Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is angry that some progressives touted his willingness to listen to both sides of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ argument — rather than simply making a knee jerk argument about the disruptive effects of homosexuality — as evidence that there was more support for repealing DADT in the Senate than previously thought. Hatch has issued this press release clarifying that he does not favor repealing the policy:

“It’s deeply regrettable that liberal groups are misconstruing my position on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for activist purposes. I certainly do not support repealing this policy,” Hatch’s statement on Thursday said. [...]

“What I said was that I want to see Adm. Mullen’s report. This is a controversial issue with inflamed passions on both sides,” Hatch said. “Over the years, the views of the military officers and experts, whom I respect, have said that repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ would make life for our troops more difficult — especially as our armed forces wage a global war on terrorism,” Hatch said.

This is fairly awkward. If Hatch has already made up his mind that he does “not support repealing this policy” then why wait for Mullen’s report or elicit views of “military officers?” I suspect that the Senator really believes that service members “shouldn’t have to lie about being gay” but is feeling some backlash from conservative culture warriors for even considering a repeal.

Hatch’s backtracking suggests that activists can’t afford a protracted, drawn out debate about DADT. A year-long process will give the right-wing an opportunity to organize their troops, dig up some fear mongering propaganda about the dangers of cohabitation and begin turning public opinion (sound familiar?) Congress must find a way to expedite the military’s “review” process and get the ball rolling on a repeal before more fence sitters decide that they too “certainly” don’t support “repealing this policy.”

But DC Agenda is reporting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters today that “she’s unsure whether the House will overturn ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year before the Pentagon completes its review on implementing repeal.” “‘I don’t know,’ she said during her weekly press conference. ‘I’ll have to examine. We’ll take a look. We’ll sit down together and see what is the advantage of going first with legislation or would the legislation more aptly reflect what is in the review — or is it a two-step process?’”

Last Friday, Bill O’Reilly hosted a panel discussion about such hot “culture warrior” issues as President Obama’s call for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and CBS’s decision to run a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. During the DADT portion, O’Reilly asked “does anybody care about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ anymore’ and opined that “the only way I care about this is if the military brass would say, ‘look in our culture, with the military recruiting mostly conservative people…they’re not comfortable with openly gay people in the barracks.”

“It’s not about anti-gay,” he insisted. “It’s about being comfortable in the barracks. It’s not about anti-gay. I’ve seen polling that shows that most military people just don’t want openly gay people”:

OREILLY: I never objected to Bill Clinton’s vision, that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was okay. Just don’t talk about it. And don’t be coming out or whatever.

Watch a compilation:

While it’s unclear if O’Reilly’s concerns have been assuaged by the testimonies of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen or the opinion polls that suggest that a majority of conservative families who attend church at least once a week actually support the repeal, his argument that deliberately hiding one’s sexuality somehow improves morale does not hold up to real world experience.

As Danny Kaplan notes in this Foreign Policy magazine article about Israel’s successful integration of openly gay and lesbian troops into the armed forces, “Despite what military officials want to ask or insist on not asking, and despite what gay activists want soldiers to tell about their sexuality, most straight soldiers are not interested in hearing it, and many gay soldiers are not interested in telling it. They simply are what they are and find ways to function together. Policies restricting the participation of gay soldiers paradoxically make sexuality a more salient issue.” “The paradox is that when gays are allowed in the military, but not allowed to identify as such, everyone becomes suspected of being gay,” Kaplan writes. “It is no wonder that a rise in sexual harassment and homophobic crimes have been reported in the U.S. military ever since the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was introduced.”

Former Army officer Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) — a co-sponsor of legislation to repeal DADT — believes that O’Reilly argument — the idea that straight troops are just “not comfortable with openly gay people” — is really suggesting that American service members are “less professional and less mission capable than service members of other foreign militaries,” like Israel and 24 other nations. “As a former army officer that’s an insult to me and to many of the soldiers,” he said during a recent hearing.

(H/T: NewsHounds)

Despite saying he would consider repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) if military leaders like Colin Powell believed that “we ought to change the policy“, McCain appeared on Fox News’ Greta van Susteren yesterday to argue that he only wants to hear from leaders that agree with his position.

“I respect the views of Admiral Mullen, who said it was his individual opinion, that we have not heard from the rest of the military leadership. And I’d be very interested in hearing from our military on this issue,” he said:

MCCAIN: So I think, again, when I talk to men and women in the military, they say it’s not broke, it’s not broken, so we don’t need to fix it. … I hope we’re going to get the opinion from our military leadership…If they can show me the evidence that it needs to be changed, obviously, then I would give that serious consideration. That has been my consistent policy. But I do believe that the policy in effect today is working.

Watch it:

McCain dismisses Mullen’s “individual opinion” but says he hopes to hear “the opinion from our military leadership” and suggests that he values the individual opinions of military members who “say it’s not broke, it’s not broken, so we don’t need to fix it.” After all, the overwhelming majority say they are comfortable serving alongside openly gay and lesbian soldiers.

McCain’s reluctance to listen to opposing view points also explains his certainty that DADT “is working.” Since 1994, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has resulted in the discharge of more than 13,000 military personnel across the armed services and cost the nation at least $190.5 million over 10 years. A 2005 General Accounting Office (GAO) report also found that “757 (about 8 percent) of the 9,488 servicemembers discharged for homosexual conduct” from 1994 through fiscal year 2003 held critical occupations” and 209 servicemembers studied an “Important Foreign Language.”