Her music is catchy, her style outlandish and her attitude brash. Now add political ball-buster to pop sensation Lady Gaga's impressive list of attributes.
Speaking at a rally in Maine Monday, Gaga officially threw herself front and center into the military's 17-year-old "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy which allows gays to serve but not disclose their homosexuality or act on it.
Gaga growled, "Doesn't it seem to be that DADT is backwards. Doesn't it seem that we're penalizing the wrong soldier? Doesn't it seem to you that we should send home the prejudiced? The straight soldier who hates the gay soldier? The straight soldier whose performance is affected because he is homophobic? The straight soldier who has prejudice in his heart, in the space where the military asks him to hold to our core American values ... he instead holds and harbors hate, and he gets to stay and fight for our country."
Bravo, I say. We need more "voices of a generation" like Lady G to use their massive celebrity to help bring about much needed change in America. To help the small-minded and frightened close the discrimination gap.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a Gaga groupie or anything. In fact, she's not even in my iPod. Oh, she's certainly very talented and is a real fav of my 22 and 24 year old daughters. But, at almost 51, my heart still belongs to Madonna, of whom Gaga is a tad derivative. More importantly though, I now have immense respect for her as a person, in particular, a young person, who has achieved gargantuan success so quickly, and who has just as quickly realized how she can use this immense fame to make a difference in peoples lives. She's not just a marketing and branding genius, but one of those rare people who truly have their fingers on the pulse of society and culture. Many more good things to come from her politically I suspect, and hope.
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Bryan Safi: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Me -- It's Just More of the Same
check it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDO4g9THrQ0&p=3FDD38E6725A815C&playnext=1&index=54
enjoy,
Our Freedom is under attack by the Radical Right Religious Fringe that has infiltrated and bought the Republican Party to their knees! Now, these same regilious zealots want to assault our MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 20th Century! Including “legislating morality” in our Country!
Sarah Palin and her Madd as Hatters Tea Party are a direct threat to our Freedom of Religion, Civil Rights, Women’s Right - our Rights to the OUR Arts and Sciences! The way she rails at the Media - Free of the Press could make that list!
Americans across this great country- Know your Rights!
STAND UP for YOUR RIGHTS - STAND UP with your voice and your VOTE2 in the midterms!
Rock the Vote2 in the Midterms Lady Gaga! If anyone can save her Country in the Midterms – It’s YOU and the collective American Entertainment industry!
“Let Freedom Ring – Let Freedom Ring – from Every every corner of America Let Freedom Ring" MLK
Missile gap: The original _____ gap. The USSR supposedly had more missiles, so we needed to close the missile gap by building more.
Achievement gap: The great _____ gap of our time. Kids with all the advantages attain more academic achievement, so we need to close the achievement gap by giving poor kids a fair chance.
Discrimination gap: A new contender in the field of _____ gaps. Apparently the cynical and devious perpetrate more discrimination, so we need to help the small-minded and frightened close the discrimination gap ... .
My initial impression, given the sensationalisation her persona embodies, was that she was another attention grabber. Not having heard her sing, (Is that what she does?), I have to admit, I'm was wrong.
Here's a young woman, tactics aside, with a class act. She seems to have more on the ball than SP or CD. The image of her drubbing the air with her right arm from the podium is terrific.
If the military can lead de-segregation on race, and it did, they ought to be able to accommodate openly gay service people. Come on guys, these are the freedoms that you are fighting for.
I'm 56, and the only Gaga song I have is "Poker Face." But I could not be more proud of her.
I get the impression Rachel Maddow is also a fan - wonder if that interview will ever happen?
Did you serve? The policy is being reviewed by those in the military and should be resolved there. The simple fact is that the don't ask, don't tell policy probably protects gays from torment and ridicule in the military.
Do you really think it's necessary for people to know what "anyone's" sexual preference is? I don't. It's a personal thing, isn't it?
So, Lady Gaga thinks she is an authority on human relations...........
Democrats can force the Republicans to actually filibuster. Any senator can talk for as long as he wants unless there is a 60 vote call for cloture. But that doesn't mean he gets bathroom breaks, or gets to rest. As soon as the Majority Leader calls for a quorum and there isn't one, the filibuster is over. So the Republicans have to stick around to keep the filibuster going. It can be an ordeal if Democrats are willing to go to the mat.
Lastly, there is the Nuclear Option. A senator calls for a procedural ruling on the filibuster, the VP rules against it, the majority votes against the filibuster and there's no more filibuster rule. Simple majorities rule.
So there are options. Someone should tweet Lady Gaga. Telling Harry Reid won't help.
Horrors.....