The U.S. Supreme Court is looking to fill the vacancy of Justice John Paul Stevens upon Stevens' retirement, and it President Barack Obama has nominated Solicitor General of the United States Elena Kagan to be the next Justice. Coming from a fairly conservative perspective, I have my own concerns about confirming someone whose values and views of the Constitution may not always reflect my own. I believe the citizens of this nation have the expectation to be very clear on the nominee's position on various points.
One of the issues Kagan is being grilled about is her attitude toward the military in general. Some have painted her as "anti-military," and much of this rhetoric stems from her time as Dean of the Harvard Law School. Kagan viewed the U.S. military as a discriminatory group based off the military's well-known policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regarding homosexuality. Her view did not ban military recruiters from Harvard's campus, but limited the forums in which they could meet with students.
I've recently been introduced to an article from The Washington Post, written by a Marine Officer who was a student at Harvard during Kagan's tenure. This article counters the anti-military version of Kagan to such an extent that I feel a bit better about her nomination.
On a personal note, it will be interesting to hear her views on the Second Amendment.
I heard that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) allow homosexuals in their Army. Obama himself endorsed homosexuals in the U.S. military during his state of the Union address. So Kagan’s views are somewhat irrelevant.
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