"Gay Question" General Linked To Clinton
This story was written by Kenneth P. Vogel.
The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's National Military Veterans group.
Retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr? was named a co-chair of the group this month, according to a campaign press release.
He was also active in John F. Kerry's 2004 campaign for president.
Kerr asked candidates "why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians."
After the debate former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, said on a CNN panel that he was being told Kerr was involved with the Democratic presidential campaign of Clinton, a New York senator.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who moderated the debate and the panel, said that if that was the case, CNN should have identified Kerr as such.
David Bohrman, a CNN senior vice president and executive producer of the debate,? later said: "We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
Kerr told CNN that he had not done work for the Clinton campaign, and CNN verified before the debate that he had not contributed money to any candidate, the broadcaster said in a blog post after the debate.
Kerry told CNN he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself, CNN said.
A Nov. 11 press release retrieved from the website of the non-partisan magazine Campaigns & Elections lists Kerr as one of nearly 50 co-chairs of "Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary."
Clinton's campaign did not respond to an e-mail asking about Kerr's role in her campaign or whether he was acting on behalf of the campaign.
Kerr also was on 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's National Veterans Steering Committee, according to a campaign press release retrieved from the website of George Washington University.
And Kerr appears to be an active opponent of the U.S. military's current stance on gays and lesbians serving the military, the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
He appeared on the now-defunct CNN partner network CNNfn in Dec. 2003 to discuss the tenth anniversary of the policy. According to a transcript, he called it "a tremendous waste of personnel, a tremendous waste of financial resources for the United States."
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, got first crack at Kerr's question. He said he thought having openly gay men and lesbian women in the military "would be bad for unit cohesion."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, answering next, basically agreed.
Cooper then singled out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who in 1994 said he looked forward to the day gays and lesbians could serve openly in the military.
Romney said times have changed. Though he said he laughed when he first heard talk of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and didn't think it would work, he said: "You know what? It's been there now for 15 years and it seems to have worked."
Cooper then turned to Kerr and asked whether he felt he got an answer to his question.
Kerr responded: "With all due respect, I did not get an answer from the candidates. American men and women in the military are professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.... Today, don't ask, don't tell is destructive to our military policy."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a decorated Vietnam veteran, got the last word on "don't ask, don't tell."
He said high-ranking military officials "almost unanimously, they tell me that this present policy is working. That we have the best military in history, we have the bravest, most profssional, best-prepared and that this policy ought to be continued because it's working."
The Politico The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's National Military Veterans group.
Retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr? was named a co-chair of the group this month, according to a campaign press release.
He was also active in John F. Kerry's 2004 campaign for president.
Kerr asked candidates "why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians."
After the debate former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, said on a CNN panel that he was being told Kerr was involved with the Democratic presidential campaign of Clinton, a New York senator.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who moderated the debate and the panel, said that if that was the case, CNN should have identified Kerr as such.
David Bohrman, a CNN senior vice president and executive producer of the debate,? later said: "We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the general's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
Kerr told CNN that he had not done work for the Clinton campaign, and CNN verified before the debate that he had not contributed money to any candidate, the broadcaster said in a blog post after the debate.
Kerry told CNN he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself, CNN said.
A Nov. 11 press release retrieved from the website of the non-partisan magazine Campaigns & Elections lists Kerr as one of nearly 50 co-chairs of "Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary."
Clinton's campaign did not respond to an e-mail asking about Kerr's role in her campaign or whether he was acting on behalf of the campaign.
Kerr also was on 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's National Veterans Steering Committee, according to a campaign press release retrieved from the website of George Washington University.
And Kerr appears to be an active opponent of the U.S. military's current stance on gays and lesbians serving the military, the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
He appeared on the now-defunct CNN partner network CNNfn in Dec. 2003 to discuss the tenth anniversary of the policy. According to a transcript, he called it "a tremendous waste of personnel, a tremendous waste of financial resources for the United States."
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, got first crack at Kerr's question. He said he thought having openly gay men and lesbian women in the military "would be bad for unit cohesion."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, answering next, basically agreed.
Cooper then singled out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who in 1994 said he looked forward to the day gays and lesbians could serve openly in the military.
Romney said times have changed. Though he said he laughed when he first heard talk of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and didn't think it would work, he said: "You know what? It's been there now for 15 years and it seems to have worked."
Cooper then turned to Kerr and asked whether he felt he got an answer to his question.
Kerr responded: "With all due respect, I did not get an answer from the candidates. American men and women in the military are professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.... Today, don't ask, don't tell is destructive to our military policy."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a decorated Vietnam veteran, got the last word on "don't ask, don't tell."
He said high-ranking military officials "almost unanimously, they tell me that this present policy is working. That we have the best military in history, we have the bravest, most profssional, best-prepared and that this policy ought to be continued because it's working."
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"Ohhhhhhh! Pleeeeeeeze!!!
Bush campaign screened, made people sign statements of loyalty, and then bussed in people to their events. which by the way often included "impromptu" televised Q&A sessions."
David - please see the documentary Spin by Brian Springer (available on the internet) and go 52 minutes into the documentary. Then grow up (a lot), or just take the blue pill.
- Democrat btw
Posted by nameverify
If you''re trying to imply that CNN is bias toward Clinton or the Democrats, then you need to stop smoking that stuff. It makes you paranoid!
I know that you and Rush need rehab. Please get help.
Bush campaign screened, made people sign statements of loyalty, and then bussed in people to their events. which by the way often included "impromptu" televised Q&A sessions.
By the way, Bush still looked like the oaf that he is, unable to articulate his way out even the most simplistic preset questions.
"What the hell does it matter who the man does or does not represent. He is a citizen of the United States. It was a questions he wanted to ask, therefore it was a question they needed to answer!"
Well, it does matter and that''s THE issue. Integrity of the debate process. Primaries are where party members determine who they want to represent THEIR party. Validity of the question is not an issue. Disclosure, integrity and manipulation of content are.
So far the following have been identified in addition to Kerr as having formal affiliations with opposing parties and/or candidates:
Abortion Questioner: Declared Edwards supporter.
Log Cabin Republican Questioner: Declared Obama supporter.
Lead Toy Questioner: Prominent union activist, and endorser of John Edwards.
Muslim Questioner: former CAIR intern (CAIR is an organization with known ties to Islamic terrorist networks).
Social Security Questioner: Adam Florzak quit his job with Caterpillar to work with *** Durbin on Social Security reform.
%u201CPaulBot%u201D Questioner: Mark Strauss, a declared Bill Richardson supporter.
Corn Subsidies Questioner: Ted Faturos, a former intern for Rep. Jane Harman (D-California)
Black Republicans Questioner: David McMillan, declared Obama supporter and %u201CUncle-Tom%u201D hunter.
-- Democrat and disgusted.
Kevin Naff, editor of the Washington Blade, underscores that issue today in his Gay Rights 101 editorial.
"The mainstream media work hard to keep *** and lesbians in the closet. Gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans characters account for just 1.1 percent of all scripted characters on the five broadcast networks, according to GLAAD. And mainstream news outlets don%u2019t fare much better, routinely declining to report on the sexual orientation of gay celebrities like Jodie Foster, Queen Latifah and Anderson Cooper."
I guess it''s understandable that a news organization without the guts to identify YouTube question sources won''t let the debate''s moderator out of the closet.
This debate is for those people voting in the Republican Primary to make up their minds. How dare CNN and YouTube give our right to ask questions to those ineligible to vote in our primaries.
The whole facade angered me almost as much as the fact that the top 4 front runners arent even remotely the True Blue Republicans they hold themselves out to be.
A Massachusetts Liberal and a NY Liberal tied for the lead of the Republican nomination?
I wish McCain would just be honest and run as a Democrat, he might actually win. And Huckabee? Is he our answer to John Edwards? Or Huck Finn?
While I respect McCain''s service, he does not have the sole moral authority to answer a military question.
That is like saying only a murderer has the moral authority to decide how other murderers should be handled by our Judicial System.
Apparently I was the only one who wasn''t offended by the Thompson ad. Hearing the true views of the candidates not colored by politcal expediency was a refreshing change of pace from the rest of the evening.
Side note:
Why was Tancredo only allowed one true opportunity to speak?
I mean he IS running isn''t he?
Not one commentator I have heard anywhere has even said his name post debate. CNN mentioned him once. ONCE!
It''s at the point where I think Tancredo may just be a figment of my imagination :)
CNN owes no apology to anybody. They hosted the debate, they get to choose the questions. I haven''''t read anywhere that there''''s a rule that a democrat can''''t ask a republican a question and expect an answer!
This is absurd!
Posted by RowdyTexan2
Every one of these people that asked the questions were posers. They were listed as undecided but our G/Ay captain supports Hillary, Mommey supports Edwards that the third one Obama. These people were posers and like their questions, plants.
CNN owes no apology to anybody. They hosted the debate, they get to choose the questions. I haven''t read anywhere that there''s a rule that a democrat can''t ask a republican a question and expect an answer!
This is absurd!