Today’s report about the status of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is nauseating:

Looking forward to changes to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy?” Don’t hold your breath.

The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler reports today that the drive in Congress to repeal the policy appears all but lost for the foreseeable future. [...]

Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and John McCain of Arizona, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, are in talks on stripping the proposed repeal and other controversial provisions from a broader defense bill, leaving the repeal with no legislative vehicle to carry it.

What are these big, brave supporters of our troops so afraid of?  Absolutely nothing, if you listen to those who, you know, have actually been there.

Via the L.A. Times letters to the editor:

Get over it

Re ” ‘Don’t ask’ — just do it,” Editorial, Nov. 3

As a veteran, I believe the question needs to be asked: Are our troops so “sensitive” that we need to do a study as to how the integration of gays and lesbians will affect them?

Please. We had gays in our units back in 1961. Not once did I hear anyone voice a concern about sexual orientation.

All this discussion and examination of the appropriateness of getting rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell” makes me wonder if we’re talking about the concerns of military personnel or of those whose sensitivities are so fragile that we need to protect them from a reality that was very ordinary in the military of 50 years ago.

In fact, John McCain has been there, but I guess he’s one of the fragile ones.