Very refreshing

There is an excellent op-ed piece in the Washington Post today, by a former Republican senator and Army vet, responding to Gen. Peter Pace's recent comments about how homosexuality is "immoral" and therefore "don't ask, don't tell" should stay in place. Mostly it's just refreshing to hear this kind of common sense talk come from people actually within the Republican party:

According to the Government Accountability Office, more than 300 language experts have been fired under "don't ask, don't tell," including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. This when even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently acknowledged the nation's "foreign language deficit" and how much our government needs Farsi and Arabic speakers. Is there a "straight" way to translate Arabic? Is there a "gay" Farsi? My God, we'd better start talking sense before it is too late ...

Gen. Pace is entitled, like anyone, to his personal opinion, even if it is completely out of the mainstream of American thinking. But he should know better than to assert this opinion as the basis for policy of a military that represents and serves an entire nation.