European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 22, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 22, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 Nunn deserves medal for standing by principles Cal Thomas the Gay lobby is right about one thing. The Issue of Gays in the military is a matter of principle and pres ident Clinton who pledged to end the ban i clearly not a Man who can act on his principles. The Don t ask Don t Tell Compromise is another Indica Tion that this president continues As a conscientious objector to combat political and  of the most principled people in Washington these Days certainly one of the most courageous Issen. Sam Nunn chairman of the Senate armed serv ices committee. The Georgia Democrat Cut the leg from under Clinton by saying that he and his committee in tended to decide the Gay ban Issue. In fact Nunn indicated Ina Senate speech Friday that he had made up his mind i be Lieve that it is essential that Congress codify the policies re Garding homosexuality in the armed forces by adopting legislative findings and providing Clear legislative direction to the executive  lest there be any doubt about Nunn s Aims he spelled them out. The presence in military units m person who by their acts or statements demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual acts would cause a unacceptable risk to the High standards of morale Good order and discipline and unit cohesion that Are Essen tial to effective combat capability. There should be no change in the current grounds for discharge Homo sexual acts statements and marriages emphasis mine Nunn s speech came in the midst of the biggest propaganda Blitz by the Gay rights lobby yet seen. From an other study that alleges homosexuality is genetically predetermined which went unchallenged because i seems the television networks would not interview any scientist or psychiatrist who takes a different View Toso Many one sided news programs on which Gays hold Forth without opposition homosexuals have enjoyed unobstructed Access to the Public. But the Campaign failed. The moral levees Are holding with the principled determination of Nunn. Attorney general Janet Reno has reportedly raised concerns that any modification of the Law ban Ning homosexuals from the military will flood the courts with lawsuits. She is right. The american civil liberties Union has already threatened Legal action on first amendment and other grounds. Lawyers will swarm on courts with hundreds of cases demanding the right of homosexuals and bisexuals to join and serve openly in the  War was started by Clinton who May end up its biggest casualty. By siding with the Gay rights lobby an failing to understand the military the president has earned the military s disdain the first modern presi Dent perhaps the Only one to do so. He also failed to gauge the Public s High esteem for the military in its Why the senator is named Sam Nunn to maw homosexuals should b�au.ow6d/h the military wow present form. So he will be getting complaints fro Moth  homosexuals Are entitled to feel that the president lied to them though much of the Public i seeing this As the Rule with Clinton not the exception. Those opposed to the Gay rights Agenda will View the president As pursuing a policy that will undermine the moral authority and fighting ability of our armed forces because so Many in the services refuse to accept homosexuals in their  seems too Many people have been intimidated into silence or appeasement on the moral question of homosexuality. Is homosexual practice As distinct from orientation or interest objectively wrong or not if Itin t wrong then there should be no restrictions at All. If it is restrictions Are not Only proper but essential a they Are for other forms of be Navior society believes should be discouraged even  like to attach themselves to the civil rights struggle for Blacks and say the two causes Are alike. All right would we approve of a policy that Al Lowed Blacks to eat at some lunch counters and not others or to serve in the army but not the other serv ices the Don t ask Don t Tell Compromise is an at tempt to split a moral difference which cannot be done. Society s failure for the past three decades to pro Mote virtue self control and an objective Standard by which we once easily separated right from wrong has brought us to the current moment in which anything can be tolerated so Long As the lobby is loud enough and has regular Access to television editorial pages and opinion polls our new Book of  in warfare the medal of Honor goes to those who have demonstrated heroism above and beyond the Call of  if someone had created a medal for similar stands on the moral Battlefield Nunn would de serve one with Oak Leaf clusters. C to Angeles times Syndicate reinventing government a huge task but on the mantelpiece of vice pres ident Al Gore s office these Days is a photograph of a roomful of books. When Gore wants to Tell a visitor what the National performance review he is directing is All about the photo becomes his  books you see in this picture con Tain the regulations you have to follow in order to hire fire or promote a Federal employee he says. They weigh 1,088pounds. The comparable volume of material at the Saturn Plant in my state is about 20  is a useful Way of Capsul izing the enormously ambitious venture in re inventing government that the vice pres ident is pushing toward a Hazard ugly Early deadline in Early  by president Clinton with the task of engineering what Gore called Quality revolution. In the Way govern ment works and Given Only six months to show it was serious the no. 2 Man is pressing several Hundred bureaucrats he has borrowed from around town to come up with a package that is bold enough to disarm the  government wide systems Are in crisis Gore said voicing a View that few inside or outside government would dispute. The budgeting system is ridiculous. The procurement system is famously ridiculous. The personnel system Well that s when he hauls Down the photo on the  comparison with the general motors Saturn Plant in Tennessee is Notan Idle one. Gore s argument is that 10 years ago when the japanese were gobbling up the . Auto Market the idea that some Ameri can made car would become world models of economical Quality seemed Ludi Crous. But compe David s. Bro dentition and the threat of lost jobs and profits drove the Auto companies and unions to change their Way of operating. And now govern ments battling rampant Public disillusionment with their services must show they can do the same thing. It is easier said than done. When Clin ton gave Gore the assignment last March he provided no budget or staff of an consequence. A sympathetic observer of the National performance review said it is very uneven. Some of the people they have borrowed Are very Young an Don t understand their Mission. You can go to one of the meetings and come away thinking that these people Don t really grasp what they re dealing  but this insider also said it would be a mistake to write off the Effort in and Vance because Gore and the handful of others directing it understand the difficulty of the Challenge and have made commitment to stay with the Effort. That is my impression too so i am no going to join the scoffers who say in and Vance that Gore s project will join theother waste and inefficiency studies that have gone straight from the printing press to the Dustbin. The Short term splash is often the enemy of Long term substantive change Gore said very Large organization that has gone through the process of reinvent ing itself will Tell you that it takes  to give the Effort credibility Gore i preparing a set of executive orders that Clinton can Issue just before labor Day when the performance review is presented to him. Along with the executive orders will come a set of legislative recommendations which Gore Hopes to per Suade Congress to handle on a fast track basis probably with the incentive that they will provide opportunities for additional spending cuts. But beyond that opening Salvo Gore promises an ongoing Effort to change the culture of bureaucracy and the pattern of practice inside each Agency. That will take sustained leadership from the top and sustained involvement of rank and file government workers at All  As Gore understands the Only Way you change behaviour is to alter incentives and rewards. Today government manag ers who find ways to save Money on one program Are rarely Given the option of applying the savings to other under financed projects. Employees who take a shortcut around regulations to get better results often get reprimands not promotions. Changing incentives and changing systems will not come any More easily in government agencies than in the Auto plants. Major private accounting and financial management firms Are working to improve the laggard practices of the Pentagon and other Federal agencies. Gore and his group Are not operating in a vacuum. They Are part of a tide and it May be Strong enough to prove the cynics wrong. C the Washington Post