Quick Hit: One Step Closer

The era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell might finally be coming to a close!

Mr. Chili and I have been re-watching The West Wing and loving every second of it.  In the episode “Let Bartlet be Bartlet,” White House staffers are holding talks to try to get a feel for how to reverse DADT, when Admiral Fitzwallace, played by the incomparable John Amos, walks in.  He asks the officers in the meeting whether they think that letting gays serve openly in the military will “disrupt unit discipline and cohesion,” which, of course, they do.  Fitzwallace replied:

The problem with that is that’s what they were saying to me 50 years ago.  Blacks shouldn’t serve with Whites.  It would disrupt the unit.  You know what?  It did disrupt the unit.  The unit got over it; the unit changed.  I’m an admiral in the U.S. Navy and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Beat that with a stick.

Ten Things Tuesday

Ten things I love about warm weather:

1.  Driving with the windows open.

2.  Fresh fruit, particularly watermelon, rhubarb, blueberries, and strawberries.

3.  Sleeping with the windows open.

4.  The particular scent in the air when the weather is warm.

5.  Wildlife: peepers, chickadees, and nuthatches.

6.  Flowers: clematis, irises, lilacs, and black-eyed Susans.

7.  Dinner off the grill; steaks, lemon chicken, burgers, and dogs.  Oh, and the corn on the cob and macaroni salad that come with them.

8.  Short pants, scooters (shorts with skirts over) and tank tops.

9.  Late sunsets and early sunrises.  I like waking up when the lights are already on.

10.  Spending time outdoors.  While I’m not exactly what you’d call a nature girl, I do love being out in my yard; very little makes me happier in the spring and summer than sitting in my yard with a big glass of iced green tea and a good book.