Yesterday’s DADT Hearings

Via Nancy Pelosi’s YouTube channel, here’s freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy’s (D-PA) most excellent grilling of Elaine Donnelly of the anti-gay Center For Military Readiness about her opposition to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, followed by the testimony of openly gay Iraq veteran Eric Alva, who lost a leg in combat.

Chris Johnson live-blogged the hearing on HRC’s BackStory. Here’s a snippet of his commentary from Donnelly’s testimony:

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness is speaking. There is an audible burst of laughter from the overflow room when Donnelly throws in a “San Francisco left” phrase just for dramatic effect. Another guffaw from the crowd when Donnelly expresses her concern over gay men sharing a “cramped submarine” with other soldiers. OMG: There is an older lady in the room who just turned around to the room brimming with youngsters and yelled issued the warning, “Show respect while she speaks!” She looks right at me when she finishes. (…Was it the tie?) WELL OKAY! The room keeps laughing at Donnelly’s outrageous statements. The older woman is obviously losing this fight. “They’re just disrespectful people!” she hisses. “Equal opportunity is important, but the needs of our military must come first,” are Donnelly’s closing words. I guess the words from generals and veterans who have actually served in the military don’t mean anything to her, huh?