TPM Reader TS got a chance to give the Pentagon some feedback on DADT:

I didn’t get an invite to take that ridiculous survey but I was invited to send a comment to the DoD Comprehensive Review Working Group. The invitation came with this: “This is a non-confidential Online Inbox. Please do not use your name or the names of others within your comment.”

I was given a 1000-character limit. I am not an eloquent writer but I managed to write the paragraph pasted below. I would argue that it is fairly representative of the feelings of a large majority of the military I am currently working with.

“You already know that homosexuals have been serving in the US Military since the US Military began and you also know that DADT is going to go away. Instead of sending out surveys and soliciting comments the military and policymakers need to man up and start giving orders. If service members don’t like it after DADT is gone and homosexuals are serving openly, they can choose to resign their commission or not re-enlist. Its so simple. If the US Military can survive the resignation of Generals such as McChrystal, we can survive the loss of what I would predict is a very small number of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who are incapable of putting their fears and prejudices aside to work alongside homosexuals (with whom they are most likely already working.) No military member serving today is so proficient or skilled at their job that they cannot be replaced.”

David Kurtz

David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.