This is legal?

[IJ]

Two issues to think about.

One: no, we don't always call people on their embarassing public statements. Remember that general who said that gays were immoral? Couldn't he.... just leave it at "we have a don't ask don't tell policy because of concerns about unit cohesion" (which is the stated concern) or if he wanted to limit himself to plausible or factual claims "we have a don't ask, don't tell policy."? Why insert personal opinion into the matter? Either way... no significant censure or critique of any kind. Can you imagine if he said that he thought the moral fiber of minorities or women was lousy? I'm not asking for his head, and I do believe he should be able to say whatever he wants--but those with Iqs > 80 understand the best time is not when you're speaking as a voice of the US armed forces / government.

Two: I DO think people should be able to "cry about it" when they get beat up because of what they say. That's never the answer, unless we're in some kind of crisis situation (can't really think of one right now though). The right to speech includes the right to safe free speech. That's why we send police to KKK rallies at taxpayer expense. What kind of minority opinion could survive if the penalty for expressing it was violence? We may feel a bit of satisfaction if jerks get "what they deserve," but the same oppression would be meted out for civil rights activists or Ahmed for sharing his religious views, if we permitted this kind of garbage.