Obama to end Don’t ask Don’t Tell? Don’t hold your breath.

Sgt. Leonard Matlovitch, Sept. 1975. We're STILL waiting...

Obama continues to string gays along with the promise of repealing DADT which would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military.  The United States is one of the very few western industrial powers that doesn’t allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military.  Democrats have told us for years that it would be a priority to end discrimination in our armed forces under a Democratic administration.  So what gives?

New statements from administration officials indicate that a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is moving at a slower pace than some would like.

Media reports earlier this year from the Boston Globe and the Associated Press stated that President Obama is consulting with defense advisers before initiating repeal of the law, which bans open gays from serving in the military.

But statements issued to the Blade this week from officials associated with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Department are raising questions about the level of consultation that has taken place.

Of course Obama’s hordes of homophobic frat boi zombies will tell you that the President has a  lot on his plate with the economic situation, and that silly things like civil rights for millions of Americans will have to wait.  That’s a hard pill to swallow given that Obama seems to be able to work on other things like reinvigorating stem cell research, reducing energy consumption in federal buildings,  funding high speed transit, and subsidizing lenders of student loans.  All of those things, which fulfill promises to other Democratic constituencies, seemed to be important enough to get the president’s attention, even with the big bad recession taking up all his time.  Why then can he not do ONE THING for the gay community that overwhelmingly voted for him?

And obots, don’t bother mentioning the US signing the UN resolution supporting gay rights. That’s about as empty an action as one could take.

Sgt. Matlovich, R.I.P.

And it is typical of this administration’s continual lip service to the gay community.  What has Obama got to lose by signing a document which was a nonbinding resolution presented over 3 months ago, and was signed by less than half of all UN member states?  The Obama administration itself concluded that the resolution was basically meaningless.

But Wood said a “careful interagency review” by the Obama administration had concluded that “supporting this statement commits us to no legal obligations.”

But back to DADT, is Obama really consulting with the military about repealing the discriminatory statute?

“The chairman has had an informal conversation with the president about this, but there was not a lot of substance to it in terms of detail,” Kirby said. “He was not asked for his recommendation, nor was he tasked to go provide that.”

Kirby said no memoranda were circulating among the Joint Chiefs addressing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Defense Department spokesperson Cynthia Smith declined to comment on the extent to which DOD is considering repeal and would only discuss DOD’s commitment to the law.

“Our policy implements the law Congress passed after prolonged research and debate,” she said. “The department will continue to follow congressional mandate on homosexual conduct.”

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on the remarks.

That’s not surprising. Obama doesn’t like to talk about gay issues that much. Neither does his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Several months ago, gullible gays and lesbians rejoiced over this cryptic, insulting, one-word answer to the question of whether Obama would repeal DADT

Um, some of us would actually like more than one word Mr. Gibbs.  We like pesky things like details.  You know like when he plans on repealing DADT.  Because waiting for a second term is unacceptable.  And hiding behind the uniforms of the military brass isn’t either.  Obama is the Commander in Chief.  He may consult the military on this issue, but hardly needs their endorsement.  They are obliged to follow his command.  The military implements policy, it doesn’t make it. That’s the job of the civilians.

Nathaniel Frank, who’s gay and a senior fellow at the Palm Center, a think-tank at the University of California in Santa Barbara, said the civilian population and not uniformed officials would instigate repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Obviously if the Joint Chiefs express confidence in their troops’ ability to make this change, it will go more smoothly,” he said. “But in a democracy, civilians control the military, not the other way around. And the Pentagon has already made clear it will follow orders on this.”

Not only that, but with his budget, Obama has the perfect vehicle to set in motion the repeal of DADT.

Sarvis maintains the administration could instigate a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal by making elimination of the law part of his fiscal year 2010 defense budget.

Sarvis earlier told the Blade that that method of repeal would show alignment from defense officials. It would also place on opponents the burden of attempting to remove the language from the defense budget.

The administration released a summary of Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget request a few weeks ago and is planning to release the full details of the budget in April. No mention of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was included in the summary.

Hmmm….I wonder why not?  Maybe it’s because Obama doesn’t give a DAMN about gay people.  Maybe it’s because he is homophobic and a disgrace to the civil rights movement.  But he sure likes their money and their votes, and he’ll do everything he can to kick this can down the road to 2012 so that he can again dangle the promise of repeal in front of gay and lesbian Americans.

In the meantime, gays and lesbians continue to be discharged from the US military, violating their civil rights and making this country less secure.

In a March 12 statement, Moran said that the armed forces “continue to discharge vital service members” who are gay when operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have compromised the readiness level of the military.

The 11 discharged soldiers include a human intelligence collector, a military police officer, four infantry personnel, a health care specialist, a motor transport operator and a water treatment specialist.
Moran said he plans on releasing monthly reports on discharges as he receives the information.

If the president were serious about stopping this outrage, he could at the very least enact a moratorium on discharges.  But as things stand, this Commander in Chief is continuing to let  his soldiers down.  And he continues to show through his actions that he doesn’t believe that civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans matter.

SILENCE=DEATH