Blue Mass Group

… the local version. Hoo Lordy, this is good.

Good old Tom Tomorrow.  Click the image for the full-size, ez-2-read version.  (Hat tip: Kos.)

The facts (from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office) are in, and they’re unambiguous (update: you can read the full report here).  The military’s policy of discharging gay service members is harming America’s national security by depriving us of the services of highly qualified personnel in critical areas.  In particular, the GAO’s report found that of 322 language specialists forced out under the absurdly-named "don’t ask don’t tell" policy, 54 spoke Arabic (more than twice the number previously estimated), and others spoke Farsi, Korean, and Chinese, all considered critical in the war on terror and national security.  The report also found that over 400 service members in "critical occupations" such as code-breakers, interrogators, air traffic controllers, and counterintelligence specialists had been discharged.  The report estimated that replacing the discharged personnel had cost at least $200 million, and probably much more. The report cites the Defense Department as trying to downplay the significance of the discharges by noting that more people were discharged for drug abuse, pregnancy, and weight problems than for being gay.  Let’s think about that for a sec.  If you have a drug problem, you can’t do your job because you’re on drugs.  If you’re pregnant, you will not [...]