Supporters of the ban contend there is still no empirical evidence that allowing gays to serve openly won’t hurt combat effectiveness.

Obviously, this is the argument you most frequently see used against atheists who are told, for some reason, that it’s their responsibility to “prove” that there is no god, but that’s not really a can of worms I’m hoping to open with this post. Rather, I’m more interested in noting that the inability to prove that A is false does not logically mean that A is therefore true, and such an assertion is a cowardly way of avoiding having to support your own assertion. That’s doubly so when there is significant evidence to contradict, though not deductively disprove, A (in this case, citing the examples of effective fighting forces with openly gay members in other countries, the attitudes of polled US Servicemen and women, etc.). Yet that is exactly what is being done here by proponents of DADT.

I can already hear the DADT proponents protesting, “But you have to prove us wrong, because the burden of proof is on you; you’re the one who wants to change the status quo.” Here’s where you’re misunderstanding things. Accepting the burden of proof doesn’t mean I have to disprove your argument, only that I must prove mine. I can objectively prove that allowing members of one sexual orientation to serve openly while not allowing members of another to do the same is, by definition, discriminatory and that is, without more, a violation of our equal protection laws. Now, it’s up to you to refute my proof by showing a good reason why my proof doesn’t warrant a change in the law. In other words, now it’s up to you to prove something. The same goes for gay marriage prohibitions and any other law which harms a citizen. If a law harms someone, then the proof to justify a potential change is automatically on the table. That levels the playing field. If you have arguments to back your position, lay them out, but don’t hide behind misplaced burden of proof. It’s on you now.

On an unrelated note, what a great time for Obama to step forward and introduce legislation to do exactly what this study recommends: repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Such a move would even win him back alot of the respect I’ve lost for him over his recent pandering to the religious right, and it wouldn’t even be that politically dangerous considering that 79% of the general public support repealing DADT (and 73% of military personal are themselves comfortable with gays and lesbians). This would be a great way this would be for our next President to show that he will stand strong in support of gay and lesbian citizens.

• For a 3 day weekend I didn’t get anything done. I intended to get several hours of freelance work done, the office entirely unpacked (still have boxes sitting around in there), dismantle and repaint a table for the kitchen, get my car washed, paint a painting I have in mind for the living room, do several loads of laundry. Of that I did a half hour of freelance work (which was time sensitive so I HAD to get that much done), bought the extra canvas for the painting for the living room and a can of spray paint for the table, and did one load of laundry.
• Perk of the new house: we can watch the professional fireworks they set off at the city stadium from our backyard. The downside is that they shoot fireworks off there, not just on the 4th of July (though that is the biggest show), but after every game (for instance Saturday night). This means every few Saturdays during baseball season, we get treated to a loud “POP! POP! P-P-POP! POP!” AROUND 9:30 OR 10pm. It’s actually only mildly annoying from inside (noticeable even with the TV on, but not loud), but if you’re outside, it sounds like somebody is firing a gun just down the road.
• TheBoyfriend™ and I are planning on doing P90X starting within a month (we need to purchase a few more pieces of exercise equipment to have all we need and we’re waiting to do so till next pay period). I’m simultaneously incredibly excited and scared out of my mind. Also thinking it kind of sucks that we’ll be finishing it right as the weather starts to cool down and I’ll have to hide my new body under heavier clothes. Oh well, if all goes well, maybe we can go on a maintenance routine and then hit it full force again round February or March to peak out in time for next summer.