Wednesday Open Thread

Welcome to your Wednesday open thread. Happy first full day of summer! Did you dance in the moonlight last night? I’m sad now because I know the days are getting shorter.

This is pretty awesome – the Sgt. Major of the Marines (top enlisted man) Micheal Barrett spoke to Marines in Japan about DADT repeal.

“Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is pretty simple,” he told a group of Marines at a base in South Korea. “It says, ‘Raise an army.’ It says absolutely nothing about race, color, creed, sexual orientation.

“You all joined for a reason: to serve,” he continued. “To protect our nation, right?”

“Yes, sergeant major,” Marines replied.

“How dare we, then, exclude a group of people who want to do the same thing you do right now, something that is honorable and noble?” Sgt. Maj. Barrett continued, raising his voice just a notch. “Right?”

Sgt. Maj. Barrett then described conversations with U.K. troops, who saw a similar ban lifted a decade ago, with little disruption. And to drive the point home, he produced a pocket copy of the Constitution.

“Get over it,” he said. “We’re magnificent, we’re going to continue to be. … Let’s just move on, treat everybody with firmness, fairness, dignity, compassion and respect. Let’s be Marines.”

Remember, in the survey of military members, it was the Marines that were most resistant to the change. I love the way he framed the issue here. He’s saying it’s patriotic and to act like adults. Good for Sgt. Major Barrett!

Keith Olbermann had a huge debut last night on Current.

Ratings for splashy debuts should be taken with a grain of salt – especially ones as heavily promoted as Keith Olbermann’s debut on Current TV last night – but even with that grain, Current’s big bet on Olbermann is looking sound.

“Countdown” drew 179,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic – not enough to beat MSNBC’s 237,000 viewers, but enough to beat CNN’s 89,000. Of course, “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News won the timeslot as it always does, with 735,000 viewers in the demo.

I think it’s especially impressive considering how few cable companies carry Current. I wonder if the ratings include net-only viewers?