Former Pennsylvania senator and 2012
presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has accused military leaders of
being “blinded” by political correctness on the question of
whether to repeal “don't ask, don't tell,” the law that forbids
gay troops from serving openly.
Santorum made his remarks on Saturday
at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington,
DC.
When a self-identified “army wife”
asked Santorum his thoughts on the policy, the anti-gay Republican
first suggested that gay men and lesbians could simply not enter the
military.
“The military is there for one
purpose and one purpose only, and that is to protect and defend the
United States of America. We have a volunteer army. They can
un-volunteer too.”
He then suggested that political
correctness had infiltrated the military.
“Political correctness is reigning in
the military right now,” Santorum added. “Some people say:
Whatever the generals say. I'm not too sure that we haven't so
indoctrinated the officer corps in this country that they can
actually see straight to make the right decision.”
While the line went over well at the
three-day conservative meet-up, it did little to help Santorum's
presidential standing with the crowd. According to the CPAC
presidential straw poll, only 2% support Santorum as their candidate
in 2012. Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a Republican, won that honor,
capturing 31% of the vote.