At least 58 Arabic linguists have been kicked out of the U.S. military because they were gay. Sign the petition to have your Member of Congress sign on to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban.

UPDATE: Carpetbagger has much more HERE.

Host Bob Schieffer asked Gates, “You don’t plan to ask General Pace to do anything more than he’s already done?” Gates responded, “No,” and praised Pace as “one of the finest people I’ve ever worked with” and “a man of enormous principle and integrity.”

Gates later refused to comment on whether he believes Pace’s comment was “a slur on members of the armed forces,” and said that he was too busy to have an opinion on whether Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is an effective policy. “I’ve got quite a lot on my plate,” he said.

Watch it:

Gates may not believe that Pace’s remark was a slur, but others do, including retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a gay man and the first American soldier to be seriously wounded in Iraq. Alva said in a statement about Pace:

Judging gay men and women in the military for factors unrelated to their fitness to serve undermines our military’s effectiveness. Certain leaders’ bigotry should not be a rational basis for discrimination. This kind of prejudice is going to continue to have a direct impact on our national security as we allow qualified gay men and women to lose their jobs for no good reason. This policy — and General Pace’s bigotry — is outdated, unnecessary and counter to the same American values our soldiers are giving their lives for each and every day.

Transcript:

SCHIEFFER: Another tough situation that you’re facing in your job early on is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Pace, said recently that he considered homosexual acts immoral. He later said, well, he shouldn’t have said that, but he didn’t apologize. And a lot of gay people are saying that that is a slur on thousands of people who are serving in the military right now.

I would like to ask you first, do you agree with General Pace, and should more be done on this front?

GATES: Well, as I said the other day, I think that this is an issue on which personal opinion really doesn’t have a place. We have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy that is a law. It’s inscribed in statute. My responsibility is to implement the provisions of the statute.

SCHIEFFER: And you think it’s OK as it is? You don’t plan to ask General Pace to do anything more than he’s already done?

GATES: No. I think General Pace has made pretty clear that he wished he had avoided his personal opinion.

Let me say, you know, Pete Pace is one of the finest people I’ve ever worked with. He’s a man of enormous principle and integrity and a tremendous — and of tremendous skill. I think the American people are lucky to have him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

SCHIEFFER: But what I guess the question I asked was, do you consider that a slur on members of the armed forces, what he said?

GATES: I think I’ll leave it at the fact that I don’t think this is an issue where personal opinion has any place.

SCHIEFFER: And you don’t think he should apologize?

GATES: I think we should just move on from this point.

SCHIEFFER: And should the don’t ask, don’t tell policy — are you satisfied with that or should that policy be reviewed?

GATES: Look, I’ve got a war in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, challenges in Iran and North Korea and elsewhere, global war on terror, three budget bills totaling $715 billion. I think I’ve got quite a lot on my plate.

Pace’s bigoted remarks expose the flawed foundation of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and show Pace to be in the minority. A Dec. 2006 Zogby poll of U.S. soldiers found that nearly three in four troops (73 percent) say “they are personally comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians,” and a Harris poll last month showed that 55 percent of Americans “think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military.” At least 24 nations including Israel, Britain and other U.S. allies “let gays serve openly, with none reporting morale or recruitment problems.”

Earlier this year, Pace’s predecessor Gen. John Shalikashvilii announced his support for repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: “I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces.”

UPDATE: AmericaBlog has more.

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Transcript:

PACE: My upbringing is such that I believe that there are certain things, certain types of conduct that are immoral. I believe that military members who sleep with other military members’ wives are immoral in their conduct, and that we should not tolerate that. I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral, and that we should not condone immoral acts. So the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell allows an individual to serve the country, not — [inaudible] that allows individuals to serve their country. If we know about immoral acts, regardless of committed by who or — then we have a responsibility. And I do not believe that the Armed Forces of the United States are well served by saying through our policies that it’s okay to be immoral in any way, in any way, not just with regards to homosexuality. This is from that standpoint saying that gays should serve openly in the military to me says that we, by policy, would be condoning what I believe is immoral activity. And therefore, as an individual, I would not want that to be my policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that, if were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with someone’s wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior between members of the Armed Forces.

Sometimes the constant looking around, whispering, speaking in code, and backpedaling to correct a slip of the tongue wears out my psyche. But it’s what I have to do to continue a career that I love very much and maintain a relationship with the girlfriend who I love very much. I appreciate her unyielding support, her understanding, and her acceptance of having to constantly use discretion when we interact with each other. One day it won’t be that way anymore and we can live our lives freely and openly.

More than 11,000 servicemembers have been dismissed under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

In a clip of “Red Eye” that was leaked online, Gutfeld leads a discussion about Sen. Joe Biden’s (D-DE) racially-insensitive claim that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” In the clip, Gutfeld calls Biden “my favorite person in the world,” and asks, “Isn’t [Biden] saying what every liberal is thinking,” that “Obama is acceptable because he’s…a non-threatening black man.”

Also, panelists on the show rejected the notion that Obama is the first “clean” mainstream African-American. “Well, I think Oprah’s clean,” one said. “She does douche,” said another. He added, “I was told I was allowed to say the D-word,” suggesting the comment had been cleared by Fox officials. Watch it:

Red Eye is “one of two recent initiatives that appear to be attempts to broaden the definition of a news channel.” The other is “The Half-Hour News Hour,” a right-leaning version of the Daily Show, which will guest-star Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter as the President and Vice President in an early episode.

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Transcript:

HOST 1: Sen. Joe Biden, who is now, I think, my favorite person in the world, he’s declared his run for the presidency, but at the same time had some amazing words, which I have here on this card, for Barack Obama, describing him as the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright, and clean.

HOST 2: Oh. Well, I think Oprah’s clean.

HOST 1: Yeah, but no, running for president. Oprah’s not running for president. But Jesse Jackson is clean.

HOST 3: She does douche. (Laughter) I was told I was allowed to say the D-word!

HOST: Alright.

HOST 3: You will continue to roll, my friend.

HOST 1: Ok, the thing about what Joe Biden says is, isn’t he saying what every liberal is thinking? That Obama is acceptable because he’s basically like Lionel Jefferson, and he’s not threatening — that’s the son.

HOST 4: Is he the one who sang “All Night Long”?

HOST 1: No, no, that was Lionel Richie, also a non-threatening black man. Liberals have this secret racism about blacks. They’ve got to be light-skinned in order to be acceptable.