Beyond Warren: The First Openly Gay Navy Secretary?

Piggybacking on Laura’s Rick Warren post, President-elect Obama has a chance to prove that he is, as he says, “a fierce advocate for gay and lesbian Americans” by appointing William White, the openly gay chief operating officer of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, to become secretary of the Navy.

According to Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times, a number of retired members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been in touch with the transition — which wouldn’t comment — to tap White. Clearly that gives the lie to the ludicrous pseudoconcern that homosexuality somehow undermines unit cohesion. No retired flag officer would ever urge anything of the sort. Here’s former Joint Chiefs chairman Hugh Shelton, who’s no liberal:

“He would be phenomenal,” said retired Gen. Hugh Shelton, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 to 2001, pointing to Mr. White’s extensive background as a fundraiser for veterans’ and military causes.

That would be change we can something something.