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" Longtime friends of the blog know the esteem in which it holds Secretary Of Defense Chuck Hagel, which dates back to a profile of him that I wrote six years ago. Today, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling sinking the Defense Of Marriage Act, now-Secretary Of Defense Hagel stepped up as quickly as he possibly could. The Department of Defense welcomes the Supreme Court&amp;#039;s decision today on the Defense of Marriage Act. The department will immediately begin the process of implementing the Supreme Court&amp;#039;s decision in consultation with the Department of Justice and other executive branch agencies. The Department of Defense intends to make the same benefits available to all military spouses -- regardless of sexual orientation -- as soon as possible. That is now the law and it is the right thing to do. Every person who serves our nation in uniform stepped forward with courage and commitment. All that matters is their patriotism, their willingness to serve their country, and their qualifications to do so. Today&amp;#039;s ruling helps ensure that all men and women who serve this country can be treated fairly and equally, with the full dignity and respect they so richly deserve. Once it committed itself to changingon these issues, the military has managed to change more quickly than most institutions of our society. That is enormously to the credit of our career military -- Hi, Colonel Bob! New baby or not, you still got deadlines, Ace. The blog is cruel, but fair. -- and of their civilian leadership. Hagel has overseen the demise of Don&amp;#039;t Ask, Don&amp;#039;t Tell, and now he&amp;#039;s going to preside over the demise of DOMA in the armed forces. There might have been a better man for this peculiarly wonderful time in history, but not many come immediately to mind. It really matters that this Secretary Of Defense started out in the military as an infantry grunt. I truly believe that. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a18890/secretary-hagel-has-their-backs/>