Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has again come out against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, this tie saying that, “Unless I’m Michael Jackson, I can’t change my color. But people can change behavior.” People, meaning gay people, whom West presumably thinks can just become straight — or act like it to please his sense of right and wrong.
“Dubbing the military implementation of DADT repeal as ‘considerable social experimentation,’ the Heritage Foundation asked West what top leadership can do “to ensure that force effectiveness is sustained at a superior level,†writes Think Progress. “West opted to ‘put it very simple,’ stating that the military does not conform to the individual or ‘a very small special interest group’ like the LGBT community.”
Earlier this month at a town hall meeting, West falsely told his constituents that “China is in control of the Panama Canal.” Also recently, West was caught saying that liberal women are “neutering American men,†and called President Obama a “low level Socialist agitator.”
READ: Allen West: “China Is In Control Of The Panama Canal,” One Of Many Falsehoods
But West is perhaps best known for this false statement:
“I had a Top Secret/​Security Compartmented Information classification, that is the highest you can have in the United States Army. You don’t get a security classification like that if you have financial issues like that. I still retain a Secret security clearance. And I tell you, if you look at the application for a security clearance, I have a clearance that even the president of the United States cannot obtain because of my background.â€
The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell faced a setback last week when the Republican House voted to include three anti-LGBT bills in their final version of the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate must now work to relieve the Act of those bills. It is unclear if the President would sign the bill if it includes the anti-gay amendments.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has not yet been repealed, contrary to what many believe. Rather, the President in late December signed the law that established a path for repeal.
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