Don't ask, don't tell: McCain vs. McCain?

Sen. John McCain is leading the fight against repealing "Don't ask, don't tell," but he's running into fierce opposition — from his own wife. Appearing in a star-studded ad designed to raise awareness of anti-gay bullying, Cindy McCain criticizes "our country's political leaders" for refusing to let lesbians and gay men "serve our country openly." Mrs. McCain later said, via Twitter, that she supports NOH8, the group behind the ad, but also stands by her husband's position on "Don't ask, don't tell." So what do Mrs. McCain's seemingly conflicting statements really mean? (Watch the ad)

The message is quite clear: Look, there is no misinterpreting Cindy McCain's position, says John Aravosis at America Blog. Mrs. McCain's comments in the NOH8 ad suggested that by leaving "Don't ask, don't tell" in place, the government is "sending bullies" the message that it's okay to harass gay teens, which amounts to saying her husband shares the blame when gay kids kill themselves. "I'm astonished. And impressed as hell."

"Cindy McCain does video opposing DADT..."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Her husband may have pressured her to soften her position: If Cindy McCain wants to "use her role as a public figure" to support a political cause, says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, she should show a little more backbone. She knew in advance that her public stand would embarrass her husband. By backing down with her conciliatory tweet she's suggesting that maybe it's okay to treat gay teens as "second-class citizens," after all.

"Somebody got to Cindy"

The dinner-table debate must have been heated: Cindy McCain was right to appear in the ad, says Allahpundit at Hot Air, but she went too far by basically calling her husband a hater "who's unwittingly encouraging gay teens to kill themselves." If she's mad at John for threatening to filibuster the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" until the Pentagon's ready, couldn't she "just punish him by having him sleep on the couch or something?"

"Cindy McCain in 'No H8' ad: It sure would be nice if certain people would finally get rid of DADT"