… I think the folks who have been in the military that have been in these very close situations with each other, there has to be a special bond there. And I think that bond is broken if you open up the military to transgenders, to hermaphrodites, to gays and lesbians.
BLOCK: Transgenders and hermaphrodites?
Rep. HUNTER: Yeah, thats going to be part of this whole thing. Its not just gays and lesbians. Its a whole gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual community. If you're going to let anybody no matter what preference - what sexual preference they have that means the military is going to probably let everybody in.
Later Hunter dismissed Adm. Mullen’s support for repeal by saying that he’s a “political appointee”. He didn’t mention that both Chief of Staff Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were first appointed by President George W. Bush.
Elsewhere on NPR’s site, author Philip Gold, a former Marine offers a reasoned argument for immediate repeal of the policy: