Federal Non-Discrimination Policy - Race, Religion, . . . Sexual Practices?

The latest alert from the Family Research Council focuses on an under-publicized, unhealthy instance of mission creep in federal policy:

"Sexual Orientation" Should Not Be a Protected Class

During the previous administration, President Clinton issued an executive order making "sexual orientation" a protected class in the federal government's discrimination policy. Clinton's order went way beyond any act of Congress or U.S. law and raised "sexual orientation" to the level of race and religion. This was clearly a move to satisfy the homosexual political lobby.

When Scott Bloch took over as new head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for the Bush Administration, he accurately pointed out that "sexual orientation" is not a protected class and directed the OSC to start removing the Clinton-imposed regulation from federal documents.

However, the current White House didn't have the stomach for the public relations battle that would likely ensue. The homosexual lobby began putting pressure on Bloch and eventually forced him to retreat.

Send the White House an email today, and tell them to drop "sexual orientation" from the list of protected classes.

You can find this alert, plus a list of all the Family Research Council alerts here. All include the handy CapWiz form for communicating with the relevant elected officials.


Quality Punditry

Charles Krauthammer offers a workable plan in Iraq is Vietnam not on the ground, but in our heads:

The first George Bush once said he thought the Gulf War would cure America of the Vietnam syndrome. He was wrong. There is no cure for the Vietnam syndrome. It will only go away when the baby-boom generation does, dying off like the Israelites in the desert, allowing a new generation, cleansed of the memories and the guilt, to look at the world clearly once again.

It was inevitable that Iraq would be compared to Vietnam. Indeed, the current comparisons are hardly new. During our astonishingly fast dash to Baghdad, taking the capital within 21 days, the chorus of naysayers was already calling Iraq a quagmire on Day 8! It was not Vietnam then. It is not Vietnam now. . . .

This is no time for despair. We must put down the two rebellions -- Fallujah's and Sadr's -- to demonstrate our seriousness, then transfer power as quickly as we can to those who will inherit it anyway, the Shiite majority with its long history of religious quietism and wariness of Iran. And antagonism toward their former Sunni oppressors. If the Sunnis continue to resist and carry on a civil war, it will then be up to the Shiites to fight it, not for Americans to do it on their behalf.

Hardly the best of all possible worlds. But it is a world we could live with.

The Heritage Foundation has an interesting analysis of How Washington Spends Your Taxes.

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