A Self-Fisking Readership

One reader fisks another:

Do married men (fathers) go on demonstratively bragging?

Better question: do you have any friends at all? Straight men, married or single, fathers or otherwise, boast about their sexual ventures all the time. That is what we do. We brag, everywhere, in poker games and bars, overtly or through innuendo, for as long as we still draw breath. Duh.

Alva is saying that even if one's lifestyle is degraded and perverted?

Alva is not saying anything of the sort. That is what you are saying. And most people - at least in the next generation - think you are full of it.

This is fake subterfuge and bluff.

You nailed it, Sherlock. You caught on to Eric Alva and his sinister, life-long plan. You see, ever since he knew he was gay, Alva has been trying to concoct a scheme to turn America into the Sodom and Gomorrah of his craving. And then, one night, while prancing around in all his gayness, he saw a commercial for the Army. He knew instantly what he had to do. He would join the Army, and use the social status to advance the cause of moral debauchery. Then Bush decided to go to war, unwittingly giving him the chance to execute his diabolical plan. There, in the sands of Iraq, he saw a protruding land mine, and he willingly jumped on top of it, becoming a martyr for gays everywhere. And to think he would have gotten away with it, too, were it not for your steadfast vigilance!

Look what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. The biggest strength any army has is its spirit. A joyous, unified, spirit to win, knowing they're doing the right, just and moral thing.

You're right, actually. The best asset of the army is its spirit - of comradeship, brotherhood, and unity. It is a spirit which overrules, or at least ought to overrule, all the taxonomies of civilian life: race, politics, class, region, and even, one might hope, sexuality. But if you actually believe our men and women in uniform can stand up to the most maniacal, barbaric, ruthless, and vile killers in the world, and still be flustered by - gasp - a gay person,  then you have officially exiled yourself from the frontier of reason.