DADT repeal moves at glacial pace. President facing more LGBT fury?

[Prism]

This is precisely what LGBT activists feared. A DADT repeal will crawl through the legislature, with hearings going forward this fall. Not a vote. Hearings. Then it will be 2010 - an election year. We know what happens to our issues during an election year.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-27/finally-action-on-gay-soldiers/">Finally, Action on Gay Soldiers

After determining she didn’t have enough votes in support of a temporary suspension of the ban on gays in the military, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tells The Daily Beast she has secured the commitment of Senate Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” this fall. It would be the first formal re-assessment of the policy since Congress passed it into law in 1993.

A statement from the Gillibrand’s office, shared exclusively with The Daily Beast, notes that “265 men and women have been unfairly dismissed from the Armed Forces since President Barack Obama took office.”

Gillibrand’s fast-track proposal for halting DADT, an amendment to the Military Reauthorization Act that would have ordered the Defense secretary to stop investigating gay service members, was never introduced. Even with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressing his support, Gillibrand couldn’t gather the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster, according to a spokesperson.

Now, more than ever, President Obama has a duty as commander-in-chief to use his executive stop-loss powers to prevent more discharges. It is very apparent this issue will not be resolved in the near future, and the further destruction of LGBT lives and denigration of their service is unacceptable.

This action is not only morally right, but it would perhaps get ahead of an incoming political storm. From the article:

The Palm Center plans to issue a report this week with the provocative title, “A Self-Inflicted Wound: How and Why Gays Give the White House a Free Pass on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

A summary of the study, shared exclusively with The Daily Beast, says that “a network of gay and gay-friendly individuals and organizations worked to derail the possibility of a suspension of the ban," but the summary doesn’t name the individuals.

This report may very well re-ignite the June furor. The community is quite simply not in the mood. The President has an opportunity here to not only minimize political damage from what could very well shape up to be an LGBT civil war with a healthy dose of attendant rage sent in his direction, but he could earn himself a great deal of credit for doing the right thing.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Same ole, same ole!

Hey, I can see the muffler under here. What's your view?

[VMI Dem]

2. I would like to invite the President and a group of discharged gay veterans to my house for a beer.

[karynnj]

3. reading the entire article, Gillibrand really did nothing - why didn't she introduce the

legislation she said she would. Senators introduce legislation all the time that does not have 60 votes when it started. Many pieces of legislation start out with only a small number of sponsors, but are still brought to the floor and debated. I am really surprised that Carl Levin did not join her to make the announcement that he would hold hearings.

Patrick Murphy, an Iraq vet, seems to have done far more.

[Starry Messenger]

4. I read about this this morning.

:(

It's especially frustrating in light of reading about all this birther trash in the military. Perfectly loyal and well-trained soldiers are getting discharged for being gay, while on the other hand you have a bunch of traitorous prima donnas attacking the legitimacy of their Commander in Chief.

[Thrill]

5. We're at war with Special Interest on Healthcare

I mean a big time fight. I'm pretty sure the President doesn't think this is the time to have this fight too

[Prism]

7. No more excuses, please

The President will always be in a big time fight over some point of policy or national direction. It's the nature of the office. When health care reform is no longer in front of the legislature, then it will be the economy, or the wars, or . . .

The President has shown that when he wishes to accomplish something or make a point or move an issue forward he will find the time.

He needs to find the time on this.

Edit: I'll even toss out the perfect time for him to do this - the August recess.

[cboy4]

8. Yes, yes Thrill. How many times do you have to go on record as being

anti-gay?

You've made it perfectly clear you couldn't care less about this, but yet it's like you can't wait to put a knife in the backs of gay people just one more time .. whenever this comes up.

[Thrill]

10. Not anti gay. And I don't appreciate that comment.

Because its bullshit. I just think healthcare needs to be done first.

I don't even know where you get that I'm anti gay. Every time this is brought up, I've said Obama isn't going to push DADT or EFCA until Healthcare is done. Guess that makes you anti-gay to have that view. YAWN

[LooseWilly]

11. It's like inverse Deja Vu...

You say "I just think healthcare needs to be done first. "

Meanwhile Robert Gibbs, as quoted in a September 25 NYT blog article said, of McCain, when he threatened to cancel debates to "deal with" the economy... “I think he will decide that a president is capable of doing more than one thing at a time.”, which was of course "echoing a talking point that Senator Obama used in his press conference on Thursday".

Some of us give Obama credit for indeed being able to do more than one thing at a time. What about you Thrill?

[LooseWilly]

6. "Hurry up and wait..."

I can see Gillibrand's position on tactics... and she seems to be doing more than anyone else in the Senate... but... I mean.... :banghead:       :banghead:     :banghead:     :banghead:     :banghead:

The political cowardice ... befuddles.

[mkultra]

9. why isnt Gillibrands phone jammed up?

Obama has said he would sign it. Where is the bill?