Here’s a pleasant surprise. Jim Geraghty at the National Review Online has called out Republicans for their boorish treatment of a gay soldier who asked a question about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And he’s not talking about the jerks in the audience who booed:

Rereading the transcript of last night’s debate, I am struck that Rick Santorum did not thank Stephen Hill, a gay soldier in the U.S. Army currently in Iraq, for his service. Nor did anyone else on that stage.

Whatever you think of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ or homosexuality, Hill is risking his life on behalf of his country. It is troubling, and revealing, that Santorum’s answer entirely defined Hill as a gay man first and as a soldier second, if at all.

Former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted:

Booing a soldier serving our nation is uncalled for. If I were on stage, I would make that point.

Andrew Sullivan, a moderate, lapsed supporter of the GOP, is pissed:

I have become used to hearing gay people and our lives either ignored or stigmatized or demonized in Republican debates. It is a function of a political party becoming a religion. And so my skin is pretty thick at this point, and my outrage button eroded by two decades of learning to ignore this stuff and focus on the positive arguments we have to make…

But as I went to bed last night, the scattered boos for an American soldier in the field at any debate began to sink in. And Santorum’s despicable lie in response — that repealing DADT somehow means license of gay sexual misconduct in the armed services — was intended to reduce that soldier, his life and work, to Santorum’s obsession: the intrinsic evil of gay sex. Again, this is usual…

But somehow the fact that these indignities were heaped on a man risking his life to serve this country, a man ballsy enough to make that video, a man in the uniform of the United States … well, it tells me a couple of things. It tells me that these Republicans don’t actually deep down care for the troops, if that means gay troops. Their constant posturing military patriotism has its limits.

The shocking silence on the stage — the fact that no one challenged this outrage — also tells me that this kind of slur is not regarded as a big deal.

Elsewhere, Sully wrote:

Until the Florida GOP apologizes to that soldier, along with Santorum, we should not let up in protesting this disgrace.

Earlier today, Santorum, whose fantastical homophobia has made him a laughingstock, took to Fox News to thank Hill, belatedly, for his service:

I condemn the people who booed that gay soldier.boos. That soldier is serving our country and I thank him for his service to our country. I’m sure he’s doing an excellent job, I hope he’s safe and returns safely and does his mission well. I have to admit, I did not hear those boos… If I had, I would have said, “Don’t do that. That man is serving his country and we ought to thank him for his service.”