Two Historical Perspectives on the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

"I'm aware that this vote will probably pass today in a lame duck session. And there will be high fives all over the liberal bastions of America, and we'll see [on] the talk shows tomorrow, a bunch of people talking about how great it is. Most of them have never served in the military or maybe not even known someone in the military. And you know? We'll repeal it. And all over America, there'll be gold stars put up in windows in the rural towns and communities all over America that don't partake in the elite schools that bar military recruiters from campus, that don't partake of the salons of Georgetown and the other liberal bastions here around the country. But there'll be additional sacrifice. I hear that from master sergeants. I hear that from junior officers. I hear that from leaders. So, I am confident that with this repeal that our military, the best in the world, will salute and do the best they can to carry out the orders of the commander in chief.[....]. But don't think that it won't be at great cost.[....]. I hope that when we pass this legislation that we will understand that we are doing great damage. And we could possibly, and probably, harm the battle effectiveness which is so vital to the survival of our young men and women in the military."

- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Dec. 18 2010, speaking in opposition to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

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PRES HARRY S TRUMAN

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YOU AND YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS HAS COST YOU THE ELECTION. I HAVE ALWAYS VOTED FOR A DEMOCRAT, NOW I AM VOTING FOR THURMOND. WHY DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THE SOUTHERN MAN WILL NOT TOLERATE A NEGRO LOVER? HARRY YOU'RE THROUGH. YOU'VE DONE NOTHING SINCE YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE BUT TRY TO PUT MY DAUGHTER IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS A SOUTHERN NEGRO. I'LL BE GLAD WHEN NOVEMBER FOURTH COMES SO I CAN PROTEST YOU OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE. YOU'LL NEVER NEVER AGAIN BE RESPECTED IN THE SOUTH. WE SOUTHERN MEN ARE VERY EASY TO GET ALONG WITH WHEN WE LIKE. I'LL CONTINUE VOTING DEMOCRAT BUT I'LL VOTE FOR THURMOND TO PROTEST. YOU WON'T BE BACK IN WASHINGTON AFTER JANUARY. YOU SHOULD READ THE HISTORY ABOUT THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ABOUT THEM, WELL. IF YOU GO ANY FURTHER SOUTH, YOU'LL HELP DEWEY. I REPEAT, WE SOUTHERN MEN DON'T LIKE YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS. PERSONALLY I AM VERY BROADMINDED BUT I HAVE SOME DECENCY.

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HOWARD URIAH OMOHUNDRO

- telegraph from citizen Howard Henry Omohundro to President Harry S. Truman, following Truman's release of Executive Order 9981, which ended racial segregation in the U.S. Military, Sept. 30, 1948

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There are, of course, many differences between these two expressions of discontent. But despite variations in language and sentence structure, the overriding philosophy is the same - attacking imagined liberal enclaves for dragging the pure minds of decent small-town citizenry into the muck and mire of anti-American machinations.

Such similarities shouldn't be surprising, though. Bigots never go away and never die. They only attempt to explain away their voting record when the past finally condemns them.