Oh, This Is Clever And Rotten

It seems Bush needs to keep gays out of government jobs that require security clearances.

The Bush administration last year quietly rewrote the rules for allowing gays and lesbians to receive national-security clearances, drawing complaints from some civil-rights activists.

The Bush administration said security clearances cannot be denied "solely on the basis of the sexual orientation of the individual." But it removed language saying that sexual orientation "may not be used as a basis for or a disqualifying factor in determining a person's eligibility for a security clearance."

So it is ok to consider sexual orientation as one factor leading to denial of clearance so long as it isn't the only factor. Ever get the idea we're already half way to being a theocracy?

But I forgot. This is the "trust us" administration. They won't be doing anything differently. They're just trying to make sure the language is clear.

"The minor language change did not and was not intended to alter the way sexual orientation is treated," National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said Tuesday. "The U.S. government policy has not changed in any way."

Now why the hell didn't Jones' statement calm everyone down? He says they won't really be using this new loophole they just wrote into the rules.

[all emphasis mine]

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