed his campaign promise to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military, and then-President George H. W. Bush allowed him to do so. Clinton's strategy worked. Will Republican candidate John McCain allow Senator Obama to play the same game? More...

Republicans Strong on Military/Social Issues

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Supporters of a strong national defense will be pleased to know that the 2008 Republican platform expresses solid support for sound priorities in the making of military personnel policy. More...

Candidates and "Rainbow Rights" in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:03:00 +0000

Should civilians waving rainbow flags get to make policy for our military? It is a legitimate question in the presidential race. Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama sports a rainbow-striped logo in the "People" section of his website celebrating Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) rights. A draft of the Democratic National Platform, expected to be approved in Denver, advocates inclusion of professed homosexuals in the military. More...

Forced Intimacy and Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:13:00 +0000

Elaine Donnelly describes her appearance before the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee and the consequences of repealing the law making homosexuals ineligible for the military for the Chicago Tribune. More...

Paper Runs "Clarification" on Donnelly Testimony

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:56:00 +0000

The Houston Chronicle today ran CMR's letter to the editor correcting the paper's July 28 editorial on the recent testimony of Elaine Donnelly before a congressional hearing on gays in the military. (Letter appears last in the group on the page.) More...

Show Hearing for Homosexuals in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:40:00 +0000

Please check the link for CMR Executive Director Tommy Sears' National Review Online blog post on last week's House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee "hearing" on homosexuals in the military. More...

More Media for Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:47:00 +0000

CMR's analysis of the latest attempt by Big Media to push for homosexuals in the military is here.

CMR and Former Army Delta Force Officer to Testify Before Congress on Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:39:00 +0000

CMR has been invited to testify before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel on the issue of homosexuals in the military. Elaine Donnelly, CMR President, and Brian Jones, a highly-decorated former Sergeant Major of the US Army's elite Delta Force who served in Iraq in 2004, will testify in support of the 1993 law stating that homosexuals are not eligible for military service. The law passed Congress with veto-proof majorities in 1993 and has been upheld in federal court as constitutional several times.

The hearing will take place in Room 2118 of the House Rayburn Office Building, at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 23 in Washington, DC.

CMR has the facts, sound principle and common sense on its side, but faces large, well-funded activist groups that are devoted to one radical goal: repeal of the 1993 law, which is constantly mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Please contact your Member of Congress and encourage him or her to support the 1993 law. Also, sign our petition here, or at our "AmericansfortheMilitary.com" banner on the upper-right corner of this page.

Donnelly and Sgt. Maj. Jones will expose the extent of real damage that will be done to the culture of our military if these groups are allowed to win. We cannot stand by and allow the full force of mandatory social engineering to be imposed on our men and women in uniform.

PM Polemic for Gays in the Military

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:03:00 +0000

Elaine Donnelly, CMR President, writes in today's Human Events about the "perception management" tactics in the campaign for gays in the military. More...

Female U.S. Casualties More Common in Iraq War

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:11:00 +0000

In this article from CNSNews.com, the issue is not "front lines," as claimed by Department of Defense spokesman Les Melnyk in one of the article's quotes. It is direct ground combat, or DGC. In the current war in Iraq, everyone is in danger, or "in harm's way." That does not excuse the Defense Department from condoning Army actions that place female soldiers in or collocated with DGC battalions, which are required by regulation to be all-male 100% of the time. Temporary changes in the missions of those units do not permit violations of still-current DoD regulations and the congressional notification law. More...

Gays Protest Medal for General Pace

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:49:00 +0000

CNSNews.com reported last week that two homosexual advocacy groups were criticizing the decision of President George W. Bush to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired Marine General Peter Pace. More...

Media "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" about Key Ruling-CMI

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:25:00 +0000

CMI, the Culture and Media Institute, has just posted to its site an article exposing the blatant double-standard of the mainstream media on gays in the military stories. As Robert Knight and Julia Seward report on Monday's First Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals decision on a gays-in-the-military case, "There was no coverage by the TV networks, nor by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today or the Washington Post. The Associated Press (AP) ignored the story as well. Only the Boston Globe and Boston Herald carried brief articles on it, because the case originated in Boston." More...

Don't Sue, Don't Repeal-from the Family Research Council

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Please see today's Washington Update from the Family Research Council on a major court victory upholding the law excluding homosexuals from military service. More...

Gays in the military-the next battlefront

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Columnist Wes Vernon writes today at www.renewamerica.us about Congress and new hearings on gays in the military. More...

Time to Curb "Code Pink"

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:22:00 +0000

Finally, a member of Congress has announced a laudable plan to do something about the abusive behavior of demonstrators of the anti-war left. Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation to deal with what he has described as "a growing number of our fellow citizens [who] are abusing their right of free expression through vandalism and violent protest aimed at military recruiters and those who wish to serve." More...

Silver Star Being Used as Feminist Symbol

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:20:00 +0000

The liberal Washington Post never misses an opportunity to push the feminists' most perverse ideological goal: Forcing female soldiers to face unequal burdens in or near direct ground combat units, such as infantry battalions. Recently the Post used the story of Pfc. Monica Brown, a courageous Army medic awarded a Silver Star, to promote repeal of land combat exemptions that are important to both military women and men. CMR President Elaine Donnelly wrote a letter to the editor to clarify the story. The Post declined to publish it, but you can read it here.

When Janey Goes Marching Off to War

noreply@blogger.com (CMR Editor) — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Columnist George Newmayr writes today about the liberal push for women in combat. More...