Candidate Obama on Don't Ask Don't Tell

[ruggerson]

This should put to rest the bogus assertion that as President, Obama is powerless to do anything to get the ball rolling on DADT and that he has kept his campaigm promises on this issue.

Because the plain facts are that he isn't and he hasn't.

And that's not to say that he won't, eventually, and quite frankly, if and when he does, he will be remembered for having actually done it, not that it didn't happen on the schedule he himself laid out. And the history books will treat him quite kindly on this issue, if he reclaims the mantle of leadership.

Being impatient for our President to keeps his word is not disloyal or hateful or any of the other strawmen that are thrown around..

I hope he is wildly successful on a variety of fronts, because if he doesn't, the nation and the world will be a lot poorer for it.


In November, 2007:

"As president, I will work with Congress and place the weight of my administration behind enactment of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which will make nondiscrimination the official policy of the U.S. military. I will task the Defense Department and the senior command structure in every branch of the armed forces with developing an action plan for the implementation of a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And I will direct my Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to develop procedures for taking re-accession requests from those qualified service members who were separated from the armed forces under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and still want to serve their country. The eradication of this policy will require more than just eliminating one statute. It will require the implementation of anti-harassment policies and protocols for dealing with abusive or discriminatory behavior as we transition our armed forces away from a policy of discrimination. The military must be our active partners in developing those policies and protocols. That work should have started long ago. It will start when I take office."

[babylonsister]

1. We will get there. I have never thought that this president

has ever wanted to deny anyone their rights. Keep pushing, it's working.

[ruggerson]

7. thanks, I agree

I think he wants to do it, and wants US to create the political climate where he can.

[sandnsea]

2. Let's Read, Shall We

Developing an action plan
Develop procesdures for re-accession requests
Implementation of anti-harassment policies
Abusive discriminatory behavior
Developing policies and protocols

And he's said, and Gibbs has said, repeatedly - That They Are Working On This.

[ruggerson]

5. please link to a news item

where any of what he *specifically* said is in the process of being executed.

And remember, Gates himself has said that this has been "pushed off" until an unspecified later date.

[sandnsea]

8. for starters

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_mullen_JCS_060109w/

MULLEN: The President has made his intent very clear, that he wants to see this law and policy change. It’s important that we all constantly recognize this is a law so not even the President himself can change it. He’s got to go to Congress and ask that it be changed. And in recognizing that, I have had discussions with the chiefs about this and what it might mean.

I am the principal military advisor to the President, and I owe him two things on this. One is an assessment of the impact if and when the law changes, and two is an implementation plan, and I’ve done internal work on my staff with respect to that, but I haven’t created a study group, and I haven’t created a group to go out and survey or do anything like that.

So that’s really where we are right now. We’ll see, you know, I recognize again the intent of the commander in chief, and if and when the law changes, you know, we’ll follow the law, as we do now.

[ruggerson]

10. I think your link needs to be fixed

and, frankly, that sounds like more stalling. I see nothing in there about a plan to task the services with a comprehensive strategy for "a full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." What Mullen is saying is that they will be reactive *if* Congress repeals the law. I also see nothing about anyone being asked to "develop procedures for taking re-accession requests" from those that have been discharged.

To the contrary, I see two servicemembers a day still being thrown out.

Mullen's answer rings even more hollow in light of more senior officials saying on television that the process has essentially been put on the back burner.

What I'm seeing is the buck being passed back and forth between Congress and the President. Because no one wants to take what they perceive as the political heat for it.

[sandnsea]

12. I'm not surprised

My initial point was that if you read what the man actually said, he is doing what he said he would. He didn't say he would unilaterally repeal DADT, or that he would do it within days of taking office. He said it would be a process, he said it would take more than the repeal of one law, and it appears he knew how complicated it would be when he said it. You can assume anything you want, but that doesn't change the actual words he spoke or that military leaders acknowledge the process will follow those words to some extent.

The URL is weird. It's right but doesn't work when clicked on.

[NYC_SKP]

17. Repaired Link:

Navy Times Article

If it doesn't work, add the / to the link in the URL and reload.

:donut:

[sandnsea]

28. well i'll be

Thank you!

I have no idea what that site is written in that would make it work that way. Do you know?

[NYC_SKP]

31. I haven't a clue...

But whenever I see characters that aren't colored blue at the end of a link, I add the missing characters.

Interesting that when included as a "HREF link with text display", it works without any trouble.

:hi:

[vaberella]

15. +1. n/t

[AntiFascist]

3. Make it work...

in the words of Tim Gunn who has recently added his voice to the California Courage Campaign.

[Bonobo]

4. Agreed. He is working on it, so hush up for a little while and let him work.

Message Board whining does not come to mind when one tries to think of possible ways to expedite the process. At least that's my opinion.

[ruggerson]

6. Add "whining"

to the list of puerile strawmen.

[NMMNG]

33. Yeah, stop whining on message boards!

Message boards are for pictures of the president in his bathing trunks and important news stories about how somebody spilled water on the president's desk. They aren't for discussing politics you silly thing. :eyes:

[muffin1]

30. Yeah, those pesky gay folk whining about equal rights again!

I applaud them whole-heartedly. If we cannot afford equal rights to all of our citizens, we are truly a pathetic nation.

And what the hell else IS the point of a message board if not to vent, share ideas, and hopefully learn something occasionally?

[hulklogan]

38. Hush up?

I hope this post sticks around forever so people know exactly how some people feel about civil rights on this board.

[AtomicKitten]

9. I completely support nudging him along on this.

Understanding he has a lot on his plate, there's nothing wrong with a respectful cattle prod applied intermittently to say hey.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Yay!!! You found a broken campaign promise (from November 2007)!!!!!

You win..........................:shrug:

You do remember the *economic meltdown* of September/October 2008 that is still causing problems for us now, right? Not to say that working to get DADT repealed isn't important or anything like that but do you think that, maybe, just maybe, President Obama might have had to reshuffle his priorities around just a bit since November 2007 in order to deal with an economy that was in a death spiral only 8-9 months ago and is STILL teetering on the abyss? And yet, even as some posters have pointed out, he has at least done some preliminary work towards preparing the military for an eventual repeal of DADT. Oh, and I'm sure that his appointment of McHugh, who supports ending DADT, as Secretary of the Army was totally coincidental, right? :eyes:

Now, maybe if members of a certain other branch of the government would get together and pass some kind of, you know, bill that Obama could eventually sign repealing DADT...........................:eyes: We know for sure that at least 77 members of the House and at least 1 (but probably more) member of the Senate support a repeal of DADT. Why exactly haven't any of them, you know, sponsored a bill? The aforementioned 77 members of the House had enough time to write President Obama a strongly worded letter asking for him to stop DADT. They didn't have time to write a bill and put it in the hopper???? What about some of the other pro-repeal DADT legislation languishing in the House? Military Readiness Enhancement Act?
:wtf:

[goclark]

13. Thanks ruggerson for this informative thread

Now we are finally discussing such an important issue without name calling.

That is a huge step and a positive step for us as a TEAM of bright minds working together.

Anyone that wants to name call please stay away or bash please stay away from this thread,please.

I have no crystal ball but I predict that a solution is on the way.

Let's stay positive.

Who can provide a link so that as a team we can email,call, write to a list of leaders that can get this done?

:bounce:

[ruggerson]

14. Here is some info on the House bill

Ellen Tauscher has introduced a bill to repeal.

http://www.tauscher.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1149&Itemid=1

here is the text of the bill:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:1:./temp/~c111HAJhmI::

I'm not sure if she responds to emails from people outside her district.

[goclark]

16. thanks so much but I need another link

"Temporary file not found. Display failed."

Who is handling this issue for President Obama? We need a link so that we can tell them how strongly we feel about this issue.


Thanks!

[ruggerson]

19. try this

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1283:

[goclark]

23. great ruggerson ~ I followed the link and I got to this page

Fantastic!

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

I have been asking for a link for this issue and you are the first person that gave one to me. Usually at DU links are flying all over the site to gather enough people to write,call,email so that our strong voices and the voices of our friends and then their friends can participate in making CHANGE.

Now,should I search for my congress person( I live in CA) or the head of the committee?

What would be best? :shrug:

My grandfather always taught me, don't complain and sit down..." When the going gets tough,the tough get GOING!"

I'm ready to GO and if you have an even better link, I'll use that too.

Maybe others will see the links and can get going as well.

[McCamy Taylor]

18. This promises "support" and "encouragement"---for Congress and the military to fix it.

The recent action that drew so much fire was the Obama DOJ upholding the existing law in court.

By now, everyone should realize that Obama, the lawyer, really believes in the law. If you want it off the books, lobby Congress to fix it and the military not to use it.

[sandnsea]

29. And the Constitution

That whole Congress should represent the will of the people and laws should come from Congress - really means something to him too. That seems to me to be the reason he doesn't shove his views at them. He's the President. WE are the government. The sooner we figure it out and start learning how to negotiate out here, and get in front of the lobbyists, the sooner we'll start getting these politicians to do what we want.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. The words he said are the words he said

And that bothers those who wish to play revisionist games.

[BklnDem75]

21. H.R.1283

Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009
To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance the readiness of the Armed Forces by replacing the current policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces, referred to as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", with a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

3/3/2009--Introduced.
Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 - Repeals current Department of Defense (DOD) policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces. Prohibits the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation against any member of the Armed Forces or any person seeking to become a member. Authorizes the re-accession into the Armed Forces of otherwise qualified individuals previously separated for homosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexual conduct. Requires such Secretaries to ensure that regulations governing the personal conduct of members of the Armed Forces are written and enforced without regard to sexual orientation.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1283/show


Less than a month not fast enough for you? "As president, I will work with Congress" Why blame Obama when the ball is in Congress' court?

[mkultra]

22. yes, he clearly stated his desire to work toward repeal

I believe it was stated that they have already had preliminary discussions regarding the drop of DADT. The real question is whether they are working behind the scenes to get ready or if they are just letting it drop. It clear that it has happened fast enough for some, but i personally feel that he will get it done. It maybe not even be as quickly as he would like.

It is clear from the way this president works that they don't really tip their hand until they are ready to play.

[JamesA1102]

24. Serving in the military is not a right, it is a privilege

I say this as the son of a veteran who currently has family members serving. It is a privilege to serve. Should everyone regardless of race, creed, color or sexual preference be afforded the privilege to serve? Yes, but it is not a right.

[QC]

25. Sexual preference? n/t

[NMMNG]

34. They're allowing ex-felons and neo-Nazis in

Yet they still insist gay people are too "immoral" to serve. How is it ex-convicts and Neo-Nazis deserve the "privilege" over law-abiding and highly qualified people who happen to be gay or bisexual?

[JamesA1102]

35. Please don't ask me to defend other people's prejudice

Go back and re-read my post for what I said.

[Prism]

26. This bears repeating

And repeating and repeating and repeating until it is made plain as day that President Obama promised precisely what he did, and his actions to date are not nearly in the same universe that Candidate Obama once inhabited.

Big K&R

[goclark]

27. Thanks again for the link

I have been sending emails today.

Maybe someone will be able to tell us some group to donate to ~

As I was searching for additional links, I found this one.

As an African American I am exceptionally proud.

http://thehill.com/cover-stories/a-dont-ask-dont-tell-candidacy-2009-06-09.html

:patriot:

[Starry Messenger]

32. Here goclark:

https://secure.sldn.org/page/contribute/website

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a great organization.

http://www.sldn.org/

Other people might have more suggestions, but I just saw your post and thought of the SLDN.

[goclark]

40. Thank you , I can honestly say I did not see your response

Thank you so much.

I just made a $$ and will save the link.

Is there an ACTION FORUM for this important issue here at DU?

[boppers]

36. Too bad he's not a dictator.

Congress and the Defense Department and Homeland Security couldn't get in his way, then.

:evilgrin:

[Zhade]

37. Hey, look! Facts.

NT!

[ruggerson]

39. Apologies for the syntax in this OP

I pasted some thoughts together and didn't bother to edit.

Last line of course should read: "hope he is wildly successful on a variety of fronts, because if he isn't, the nation and the world will be a lot poorer for it."