In an interview earlier this week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace called homosexuality “immoral” and said he supports the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy because the military “should not condone immoral acts.” Days later, Pace said, “I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views.”

Today, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) condoned Pace’s comments in an op-ed for the USA Today:

Against the backdrop, liberals in the USA are making another attempt to force open homosexuals into America’s military population. In a media question-and-answer session, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated his personal view that homosexuality was immoral.

Gen. Pace’s principles reflect the strong aversion of our Marines and soldiers to homosexual conduct. These moral principles also reflect the position of the predominantly conservative families who send their young men and women to serve in the U.S. military.

But the views among servicemembers differ from Hunter’s — and Pace’s — personal feelings. Last December, a Zogby Interactive poll of servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan found 73 percent of those polled were “comfortable with lesbians and gays.” A 2004 poll found that a majority of junior enlisted servicemembers believed gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, up from 16 percent in 1992.

UPDATE: In an op-ed for the Washington Post entitled, “Bigotry That Hurts Our Military,” former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) calls for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He voted for the policy in 1993. “This policy has become a serious detriment to the readiness of America’s forces,” Simpson writes, “as they attempt to accomplish what is arguably the most challenging mission in our long and cherished history.”

The Congressional Black Caucus Institute is apparently planning two debates, and one of them may still be with Fox, so keep the pressure on.

UPDATE: In somewhat related news:

Former U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. is going to work for Fox News Channel as a political commentator, the network announced this morning.

Now heading the Democratic Leadership Council and working for Merrill Lynch, the former Congressman from Memphis was bested by Republican Bob Corker in the November election.

Today during a press briefing in Mexico, President Bush attempted to defend his prosecutor purge, stating that firing prosecutors “has been a customary practice by presidents. U.S. attorneys and others serve at the pleasure of the President. Past administrations have removed U.S. attorneys. It is their right to do so.” Watch it:

Mass firings are common when a president takes office. But as current and former administration officials have confirmed, Bush’s purge of well-qualified prosecutors is unprecendented.

Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson (resigned two days ago), 1/9/07:

In recent memory, during the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, Presidents Reagan and Clinton did not seek to remove and replace U.S. Attorneys to serve indefinitely under the holdover provision.

Former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, 3/8/07:

Mr. Rove’s claims [last week] that the Bush administration’s purge of qualified and capable U.S. attorneys is “normal and ordinary” is pure fiction. Replacing most U.S. attorneys when a new administration comes in — as we did in 1993 and the Bush administration did in 2001 — is not unusual. But the Clinton administration never fired federal prosecutors as pure political retribution.

Former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White, 3/5/07:

However, throughout modern history, my understanding is, you did not change the U.S. attorney during an administration, unless there was some evidence of misconduct or other really quite significant cause to do so.

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Former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) revealed yesterday that Karl Rove pressured him in 2001 to choose a U.S. Attorney who he believed would be lenient in probing state corruption, the Chicago Tribune reports. Fitzgerald ended up choosing Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation), who was later named Special Prosecutor in the CIA leak case.

From the Tribune:

[Rove told Sen. Fitzgerald] in the spring of 2001 that he should limit his choice for U.S. attorney in Chicago to someone from Illinois.

According to Fitzgerald, who was determined to bring in a prosecutor from outside the state, Rove “just said we don’t want you going outside the state. We don’t want to be moving U.S. attorneys around.”

Fitzgerald said he believes Rove was trying to influence the selection in reaction to pressure from Rep. Dennis Hastert, then speaker of the House, and allies of then-Gov. George Ryan, who knew Fitzgerald was seeking someone from outside Illinois to attack political corruption.

Fitzgerald said he announced his choice, Patrick Fitzgerald, a New Yorker, on May 13, a Mother’s Day Sunday, to pre-empt any opposition.

According to Peter Fitzgerald, a year or so later, Karl Rove “said to me that Fitzgerald appointment got great headlines for you, but it ticked off the base.” Peter Fitzgerald said he believes the “base” was Illinois Republican insiders “upset at the prosecutor’s assault on corruption.”

Little did Rove know that Fitzgerald would be ticking him and the White House off two years later.

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(HT: TP reader Linda)