Inside Politics

Pace defends gay ban

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday defended the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on open homosexuality in the military by saying homosexual acts “are immoral.”

“I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace said in an interview with editors and reporters of the Chicago Tribune.

He said the military should not tolerate homosexual acts the way it does not tolerate military members who commit adultery with another service member’s spouse, noting that that behavior is also punished under military law.

“I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way,” said Gen. Pace, explaining that his views were based on his personal “upbringing,” in which he was taught that certain types of conduct are immoral.

A smashing ad

Some tech-savvy political junkies are comparing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York to Big Brother in a YouTube ad supporting Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Titled “Vote Different,” the Internet ad features a Orwellian Jumbotron image of Mrs. Clinton speaking about why she wants to be president.

After the New York Democrat says, “I don’t want people who already agree with me; I want honest, experienced, hardworking, patriotic people who want to be part of a team, the American team,” a familiar image jogs across the screen.

A woman in running shorts, sporting an Obama tank top and an IPod in her ears, hurls a hammer at the screen, creating an explosion.

Then this text rolls down the screen: “On January 14th the Democratic primary will begin. And you’ll see why 2008 won’t be like ‘1984,’ ” and touts the Web site run by Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat.

Sound familiar?

It’s a “mashup” of Mrs. Clinton’s Web video edited together with Apple’s infamous 1984 Super Bowl commercial introducing the Macintosh computer to the world. The “Vote Different” ad has been viewed more than 150,000 times at YouTube.com.

Mr. Obama’s press shop didn’t respond to our inquiry, but liberal bloggers have said the Obama camp isn’t responsible for the ad.

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