Let’s be honest – “don’t ask, don’t tell” is absurd. So is the ban on homosexuals in the military. I therefore back the repeal measure sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Marty Meehan.

A Massachusetts Democrat on Wednesday plans to re-introduce a bill repealing the congressional ban on homosexuals serving in the military.

Rep. Marty Meehan's Military Readiness Enhancement Act died last year in the Republican-controlled Congress. But with Democrats in charge, Meehan is more optimistic about passing the bill.

Meehan, who chairs the Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, plans to hold hearings as early as April, USA Today reported.

Meehan's bill would require the U.S. Armed Forces to adopt a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation -- allowing homosexuals to openly serve in the military, something they cannot do now.

Three Republicans have signed on, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

IÂ’ll concede the policy might have once made sense, but it doesnÂ’t now, given certain changes in social attitudes over the course of the last thirty to forty years. End it, donÂ’t mend it.

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Well, it looks like the DemocratICK leadership of both houses of Congress are looking to repeal the authorization of force in Iraq, replacing it with a withdrawal timetable. But will that move fly with the American people -- and their own members?

Senate Democratic leaders intend to unveil a plan next week to repeal the 2002 resolution authorizing the war in Iraq in favor of narrower authority that restricts the military's role and begins withdrawals of combat troops.

House Democrats have pulled back from efforts to link additional funding for the war to strict troop-readiness standards after the proposal came under withering fire from Republicans and from their party's own moderates. That strategy was championed by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) and endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

"If you strictly limit a commander's ability to rotate troops in and out of Iraq, that kind of inflexibility could put some missions and some troops at risk," said Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Tex.), who personally lodged his concerns with Murtha.

In both chambers, Democratic lawmakers are eager to take up binding legislation that would impose clear limits on U.S. involvement in Iraq after nearly four years of war. But Democrats remain divided over how to proceed. Some want to avoid the funding debate altogether, fearing it would invite Republican charges that the party is not supporting the troops. Others take a more aggressive view, believing the most effective way to confront President Bush's war policy is through a $100 billion war-spending bill that the president ultimately must sign to keep the war effort on track.

What is missed in this calculation is the fact that EITHER direction will legitimately be presented as not supporting the troops -- just as the recent non-binding resolutions put forward by the Copperheads can only be viewed as a failure to support the troops and the abandonment of an ally.

However, I said some time ago that the Democrats should have the cojones to seek binding legislation if they want to act against the war -- that they should put their money where their mouth is. Let's see how serious they really are on th issue, or if all the anti-war talk is nothing but window-dressing -- because I believe that the Democrats know that any binding legislation to tie the hands of the President and the US military will ultimately be rejected by the American people.

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Another American hero has been buried in Katy, TX, a booming, middle-to-upper-middle class suburb to the west of Houston.

A Katy Marine was honored as a hometown hero by family, friends and strangers who lined the streets waving American flags after his funeral service on Saturday.

Sgt. James R. Tijerina, 26, became the sixth member of the military from the Katy area to die in the war when his CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in Iraq on Feb. 7.

Those who gathered Saturday morning at Katy's Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Community to pay their respects remembered him as a caring man who loved God, his country, friends and family.

The photographic pieces of his life, from smiling newborn and Katy High School football player to Marine standing proudly in his uniform, were vividly displayed a few feet from his flag-draped casket.

Sgt. Tijerina was a young man with many opportunities before him who CHOSE the military. He made a decision to serve, and to continue serving even though he knew that his decision would place him in harm's way in Iraq. Indeed, after joining the Marines in 2002, J.R. Tijerina had recently chosen to reenlist for five more years of service to his country -- a decision common among his fellow members of the armed forces today. J.R. Tijerina was not an ignorant child with no choices, no hope and no future other than the military -- he was an American patriot who made the decision to be a part of something greater than himself when he chose to serve his country.

I believe the pastor of Sgt. Tijerina's boyhood church summed up his life and sacrifice well.

The Rev. Monsignor Jack Dinkins, who presided over the ceremony, said a poem Tijerina wrote expressed how he interpreted life and revealed all he was trying to be.

"It's about his beliefs, faith in America as a great nation and ideals of freedom," Dinkins said. "For a young man to have these thoughts about his country is remarkable."

Tijerina, who joined the Marines in 2002, had re-enlisted for five more years.

After his comments, Dinkins asked that Tijerina be given a standing ovation.

"J.R. not only gave his life to his country," he said, "he gave his life to the people in Iraq."

Sgt. J.R. Tijerina laid down his life for his fellow man, which my faith tells me is the greatest sort of love that there is. May his sacrifice, and the sacrifices of every other member of the American military killed or wounded in Iraq, not have been in vain.

An online guestbook honoring Sgt. J.R. Tijerina can be found here.

And I have a request for anyone who may read this post -- Msgr. Dinkins mentions the poem that Sgt. Tijerina wrote. If you have access to it, would you please add it to the comment section or email it to me so that I can include it in this post as a tribute to Sgt. Tijerina and the sacrifice he made.

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Rep. Sam Johnson, a real American hero whose made a tremendous sacrifice for his country, speaks out against the tactics of Neo-Copperheads.

You know, I flew 62 combat missions in the Korean War and 25 missions in the Vietnam War before being shot down.

I had the privilege of serving in the United States Air Force for 29 years, attending the prestigious National War College, and commanding two air bases, among other things.

I mention these stories because I view the debate on the floor not just as a U.S. Congressman elected to serve the good people of the Third District in Texas, but also through the lens of a life-long fighter pilot, student of war, a combat warrior, a leader of men, and a Prisoner of War.

Ironically, this week marks the anniversary that I started a new life - and my freedom from prison in Hanoi.

I spent nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, more than half of that time in solitary confinement. I flew out of Hanoi on February 12, 1973 with other long-held Prisoners of War - weighing just 140 pounds. And tomorrow - 34 years ago, I had my homecoming to Texas - a truly unspeakable blessing of freedom.

While in solitary confinement, my captors kept me in leg stocks, like the pilgrims... for 72 days....

As you can imagine, they had to carry me out of the stocks because I couldn't walk. The following day, they put me in leg irons... for 2 ½ years. That's when you have a tight metal cuff around each ankle - with a foot-long bar connecting the legs.

I still have little feeling in my right arm and my right hand... and my body has never been the same since my nearly 2,500 days of captivity.

But I will never let my physical wounds hold me back.

Instead, I try to see the silver lining. I say that because in some way ... I'm living a dream...a hope I had for the future. "From April 16, 1966 to February 12, 1973 - I prayed that I would return home to the loving embrace of my wife, Shirley, and my three kids, Bob, Gini, and Beverly...

And my fellow POWs and I clung to the hope of when - not if - we returned home.

We would spend hours tapping on the adjoining cement walls about what we would do when we got home to America.

We pledged to quit griping about the way the government was running the war in Vietnam and do something about it... We decided that we would run for office and try to make America a better place for all.

So - little did I know back in my rat-infested 3 x 8 dark and filthy cell that 34 years after my departure from Hell on Earth... I would spend the anniversary of my release pleading for a House panel to back my measure to support and fully fund the troops in harm's way....and that just days later I would be on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives surrounded by distinguished veterans urging Congress to support our troops to the hilt.

We POWs were still in Vietnam when Washington cut the funding for Vietnam. I know what it does to morale and mission success. Words can not fully describe the horrendous damage of the anti-American efforts against the war back home to the guys on the ground.

Our captors would blare nasty recordings over the loud speaker of Americans protesting back home...tales of Americans spitting on Vietnam veterans when they came home... and worse.

We must never, ever let that happen again.

The pain inflicted by your country's indifference is tenfold that inflicted by your ruthless captors.

Our troops - and their families - want, need and deserve the full support of the country - and the Congress. Moms and dads watching the news need to know that the Congress will not leave their sons and daughters in harm's way without support.

Since the President announced his new plan for Iraq last month, there has been steady progress. He changed the rules of engagement and removed political protections.

There are reports we wounded the number two of Al Qaeda and killed his deputy. Yes, Al Qaeda operates in Iraq. It's alleged that top radical jihadist Al-Sadr has fled Iraq - maybe to Iran. And Iraq's closed its borders with Iran and Syria. The President changed course and offered a new plan ...we are making progress. We must seize the opportunity to move forward, not stifle future success.

Debating non-binding resolutions aimed at earning political points only destroys morale, stymies success, and emboldens the enemy.

The grim reality is that this House measure is the first step to cutting funding of the troops...Just ask John Murtha about his 'slow-bleed' plan that hamstrings our troops in harm's way.

Now it's time to stand up for my friends who did not make it home - and those who fought and died in Iraq - so I can keep my promise that when we got home we would quit griping about the war and do something positive about it...and we must not allow this Congress to leave these troops like the Congress left us.

Today, let my body serve as a brutal reminder that we must not repeat the mistakes of the past... instead learn from them.

We must not cut funding for our troops. We must stick by them. We must support them all the way...To our troops we must remain...always faithful.

God bless you and I salute you all. Thank you.

Here's hoping Sam Johnson is the Secretary of Defense in after the 2008 elections put a Republican in office -- and not a "starve the troops until the Administration capitulates" member of the Aid And Comfort Caucus like John Murtha, who clearly wants to be Secretary of Surrender under a Democrat president.

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Mike Gallagher reports on this incident at Arlington National Cemetery, where the body of one of our Iraq heroes has been treated like refuse at the city dump.

With the family gone and the area cleared out, my friends watched as four civilian workers began to handle the casket. The honor guard was gone, the military escort had left. Just four workers and a beloved soldier, husband, father, and friend in a casket.

The men struggled to lift the casket and put it into the vault, which was up on some kind of a forklift. Evidently, the walls of the grave that had been dug were collapsing and they weren’t able to lower the casket into the ground. They watched as the men basically dumped the casket, like a load of garbage, into the vault. It crashed into the container, and the forklift spun it around like a top. My friend said there could be no doubt that Nicholas’ body would have been thrown around in the casket. In fact, he believes that the casket would have been damaged considering the way the men tossed it around in the container.

These witnesses cried out in anger and anguish. They went to Arlington’s administration office and encountered a sympathetic officer. “What would you like us to do?” he asked my friends. “We want the body exhumed so that Nicholas can be straightened out in the casket, the men who did this to him should be reprimanded, and there should be some kind of protocol change so that someone can oversee these soldier’s burials so that this can’t happen again to anyone else”, they said.

The officer was patient and kind and sympathetic, my buddy told me. But he indicated that none of that is likely to happen. He told him that there are, on average, 22 funerals a day at Arlington. This was probably an isolated case, he said. It would be too expensive to exhume the body. And there would be no plans to change their protocols.

I’ve been harshly critical of those members of Congress who today pissed on our troops with their cut-and-run resolution, but if anything, this callous disregard for the dignity of one of our supposedly-honored dead may be even worse in my eyes.

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Mike Gallagher reports on this incident at Arlington National Cemetery, where the body of one of our Iraq heroes has been treated like refuse at the city dump.

With the family gone and the area cleared out, my friends watched as four civilian workers began to handle the casket. The honor guard was gone, the military escort had left. Just four workers and a beloved soldier, husband, father, and friend in a casket.

The men struggled to lift the casket and put it into the vault, which was up on some kind of a forklift. Evidently, the walls of the grave that had been dug were collapsing and they werenÂ’t able to lower the casket into the ground. They watched as the men basically dumped the casket, like a load of garbage, into the vault. It crashed into the container, and the forklift spun it around like a top. My friend said there could be no doubt that NicholasÂ’ body would have been thrown around in the casket. In fact, he believes that the casket would have been damaged considering the way the men tossed it around in the container.

These witnesses cried out in anger and anguish. They went to Arlington’s administration office and encountered a sympathetic officer. “What would you like us to do?” he asked my friends. “We want the body exhumed so that Nicholas can be straightened out in the casket, the men who did this to him should be reprimanded, and there should be some kind of protocol change so that someone can oversee these soldier’s burials so that this can’t happen again to anyone else”, they said.

The officer was patient and kind and sympathetic, my buddy told me. But he indicated that none of that is likely to happen. He told him that there are, on average, 22 funerals a day at Arlington. This was probably an isolated case, he said. It would be too expensive to exhume the body. And there would be no plans to change their protocols.

IÂ’ve been harshly critical of those members of Congress who today pissed on our troops with their cut-and-run resolution, but if anything, this callous disregard for the dignity of one of our supposedly-honored dead may be even worse in my eyes.

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Remember those four soldiers kidnapped and executed by terrorists in Iraq last month? The Washington post has an article about one of them, Capt. Brian S. Freeman, and the effort he spent his last hours working on -- getting an 11-year-old Irqi boy to the United States for lifesaving heart surgery.

Hours before getting killed the way he feared most, Capt. Brian S. Freeman looked up and smiled when Abu Ali dropped by his office.

After nearly six months of overcoming financial and bureaucratic hurdles in a war zone, Freeman told the Iraqi man, there were promising signs that a pair of U.S. visas -- the last big step in getting Abu Ali's 11-year-old son to the United States for lifesaving heart surgery -- would be issued soon.

The Iraqi was speechless. He asked an interpreter to express his gratitude to the tall American soldier who had made saving the child's life an unofficial mission. Then he pulled out his camera, swung his arm around Freeman's broad shoulders and posed for three photographs.

Hours later, shortly before sunset Jan. 20, armed men in GMC trucks stormed into the government building in Karbala, in southern Iraq. They killed an American soldier, handcuffed Freeman and three other U.S. soldiers, hauled them into the vehicles and drove off. Freeman and the other abducted soldiers were later slain by the attackers.

There are those in this country who believe our soldiers are the moral equivalent of SS stormtroopers, terrorizing the people of Iraq. They claim that our soldiers are intellectually deficient and lacking in opportunities in life, so they are stuck in Iraq because the military was their only option. And there are those who believe that Iraqis don't want or support US troops present in their country. I hope they read this article, and recognize how wrong they are about those things -- and about the terrorists they argue are the moral equivalent of our founding fathers.

American soldiers struggle to bring life and peace to Iraq -- the terrorists bring only death, chaos, and a return to the bad old days of Baathist rule, or worse.

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The New York Times has a way of assigning tabloid-like headlines that obscure the truth more than they illuminate it.

Take this example.

Army Giving More Waivers in Recruiting

The article then goes on to talk about so-called "moral waivers" increasing. These generally are used to let in someone who has a conviction, usually in a juvenile court, for serious misdemeanors like aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and vehicular homicide, or even a less-serious felony convictions. They have increased 65%.

But then you get this little kernel of truth a little bit further down the page.

In the last three years, the percentage of moral waivers for all new enlistments in the four services combined has fallen 3 percent, with spikes in the Army and Air Force.

Oh. So moral waivers really are not up at all, and are declining instead. And the waivers that are increasing are actually medical waivers (we discover over half-way through the story) for conditions that do not particularly decrease military readiness -- high blood pressure, asthma, and ADD (an over-used label for boys acting like boys in too many cases).

And the irony is that the Left often demands that supporters of the war in Iraq sign up for the military as a condition of being allowed to hold an opinion on the matter -- including insisting that we seek waivers of factors that disqualify us from service. Now when there are those actually doing so, they complain that the waivers are being granted for relatively minor issues. And let's not forget that certain left-wing politicians are urging a draft -- which would degrade the readiness and quality of members of the armed forces significantly more than the selective granting of waivers for less-serious disqualifications.

The New York Times -- its motto should be "We only print the news that fits."

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A recent alumnus of the Duke lacrosse program has been killed in Iraq.

Jimmy Regan followed a calling to the military, becoming a U.S. Army Ranger and serving double tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq, earning a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and several other medals.

Mourners gathered at the Regan home in Manhasset on Sunday to remember the 26-year-old former member of the Duke University lacrosse team, who was killed in combat last week in Iraq.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

I believe this shows the true caliber of the young men produced by the Duke lacrosse team, not the caricature presented by the news media and the corrupt prosecutor in Durham.

We salute this young man, and honor his sacrifice on behalf of our nation.

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