We were pleasantly surprised – indeed, delighted – to have seen that none other than Bill O'Reilly came out in support of ending the counterproductive and discriminatory policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) in an appearance on the Tonight Show on Monday night.
Speaking to host Jay Leno, O’Reilly said, “It's just not fair, they should stop this nonsense.”
On this point, we could not agree with O’Reilly more strongly. DADT has cost nearly 14,000 committed men and women in the armed forces their military careers. President Obama’s administration and Congress have taken very positive steps toward the goal of finally ending this senseless discrimination once and for all, and it is critically important that they complete that work by passing a repeal of the policy this year.
We hope that Bill O’Reilly’s opposition to DADT serves to make the point that embracing open (and honest) service for all those in this country willing to risk their lives serving in the military is not a right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal issue: it’s a matter of simple fairness and equality.
