McConnell's Court Martial for sodomy in 67 will be huge

[kpete]

Ohio Citizen ‏@OhioCitizen
I don't know if Judd is running but McConnell is going to have a hard time. His court martial for sodomy in 67 will be huge.

Naturally, I asked for clarification, and got this. Before seeing this tweet, I had had no idea that McConnell had ever served in the military.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4307109

The missing part of the story-?

Alan Lynch, a Lexington Postal Clerk, served in the 100th Army Reserve Unit, Louisville, Kentucky. He was in another unit in 1964 but the Army did a consolidation of units and he was transferred to the 100th in 1965 or 1966. He performed several duties while he served in the military as a postal clerk and personnel officer. Mr. Lynch has a remarkable story about the summer of 1967.

The summary of the story is as follows:

In the summer of 1967 Lynch reported for his summer active duty in the 100th Training Unit Army Reserve. The Unit did their summer active duty at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Lynch worked for S-1, the administrative arm of any army unit. Lynch worked for a Major, who was the assistant Adjutant and new to the unit. During his active duty in August of 1967 Lynch remembers coming into the office and noticed that the Major was upset. He asked him what was going on and the Major told him the following:

A new member of the 100th Army Reserve Unit in Basic Training at Ft. Knox was arrested in the barracks for sodomy. The guy is getting out of the military and the excuse will be due to an illness, an eye disorder. The Major then told a joke about it saying, "I guess the guy couldn't see the difference between guys and girls."

Lynch asked him how this guy could accomplish this and get a release from the army. The Major told him that the soldier had served as an intern to Senator John Sherman Cooper and Senator Cooper called the Commanding General of Ft. Knox to arrange the discharge.

At the time the Major told Lynch the name of the soldier but the name didn't stick to his brain. Lynch said frankly it was not important at the time because the name McConnell meant nothing to him. It was not until the issue was raised in McConnell's senate race of 1990 that he remembered the incident. Lynch provided the information to reporters with the Courier Journal and Herald Leader but they did nothing with it because they didn't have any real evidence. They only have the story of Lynch.

McConnell has been able to brush this whole thing off as a tempest in a teapot.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=2141
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/24/1189537/-The-Strange-and-Possibly-Sordid-Story-of-Mitch-McConnell-s-Military-Service
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4307109

[leveymg]

1. Do they all have skeletons like this? One point: he wasn't Court Martialled if he was granted a

medical discharge, with or without favoritism.

Why am I not surprised by any of this? I'm beginning to think that almost every member of the GOP leadership, and quite a few Dems, is somehow vulnerable to blackmail.

[Archae]

4. This is gossip.

Nothing more, nothing less.

We should be going after Turtle Boy on how frikkin' corrupt he is.

[leveymg]

8. They said that about Dubya's TANG AWOL, also. But, that

it was initially dismissed, or glanced over, as "gossip" doesn't make it untrue.

Personally, whether Turtle was busted for sodomy doesn't really matter, except it shows how politically-connected useful idiots are often given a pass.

[liberal N proud]

26. We take out the corrupt with anything that will stick

They tried to take down a President over a blow-job, a court martial or even the accusation could be enough, then we use it. If there is information that shows he was involved, then why not throw it at him. His team wouldn't hesitate for a second to do the same.

We have to beat them using their tactics until they understand they can't play the same way.

[Archae]

64. The ends justify the means then...

Well, Saddam was a bad guy...

[liberal N proud]

65. Beating the Turtle in an election they would otherwise rig isn't the same

as taking Saddam out.

The only way republicans win elections is by fixing them, how do you beat that without exposing the dirt they are hiding?

[LiberalFighter]

2. Should be interesting in Kentucky.

[Cork]

3. Is there any evidece, other than Lynch's story, that this is true?

Because if there is, this is huge and will sink McConnell like a stone in a pond.

[JPZenger]

6. I had heard he was kicked out of the Army after a couple weeks

There have been rumors about why, but I haven't seen evidence. If you were kicked out of boot camp in 67 during the height of the Vietnam War, while hundreds of thousands of draftees were needed for the ground war in Vietnam, it must have been very bad.

It is not like today, where the military doesn't want to want to waste spending time and money on training someone with a bad attitude. Back then, you were being trained to be dumped out of a helicopter into the jungle. Most of the guys with brains had already enlisted in the Navy, which never needed to draft anyone during Vietnam.

[Cork]

7. Thanks.

If there's no evidence, anyone going against him in the election should leave it alone, it could badly backfire and put McTurtle back in office.
Attack him on what is provable, not rumors.

[leveymg]

10. Circumstantially, a medical discharge for preexisting eye condition in '67 seems quite unlikely.

I'm inclined to assume that there's something to this, until McConnell produces some offsetting evidence.

[Cork]

11. Maybe, but back in 67, having flat feet also disqualified you from being a ground pounder.

Until there's some solid evidence, of something as inflammatory as this, it will be dismissed as a smear campaign and could very well backfire in a state like KY.

Of course, this is all just my observation.

[leveymg]

12. We have to ask, what credibility does Mike Rogers have, and what happened to Proud of Who We Are?

Here's the complete press release: http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/23/idUS244274+23-Oct-2008+PRN20081023

[Cork]

14. Very interesting.

Thank you for the article. I didn't know about this at all.
McTurtle should release his military records and put an end to all this speculation about why he was discharged.

[leveymg]

15. Looks like Rogers and POWWA got a lot of mainstream media coverage 2004-2009

Here's his page on the group's website: http://www.proudofwhoweare.org/media.html

Proud of Who We Are in the Media

The work of Proud Of Who We Are and Michael Rogers has been highlighted by CNN's NewsNight, Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, National Public Radio, The New York Times and a host of other media outlets.

Our organization is able to provide experts to speak with reporters and others seeking comment on the issue of calling government officials into account for their own hypocrisy.

To contact our media team, please write to:
[e-mail].

TELEVISION
Let's Talk Live, ABC/News 8, May 7, 2009 [video]
The View, ABC, May 22, 2009 [video]
Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC, December 22, 2008 [video]
Laura Ingraham Show, FOX News Channel, July 3, 2008 [video]
Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC, December 4, 2007 [video]
Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC, October 17, 2007 [video]
Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC, September 7, 2007 [video]
Hannity and Colmes, FOX News, September 4, 2007 [video]
The Ed Schultz Show, C-SPAN, August 30, 2007 [video]
Foley's Fear and Self Loathing, Current TV, November 1, 2006 [video]
The O'Reilly Factor, FOX News, October 10, 2006 [video]
The Tucker Carlson Show, MSNBC, October 5, 2006 [video]
Nancy Grace, CNN, October 4, 2006 [video]
WJLA-TV, Washington, DC ABC affiliate, October 2006 [video]
NewsNight with Aaron Brown, CNN [video]
O'Reilly Factor, Fox News, July 19, 2004 [video]

TELEVISION REFERENCES
The Bill Maher Show, Home Box Office, October 20, 2006 [video]
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Comedy Central, September, 2004[video]

RADIO
Talk of the Nation, National Public Radio, September 6, 2007 [audio]
All Things Considered, National Public Radio, October 13, 2006 [audio]

PRINT
Washingtonian Magazine, The Guest List, October 30, 2007 [link]
Washington Post, The Most Feared Man on the Hill?, September 4, 2007 [link]
Washington Post, Editorial: Mr. Craig's Secret, August 30, 2007 [link]
Salon, Scapegoating gay Republicans [Link]
ABC News, The Poltics of 'Outing' Politicians [Link] [PDF]
Miami Herald, Gays Comment on Foley Resignation [PDF]
Associated Press, Gay Community Still Divided Over 'Outing' [PDF]
Associated Press, U.S. Rep. Ed Schrock Announces Retirement Following Allegations He is Gay [PDF]
Washington Times, Schrock Quits Virginia Race, Leaves GOP Scrambling [PDF]
Chicago Tribune, O'reilly Scolds Guest Who Outed Gays, Then Calls Judge a Lesbian [IMAGE]
Cox News, Gay Aides 'Outed' In Battle Over Ban On Same-Sex Marriages [PDF]
LA Weekly, The Outing: David Dreier And His Straight Hypocrisy [PDF]
Panorama Magazine, Profile (in Italian) [PDF]
Associated Press, US Senators Targeted In Outing' Campaign [PDF]
Knight Ridder, Gay-rights Opponent Santorum Stands By Outed Aide [PDF]
San Francisco Chronicle, Activists Consider Ethics, Efficacy of Outing [PDF]
Mother Jones, The Gay Old Party Award [PDF]
The Washington Post, Editorial: Outing Mr. Schrock [PDF]

WEB
Huffington Post, Enough is Enough, September 6, 2007 [video]
Yahoo!News, Brokeback Hill, May 30, 2007 [video]


ARCHIVE STORY AUDIO
Audio tapes of US Congressman Ed Schrock seeking extramarital sexual encounters with gay men on the MegaMates interactive phone service. (Adult language)
[Audio 1] [Audio 2] [Audio 3] [Audio 4] [Audio 5] [Audio 6] [Audio 7]




Proud of Who We Are founder Michael Rogers

David Dreier is a Gay AmericanMichael Rogers is the founder of Proud Of Who We Are and the publisher of blogACTIVE -- the web site that reports on hypocrites in the government who work against the interests of the gay and lesbian community. Rogers also maintains a news and information website, PageOneQ.

Rogers's work exposing hypocrites in positions of political power has earned him national recognition. Prior to his current work, he was a fundraiser and non-profit executive for a variety of progressive causes.

Rogers' fundraising career began in 1988 when he joined the staff of Communicating The Future, the capital campaign of a four-station public broadcasting association. At the station, he worked with the station's programming department to launch a five-night lesbian and gay television film series in celebration of gay pride month, the city's first.

Rogers then served as the first Development Coordinator at New York's Hetrick-Martin Institute and Harvey Milk School, a social service agency and high school for lesbian and gay adolescents. While there, Rogers developed the agency's first major gifts program, managed two major motion picture premiere events, launched a direct mail acquisition program, expanded the agency's annual awards program and wrote the organization's first corporate solicitation grants.

From 1992 to 1996, Rogers managed the development and fundraising programs at the Funding Exchange, a national network of fifteen community-based foundations supporting social change. Rogers coordinated fundraising for the foundation's general operations, Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, OUT Fund for Lesbian and Gay Liberation and Saguaro Fund.

In 1996, Rogers moved to Washington DC to become Director of Development at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the nation's oldest lesbian and gay civil rights organization. In addition to his work at the Task Force, Rogers directed marketing, fundraising and corporate sponsorship for Gala Choruses Festival 2000, an eight-day convention of 5,500 singers, representing over 200 lesbian and gay choruses from around the world.

Rogers also served on the staff of Greenpeace, the international environmental action organization as the Senior Manager of Major Gifts, where he managed the group's portfolio of donors at the $5,000 and above level.

Concurrent with his career positions, Rogers has been an activist since the mid-1980's when he was involved in campaigns supporting divestiture from South Africa as a tactic to help bring about the end of Apartheid. Following relocation to New York City, Rogers was an active member of a number of community and political organizations.

In Washington, Rogers has continued his activism, including his mounting a succesful effort against McDonald's when the multinational tried to displace workers. Rogers has also been a neighborhood activist and tenant organizer.

Rogers has been appeared on CNN's NewsNight, Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, National Public Radio, and on numerous other television and radio programs. Rogers' work has been reported on in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune; he was profiled in GQ Magazine. Rogers was named as one of Genre Magazine's Men We Love.

[leveymg]

17. Rogers co-produced a film, "Outrage" released in 2011, and was interviewed on "The View"

Here's the site which was maintained until then. http://www.blogactive.com/, and here's the ABC interview:

&feature=player_embedded

[Captain Zero]

69. I thought he had a touch of polio as a kid

Watch him walk sometime. Thought I saw video clip where he is doing stairs one at a time.

[MADem]

54. A "preexisting eye condition" would have been discovered at the AFEES--Armed Forces Entrance and

Examining Station (they are called MEPS, nowadays). At that point, he would have been disqualified as unfit for service--4 F.

This would have happened during his initial accession physical, the "Ted Nugent Pants Shitting" physical...before he went to boot camp, was issued a uniform, and joined a company.

There's something about this story that is not making sense.

Who knows why he was discharged, but that excuse sounds like bullshit to me.

[leveymg]

68. Exactly.

[blm]

27. McConnell's long known to be in the closet. He knows Dems won't attack on that basis

just as they never attacked Craig or Lindsey Graham for living in their closets.

South Carolina rivals Texas for number of closeted gay Republicans.

[Cork]

30. It may be true

but without proof, it would be wrong to go after him in KY on this issue, it could badly backfire on any candidate and rally the troops to his side.

If McTurtle has nothing to hide, then he should release his military record and put this to bed, the mere fact that he refuses to suggests that maybe there is something to the rumor or worse.

[blm]

44. Republicans NEVER get held to the same standard. They can push manufactured stories against any Dem

for months with no possibility of ever proving it true. Dems get no attention even when they can present documents used in court.

[Cork]

46. So the answer is to become like the republicans?

If this is somehow proven to be true, the attack him for his hypocrisy about gay rights, not his sexual preference, but until there is proof, and so far there's only one persons word and rumors, then leave it alone.

[blm]

48. Everyone DOES attack him for his hypocrisy, not for BEING gay. Sheesh - you build a straw man

and attribute it to others here? Not very honest.

[Cork]

49. I'm new here,

and if that's what I did, then I'm sorry for that.

My position is that unless there's proof of the rumors, then leave it alone, which is something that I think Ashley Judd would do if she so chooses to take him on.

[blm]

56. You were quick to claim we were attacking him for BEING gay and quick to lecture us based on

a straw man you concocted.

One would think you'd take the time to get an idea about the type of people you are accusing or entering into a political exchange before you judge and lecture them.

[Cork]

57. I'm not attacking anyone,

I'm just suggesting.

I think I'll just gracefully bow out of this conversation and go enjoy a nice day.

[Webster Green]

60. Heh!

Last sentence cracked me up. I enlisted in the Navy in '65.

[Coyotl]

19. You might want to read the article!

Because that is what they are discussing.

[Cork]

20. I did, and a very interesting article.

But that still doesn't provide any concrete evidence, just a strong case for further investigation.
McTurtle should release his military record and put this to bed if there's nothing to it, his not releasing his records suggests that maybe there is something to the rumors.

[CherokeeDem]

34. There have been rumors about McConnell's orientation for years...

Proving it is another thing.

Personally, i don't care about his sexual preference; I do care about his hypocrisy,and his politics.

That said, I'd take a good scandal if it would get him out of the Senate.

[Cork]

37. I don't care either about his preference,

I just find it distasteful that an unproven rumor would be used against anyone, on both sides of the aisle.

If it were proven, then go after him, not for his sexual preference, but for his hypocrisy towards gay rights.

[sellitman]

5. Sounds like this has come out before

If it didn't sink his election last time one wonders if it has any legs this time around. Not that I care about anyone's sex life. I do care about the hypocrasy though. That's the real story.

[cali]

9. this is the kind of crap I detest

it's rumor mongering on a par with the shit about President Obama and Larry Sinclair.

It's worthy of contempt.

[Ikonoklast]

18. The only trouble is McConnell steadfastly refuses to allow anyone to see his discharge documents.

He could quash these rumors of misconduct if he wanted to, but for some strange reason, won't publish them.

After all, if he has nothing to hide...

And that is why the rumors about the real reason for his discharge keep popping up.

[Gorp]

23. Yeah, and the LONG form discharge documents!

Sorry, couldn't resist posting that.

[cali]

41. sorry, this is just stupid and pointless speculation

along the lines of "Obama won't release his college transcripts, what IS he hiding?

[Skip Intro]

22. But it's different when we do it...

...or something.

[Cali_Democrat]

66. We?

LOL

[Skip Intro]

67. ?

[Berlum]

13. Shocking

Republican Family Values.

Sheesh.

[Berlum]

16. The Netflix show "House of Cards" episode 8 is freakily parallel to this tale

[stopbush]

21. Excuse me, but do we really want to score political points over "sodomy?"

Sodomy is defined as oral or anal sex between ANY combination of genders - male on female, male on male, etc.

The fact that the military has rules against sodomy is ridiculous on its face, a remnant from an age when certain types of sexual acts were viewed as being evil and unnatural.

I find it highly disturbing that any Democrat would hope that such acts performed 45+years ago between consenting adults would be enough to ruin someone's career in 2013. Aren't we supposed to be the party of sexual tolerance?

Perhaps some Ds would be happy if it could be proven that McConnell was involved in an inter-racial relationship back during the years when such relationships were against the law. It would be the same thing as going after him for his sexual preferences.

[joeybee12]

24. Actually, I think we should go after him for the preferential treatment

he received...any other soldier WOULD have been court-martialed, because of turkey neck's connections, he wasn't.

[stevenleser]

39. If Judd hired me as an adviser, I would advise not to mention it at all.

If consensus in the campaign was against me and I was going to lose that battle, I would suggest only bringing it up in a positive equality way. Something like in a debate saying, "I hope your experience with your discharge in the military will inform your decision to fight against bigoted and exclusionary policies against the LGBT community."

[joeybee12]

40. Well, they'd have to have concrete evidence to really even consider using it...

Look at Dumbo, AWOL from the Guard...definitive proof...ands till the MSM ignores it.

[JustAnotherGen]

28. I agree with you

But the race is in Kentucky. I think that's where folks are going with this. Now - of course - some good solid liberals in Kentucky will get upset about that - but if they were the majority or the 'average' in their state - then it would have been a big bright blue blob on election night. It wasn't.

If this punches a big hole of weakness in him - then that's what folks are going for.


Sometimes I have to remind myself - Adrienne. You moved back from West Germany when you were five, grew up in Western NY, and have lived in Central NJ for the past 7 years. It's different where you live.



If someone does something like this to Corey Booker - I'll be po'd.


But I want McConnell taken out. He has never in his political life done ANYTHING that says he cares one iota about black women in this country - so anyway to crush his knees I'll look the other way on.


I mean no offense - but I'm going to tell my authentic truth on this issue.

[MadHound]

25. Hmm, I thought we were better than that,

Attacking somebody over their sexual orientation. Attack McConnell over the issues, there are no shortage of opportunities there. But leave his sexual orientation out of it.

[Ikonoklast]

29. It's not for that, it's for his ability to pull strings because he was politically connected

to keep from being court-martialed, like a regular soldier would have been.

It's the hypocrisy, the reason is immaterial.

[MadHound]

31. Disagree, the reason in this case is material,

We've just barely evolved to the point where we now allow gays in the military. This kind of muck raking does them no good, nor the larger LGBT community at large. McConnell has a plethora of other vulnerabilities, no need to pull this out of the hat.

[Ikonoklast]

35. You have focused on the wrong aspect of this.

What he did to provoke a potential court-martial isn't near as important as his being connected and using those connections to avoid punishment.


He could have been abusing drugs, drunk on duty, struck an officer, the reason really doesn't matter near as much as having his influential patrons getting him off the hook.

It's a forest for the trees type of thing from my perspective.

[cali]

42. Provide a scintilla of evidence that McConnell was court martialed.

McConnell enlisted in the 100th Division (Training), U.S. Army Reserve, in Louisville, Kentucky, during his final semester of law school. He did six months active service at Fort Knox, thereafter serving the active reserve.[7] He received an early discharge for optic neuritis, which is a common manifestation of multiple sclerosis.[8] However, it is unknown if he has multiple sclerosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#Early_life.2C_education.2C_and_military_service

[Ikonoklast]

45. He wasn't, he avoided it, his patrons made certain of it; that is the allegation.

He never released his actual discharge papers, so no one except those that ever saw them actually know the real treason he was discharged.

Nor has he ever released any medical documentation of his disease, from any source, civilian or military.

Must have miraculously been cured upon discharge.

[Berlum]

38. it's his h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y - not his choice of partners

-- hypocrisy is a core Republican 'value.'

[obamanut2012]

32. If true, Ashley Judd will never touch this

She is a huge LGBT supporter, and going with this will be nothing but gay baiting and gay bashing.

I also wonder if Ashley will run under her real name, which isn't Judd, but is a well-known name around Lexington, and one she has always gone by, except professionally.

[karynnj]

33. I would not touch this story with a ten foot pole

You have only an unverified account from someone who could have ANY reason to want to attack McConnell. Without any more proof, the official military record should be taken as accurate.

[The Second Stone]

36. It is no longer considered a scandal by modern standards

and makes us look petty and rumor mongering.

[madville]

43. I'm not inclined to believe any third hand rumors

We did an exercise in boot camp where they select five people and send four out of the room. The one is then told a story. They let one person back in and the first relays the story to the second. After going through five people it barely resembles the original tale.

Possible sure, verifiable? Not likely

[mfcorey1]

47. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAlk about a skeleton in the closet, and this is a timebomb in

the senate.

[WinkyDink]

50. WHAT "court-martial"?? Da*n, another DU thread title that can't follow its own article.

"The records Rogers has been able to obtain indicate that McConnell enlisted in the U.S. Army in March of 1967 and was abruptly discharged four months later for a minor medical condition."

[Recursion]

51. Doesn't your own link say there was no court martial?

Sigh.

[Cleita]

52. I'm of the opinion that our politicians could sweep out the

whole neo-con and fundamentalist, evangelical crowd infesting our government if they made an effort to expose these incidents and the hypocrisies of those right wing elected officials. But we are such nice guys we don't take advantage of such knowledge, not even to save our country from them.

[get the red out]

53. I thought his Dad knew someone

I thought I had read that McConnell's father had an in with someone with some power and got him out. I recall this "sordid story" coming up before and going nowhere so I'm not getting my hopes up this time.

[TheKentuckian]

55. There has always been scuttlebutt about McTurtle here.

I mean always, I don't think the accusation is effective if it isn't proved because the accusation and others have always been there locally.

Yes, his voters are aware of certain questions and support him anyway and there isn't enough there to move them off denial. They can always point to his wives and a bunch of kids, some almost as old as the alleged incident in question.

[Mopar151]

58. There will be some Bircher/Bagger who will challenge Yertle in the primary

Bundle the whole thing up, leak it to THEM.

[MineralMan]

59. That's a losing strategy, and not one we should be promoting.

There's no real evidence, it's been brought up before, and it's not relevant. Whether McConnell is gay or not is not an issue in this. It's his lousy politics that should be the focus. Democrats should never be in the position of campaigning against anyone base on their sexuality.

[MineralMan]

61. If you ever return to this thread, do yourself a favor and

please self-delete this poorly-sourced rumor-mongering. We should be better than that on DU, I think.

Not everything on dailykos.com is worthy of further distribution. This is an example of something that is not worthy. Please use some discretion before posting and leaving.

[Go Vols]

62. Maybe he is just a war dodging liar

McConnell's discharge was expedited by Cooper's claim that the enlistee needed
to be released quickly to attend New York University.

NYU records, however, indicate that McConnell never applied to the school, and
at the time of his discharge he had already earned a law degree from the University
of Kentucky. Why exactly would a United States Senator write to the Commanding
General of one of the nation's most important military instillations with false
information about a member of the US armed forces?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rogers/what-is-mitch-mcconnell-h_b_137083.html

[Gorp]

63. I just can't picture the turtle having sex in ANY situation. Then again,...

I've never figured out how turtles have sex in the first place, although there is a YouTube of a turtle humping a work boot.