We hear a lot about the reasons to get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The fact that having openly gay servicemembers in the armed forces will do absolutely nothing to undermine the effectiveness of the military, whereas discharging gay Arabic translators like Lt. Dan Choi does plenty. There's the exorbitant costs of replacing discharged servicemembers.

Here's something to add to that list: the near-inhuman treatment the partners of gay military members face.

Silent Partners, the new episode of Brave New Foundation's In Their Boots shows loved ones of our armed forces confined to a world far from the tearful reunions on military base tarmacs, let alone the spousal support networks, base access, family assistance centers, and other amenities available to members of "typical" military families.

Under DADT, Ben Cartwright, the longtime partner of a deployed servicemember, must strip the "I love you" from his phone conversations, censor his written correspondence, meet his partner at a gas station rather than on base, and "de-gay" their home when his partner is picked up by his military buddies.

From his new post at HuffPo:

While my partner serves our country during these wars, I receive no benefits (medical benefits, family separation allowance, etc); I cannot access the family and spousal resources on the military base out of which he serves, or take part in military family events. I have no access to "military spouse" support groups and networks. When my partner graduated from military training and when he left for Iraq I had to stand on the sidelines- to vanish, disappear from his life and pretend I did not know him. I was proud to see him off, but heartbroken that I could not give him a hug and what could have been a final kiss goodbye.

Michelle Obama, speaking to military families in March, said, "See, military families have done their duty, and we as a grateful nation must do ours. We must do everything in our power to honor them by supporting them; not just by word but by deed."

An executive order scrapping Don't Ask, Don't Tell sounds like just the deed.

Sign VoteVets.org's petition to overturn Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

I'm proud to do social network outreach for In Their Boots.

DOWNLOAD (11)

PLAY (68)

From Rachel Maddow's Ms. Information segment. A President who actually wants to fund the VA with a wife taking a personal interest in military families. Isn't that a breath of fresh air? Like everything President Obama has done during his short term in office or not this is definitely a change from the last administration who was more content using our troops as props than anything else. Michelle Obama has plans to visit Fort Bragg.

Mrs. Obama will be meeting with military spouses and speaking to community organizations that help support troops and their families. This visit comes after a March 3 trip to Arlington National Cemetery, where she addressed women in the military service to mark Women’s History month.

This isn’t the first time the First Lady has visited the North Carolina military base. In 2007, Obama joined an emotional roundtable of military families. She is quoted saying on President Barack Obama’s official website, "It felt like the first time that many of these women had even been asked how they were doing. The tears and the stories went on and on. So we had another roundtable, and then another one."

Obama has long said that she intended to work with military families, and said during the campaign, "If Barack is elected president, I would be honored to be first lady. I would work daily on the issues closest to my heart: helping working women and families, particularly military families."

Hey, I'd love to see Rick Santelli sit down with these families and explain to them what losers they are - compared to the Masters of the Universe like Santelli who got the country into this mess, I mean. Moral hazard, my ass:

The orders came while Navy Lt. Adam Diaz was winding down a one-year stint in Baghdad: Report to the Navy Annex in Arlington for a new assignment in April. -- Given the military lifestyle, the prospect of a move came as no surprise to Diaz, 31, who has spent his adult life in the Navy. The shock came when he spoke with his wife, Stephanie Diaz, about the value of the Jacksonville, Fla., home they bought in June 2006, near the height of the housing bubble. -- "Hey, by the way," she recalls telling him. "The house has been valued for about 50 grand less than when we bought it."

The housing crisis is hitting military families particularly hard, according to real estate agents and service member advocacy groups. Many who bought during the boom and must now relocate because of fresh orders are faced with selling their homes at a big loss. They are finding few buyers, or even renters, particularly in the hardest-hit markets. That is leaving some families facing options including renting at a loss, separation from their loved ones or, in some cases, foreclosure.

The issue has caught the attention of Congress, which included language in the economic stimulus package to compensate service members who sell their home at a loss or have been foreclosed upon because they were forced to move after a base closure, reassignment or a combat wound required them to be relocated near a health facility. The program also covers surviving spouses of those killed in combat.

Under the new provision, the government will cover 95 percent of a loss if a service member is forced to sell. The government can also choose to acquire the title of a home by paying off the balance of a service member's mortgage or paying the owner up to 90 percent of the home's previous value. No dollar ceiling has been set.

The $555 million undertaking expands the Defense Department's Homeowners Assistance Program, which helps military and federal personnel whose homes have lost value because of a base closure. The new measure would likely help the Diazes, and would expand the homeowner assistance program to as many as 17,000 claims, according to the office of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), who sponsored the measure.