Senator John McCain on October 18, 2006:

My opinion is shaped by the view of the leaders of the military. … We have the most qualified, the bravest and most capable military we‘ve ever had in our history, and so I think that the policy is working.  And I understand the opposition to it, and I‘ve had these debates and discussions, but the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on February 2, 2010:

Mr. Chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.“

Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense, on February 2, 2010:

Last week, during the State of the Union address, the President announced that he will work with Congress this year to repeal the law known as ”Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.“ He subsequently directed the Department of Defense to begin the preparations necessary for a repeal of the current law and policy.

I fully support the President’s decision. The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it. We have received our orders from the Commander in Chief and we are moving out accordingly. However, we also can only take this process so far as the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress.

Senator John McCain, Ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, upon hearing Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen say that we ought to change the policy:

I’m deeply disappointed in your statement, Secretary Gates. … your statement obvious as one that is clearly biased, without the view of Congress being taken into consideration…Again you are embarking on saying it’s not whether the military prepares to make the change but how we best prepare for it, without ever hearing from members of Congress, without hearing from the members of the Joint Chiefs and, of course, without taking into considerations all the ramifications of this law. Well, I’m happy to say we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, despite your efforts to repeal it, in many respects, by fiat.

This lame-ass excuse–that the military is moving without permission of Congress–after Gates expressly said that ”the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress.“

To Mullen, McCain had words just as weasely:

We owe our lives to our fighting men and women, and we should be exceedingly cautious, humble, and sympathetic when attempting to regulate their affairs.  Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been an imperfect but effective policy.  And at this moment, when we are asking more of our military than at any time in recent memory, we should not repeal this law.

In the same statement, McCain accused Admiral Mullen of playing politics, after Mullen had specifically said that it was his personal opinion and had nothing to do with presidential decree.

I guess McCain only respects the leaders of the military when they agree with him.