History's coming verdict

TO be sure, there are vast differences between the desegregation of the armed forces in the 1950s and abolishing DADT today.

But Slate's Fred Kaplan reported one worthy parallel:

In what should be a particularly embarrassing section to the repeal's opponents, the study draws parallels between DADT and the military's racial segregation of more than a half-century ago. In a survey of more than 2,000 enlisted men in 1946, more than 80 percent of respondents agreed with the view that "white and Negro soldiers should not work, train, and live together." About 80 percent of white officers said they would not want to be assigned to a racially integrated unit.

History will render its final verdict of DADT, and I suspect it will confirm what we already know: It's sheer absurdity.