"A Tough, No Non-Sense Guy"

. . . that's how News Hounds (motto: We watch FOX so you don't have to) describes Brigadier General Keith Kerr's appearance last night on The O'Reilly Factor.

General Kerr appeared on O'Reilly following his much-publicized question at last week's CNN/YouTube Republican Debate. And by all accounts, the General reminded O'Reilly how he earned his stars.

"O'Reilly tried to keep pushing the same angle but realized he had nothing to spin" after Kerr succinctly and clearly answered all of the host's questions, News Hounds says. And the FOX watchdog concludes by noting that, "Keith Kerr is obviously a very tough no nonsense guy and BOR knew that he wouldn't fall for the usual manipulative interview techniques."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Well done, General. All of us working for repeal salute you for another outstanding appearance.

- Steve Ralls

Programming Notes

Tonight's NBC Nightly News will feature a story about the 14th anniversary of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the 12,000 Flags for 12,000 Patriots exhibit on the National Mall. NBC's story will also feature an interview with SLDN communications associate, and former Navy linguist, Jason Knight.

And on Monday, Brigadier General Keith Kerr, a member of SLDN's military advisory council, will appear on The O'Reilly Factor to talk about his work to lift the ban.

Be sure to tune in . . .

The General is Back

When CNN announced earlier this week that it had removed Brigadier General Keith Kerr's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" question from re-broadcasts of the CNN/YouTube Republican debate, SLDN partnered with our friends at GLAAD to reach out to the network and ask that they re-insert the question.

As we've pointed out, there was no reason to remove General Kerr's question from future broadcasts of the debate, as the controversy surrounding the question was unfounded. CNN, representatives at SLDN and GLAAD told the network, should not be in the business of editing news and should not deprive viewers from the important opportunity to see the candidates debate this issue.

Late last night, we received word that the network will include the questions in re-broadcasts, which begin airing on CNN today.

SLDN applauds CNN for doing the right thing, and salutes our colleagues at GLAAD, especially national news director Cindi Creager, for their critical help in making this victory possible.

- Steve Ralls

A Time for Heroes

I first met Brigadier General Keith Kerr when, in 2003, I helped to coordinate his ‘coming out’ – along with another General and an Admiral – in the New York Times. General Kerr’s honesty made history, making him one of the highest ranking military leaders to ever publicly acknowledge that he is gay. It was a moment of immense pride for me, and I still consider the story one of the highlights of my time with Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

That pride was matched last night as I watched General Kerr address the Republican presidential candidates and call them out on their support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The General’s question was eloquent, pointed and necessary. Here, at last, was a decorated veteran, with 43 years of service under his belt, calling on our political leaders to do the right thing and lift the ban. I was at home, beaming with pride as I watched General Kerr challenge the candidates on their support for a prejudicial and unnecessary law. By 10:55pm, I was sure the good General had launched an effective and important debate in our country about open service in the military.

By 11pm, however, I was on the phone with reporters who had been tipped off, apparently, by Bill Bennett (he of oh so many morals) that General Kerr was a supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Mr. Bennett’s not-so-subtle insinuation was that General Kerr had been a Clinton ‘plant’ at the debate and that his motivation was to somehow initiate his own ‘shock and awe’ at the debate over the issue of gays in the military. Nothing, in fact, could have been further from the truth.

Continue reading A Time for Heroes at Bilerico.com . . .