gays and lesbians be treated equally in this country. and they have the same rights and franchises everybody else does. you know, wes, what s going to be kind of interesting is to watch or listen in regard to law school professor in 1960s, only call on women on tuesdays. the language of justice scalia today to see how he reacts in discussing this case with lawyers because he has been ridiculously off course and a couple of times rhetorically in this case. and i think what s interesting too, you ll see a lot of parallels and you can draw a lot of parallels from two things. one is the civil rights argument, which i think is an important argument, analogy in this. but then also the military and the release of the don t ask, don t tell policy. because part of the challenge that was being made for around the by the end of don t ask, don t tell was how was this going to affect efficiency,
win is in fact something different than what i thought it was. maybe an imperative toward a certain kind of you must be married, you must sort of follow this set of rules. i m not so sure if that s true, melissa. it s always dangerous to disagree with you. we re really looking at an overlap. i think that the next generation is going to be what s tricky. marriage in some sense an easy get because it s what my colleague at miu calls a responsibility right. it s not just a bunch of rights. it s also a bunch of entitlements. when you think about the don t ask, don t tell litigation, i used to be puzzled given that they give deference to the military. because it s a responsibility right. because it s about people wanting to serve their country and it s very hard to turn somebody away who wants to serve their country on the basis of sexual orientation. i think for this generation, because of the nature of the right where it bears both rights and responsibilities and as we
in the don t ask/don t tell, the pentagon warned of this, saying, quote, if the department of defense creates a newing categoy of unmarried, dependent only for same-sex relationship, the department would be creating a new inequity, between couples. this administration is using the military for social engineering. i think it s significant they they are going beyond what they said they would do at the time that don t ask/don t tell was repeal. shannon: yet supporters of the directive say it s the only equitable thing to do, given that same-sex couples have limited opingings when it comes to marriage. as long as it isn t an option for loving, committed couples to actually get married, the department of defense is doing
in the world, that we must lead in the international community to confront threats and challenges together. do you think that s a fair statement to say that no one individual quote or statement e defines a person? that may be fair in some instances but votes and quotes do count. they indicate beliefs and stands on issues. he will have to defend those as ar articulate and reflected in votes he s made. the most important point here, chris, i really think here is the president deserves a leader of the department of defense in whom he has confidence to carry out his policies. after all, the buck stops with the president who has made clear his commitment to the don t ask, don t tell policy, to combat roles for women, to other policies that i believe are essential including treat iing r
the middle east as a vital ally, but equally important his commitment to building the necessary weapons systems such as two submarines a year, the joint strike fighter, which are necessary for that strategic vision that he outlined today. and i ve been reassured by his private statements to members of the committee, including myself, as well as some of what he said today. for example, about sexual assault and his commitment to combatting it as well as to the don t ask/don t tell policy which he opposed at some point. i think he has revisited many of his views, revised them and made them consistent with the president s policies. you are comfortable with what i think are the two major criticisms that have been talked about, written about. one is comments he s made about gays, how he would feel about he was a supporter of don t ask/don t tell and now we are looking at women in combat roles. he suggested in his written answers, as you well know, that