Ashley Broadway-Mack of the LGBT-activist AMPA has been at the forefront of claiming\u00a0US military leadership has\u00a0“opposed”\u00a0President Trump’s\u00a0ban on transgenders in the military. In a recent press release, she repeated the most common refrains — which are the AMPA’s conveniently twisted interpretations\u00a0of what was actually said:<\/p>\n
Military commanders have already gone on the record as being opposed to this move.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That statement is outright false. She does not cite a single “military commander” who is “on the record” opposing the President, and not one has.\u00a0 To do so would have been national news, as a uniformed military officer opposing his Commander-in-Chief is a significant — and potentially criminal — offense.\u00a0 It hasn’t happened, yet Broadway portrays it as foregone.\u00a0 Further: <\/p>\n
CNN has reported that Secretary Mattis worked against efforts to impose this policy via the National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That statement is mostly accurate, but it leaves out a key detail: Why<\/em> did Secretary Mattis do some legislative lobbying on the transgender issue?\u00a0\u00a0Mattis appears to have convinced Rep Hartzler that the military would take care of it on its own<\/a>, without legislative intervention — though Hartzler reserved the right to re-engage if necessary. In a manner of speaking, Secretary Mattis telegraphed<\/em> President Trump’s ban — he didn’t oppose it.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Joseph Dunford, issued a public statement that indicated policy would not be implemented on the basis of tweets.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Again, that’s sort of accurate in content, but not in intent. Gen Dunford did not say the President’s decision wouldn’t<\/em> be implemented. He just said the military — not the President — needed to develop the implementation for it before it became policy. That’s a statement of process, not opposition, and anyone who has ever implemented the “order” of a General who just made a sideways comment knows that when the commander says something, that is<\/em> policy.\u00a0 You don’t tell him he has to put it in a memo — you figure out how to get it done.<\/p>\n
Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Paul Zukunft, made a point to indicate that he would stand by transgender service members.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Adm Zukunft’s statement is an interesting case of having cake and eating it, too. If Adm Zukunft is “military leadership,” as Broadway would claim to establish legitimacy, then some have said he is at risk over his apparent insubordination to the President as his Commander-in-Chief — if the phrase “standing by” is, in fact, considered “opposition” to Trump’s policy statement.\u00a0 But most are saying Adm Zukunft is relatively immune because while he is part of the military, the Coast Guard isn’t part of the Pentagon, because he actually works for the Department of Homeland Security. (The Coast Guard’s relationship with the military can be complicated.)<\/p>\n