OK For Gay Soldier To Bleed For Country, But Not To Stay In Army

There are days when I don't know whether to get pissed off or to cry for what my country is supposed to be – and isn't.

Being a liberal blogger is easy in terms of the sheer volume of material that's suitable for comment and difficult to the extent that the daily news is like a bottomless pit of things to raise one's blood pressure.

Coming across the news wires last night, was the story of 23-year-old Robert Stout, an Army sergeant, combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who was discharged yesterday, despite his desire to stay in the military and serve his country.

Why? Because he's gay.

Stout received his Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds to his face, arm and legs after a grenade exploded near him as he manned a Humvee machine gun in Iraq.

At a time when our military is horribly overextended and the Marines and Army are woefully short of their recruiting targets, how stupid is it to discharge an obviously courageous solider, who wants to remain in the Army, because of his sexual orientation?

Every day this administration finds a new and improved way of being stupid.

Good luck to you, Sergeant Stout. This Army doesn't deserve your sacrifice.