DO ASK DO TELL: If anyone told me 20 years ago that the military would actually reverse its heinous DADT policy against homosexuals which prevented them from serving in the military of a country they love, I would have thought they were daft. This ugly policy, sealed into incrementally horrid law since Truman, has been reversed in a hard slog by groups who were not only brave but among the most fervent patriots arguing for the essence of this nation. Our Declaration of Independence espouses a fundamental belief that all men can pursue their happiness as long as that happiness is not illegal. Clearly, one's sexual identity hurts no one and is important mainly to those who feel it. Forcing human beings into a prison where they cannot even TALK about their feelings is theater of the absurd at best.

Those who were the biggest adversaries against the repeal are coincidentally the most hateful, mean and bigoted human beings who find a home in the Republican Party which opens its religious extremist arms to them. The reversal of DADT will not affect most in the electorate. What it does show, in crystal clear fashion, is how the two parties differ. It offers the electorate a choice. It shows why those of us who care about preserving equality, preserving civil liberties, preserving a country's humanity will chose the Democratic Party when voting for elected officials.

DADT was morally reprehensible and went against the prevailing scientific, psychiatric and psychological expertise determined over decades that human sexuality is one of variation. Moreover, DADT made our country's military less proficient because it terminated thousands who possessed the highest intellect and special skills necessary in the fight against enemies who would to do harm to the nation. It made us more vulnerable not less, less understanding not more, and less democratic, a value for which we supposedly fight. How prudent and savvy is that?

Now it can be said DO ASK AND DO TELL. When the clock struck 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 that is EXACTLY what everyone, to whom repeal of DADT meant something, did!

Kudos, America. You just won one for the essence of who we should be and hopefully, more so now, are!