“Decisive and overwhelming.”
Today in Poor Governance:
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.” — Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America
1) Transgender individuals who choose to serve in our volunteer military are fully aware that they are entering a culture that is hostile to them. That they choose to serve anyway is a testament to their patriotism and deep belief that they can provide greater security for their fellow American citizens. Their commitment deserves to be honored at the same level as that of any other soldier, not dismissed by a hateful commander-in-chief.
2) The “tremendous” medical costs that President Russian Asset refers to in his three-tweet decree are borne of the assumption that all who identify as transgender also choose to undergo gender reassignment therapy or surgery. This blanket ban is based on an idea that transgender soldiers represent an unnecessary financial burden, and encapsulates the president’s consistent mode of ignorance and lizard-brained fear of anybody who fails to live within his narrow scope of legitimate humanity.
Incidentally: The military’s TRICARE program covers hormone injections and other surgical remedies for impotency. And it should, as it should also be willing to provide for any transgender soldier who feels gender reassignment is a necessity for their well-being. For what an American soldier may be called upon to sacrifice — that is to say, everything — offering them the care they require to make them feel healthy and whole should be an expense we are willing to pay, without debate over which of them are most deserving of said care.
3) A military that “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” should also be availing itself of every potential resource that contributes to such victory. During the opening years of the campaign against al-Qaeda, the Bush administration repeatedly shot strategy in the foot by maintaining anti-LGBT policies such as DADT — dismissing not only infantry members, but also capable translators, intelligence analysts, and other talented service members whose work could have saved lives and advanced the military closer to the completion of their purported mission.
This policy, as the policies before it, is a declaration that the American military is more afraid of LGBT personnel in its ranks than it is of the enemy they are facing. Such a declaration is insulting and unworthy of the institution as a whole.
4) “Thank you.” You are not welcome. Don’t issue sweeping military reforms via Twitter and don’t phrase them like employment rejection letters, you tone-deaf buffoon.
Creative Control 