It's ironic that the most ignored voices in the early 1990s during the discussions of the "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy, were the ones (like me) saying "DADT is de jure recognition of the de facto conditions".

Regarding the use of the word professionalism-
This is one of my personal hot buttons. What professionalism? What is professionalism for IBM, or Harvard faculty should be professionalism for the military? How asinine. In the profession of arms, the profession of breaking things and killing people, we are indifferent to whether the tie matches the hanky, and harsh language is a way of life, not a cause for a reprimand. Being fat is unprofessional to a soldier, but is the perogative of success in academia or corporate America.

Let's make a deal. Soldiers won't hold civilians to military professional standards (like fitness and competence with arms) if civilians don't try to apply their standards of professionalism to the military.

Van