Gates still not ready to sign on to DADT repeal

[WillParkinson]

Gates still not ready to sign on to DADT repeal

(Carlisle, Pennsylvania) Changing the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay troops is “very difficult,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, indicating that doing so could take years - if it ever happens.

Speaking at the Army War College, Gates said he and President Barack Obama were discussing the policy and whether to change it. Gates said he was not yet taking a position about whether gay troops should be open about their sexuality, which could lead to their discharge under the current rules.

Gates also noted it took five years for the U.S. military to racially integrate during the Truman administration.

“If we do it, it’s imperative that we do it right and very carefully,” Gates told reporters later on a military jet to Newport, R.I., where he was to speak Friday at the Navy’s war college.

He added: “It’s very difficult. To get peoples’ real feelings about it you have to have almost a one-on-one private conversation. I think it’s very difficult for people to speak in front of their peers about this issue.”

http://www.365gay.com/news/gates-still-not-ready-to-sign-on-to-dadt-repeal/

[Egalitariat]

1. Didn't congress pass a law during the Clinton Admin? I don't think it's up to Gates

I think Congress took that authority for themselves. All they have to do is pass a new law and have Obama sign it.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

2. then i'm not ready to stop calling him a homophobic asshole

[joeybee12]

3. I can't print what I'm still calling him....n/t

[AirBaud]

4. Maybe he is just saying that for political reasons.

Its possible.

[mitchtv]

8. doesn't really matter why he says it

time to do the right thing is now

[Meeker Morgan]

5. He'll change his tune quick enough if his boss tells him to.

Think that'll happen? :evilfrown:

[Athelwulf]

6. The Obama administration: Change you can believe in, unless you're gay. n/t

[bluedawg12]

7. What "feelings" does he need to get? Pass the damned law, already.

DADT is harmful for troop morale.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

9. Given Obama's Dismal Record....

On LGBTQ rights thus far, I am not suprised.

[Creideiki]

10. But it was just a guy singing at a rally!

And then another guy singing at another rally!

And then a two-minute prayer!

I'm waiting for the next excuse. My prediction: "Look at the amount of money that the government spends kicking out gay people! That's needed in a recession! It's economic stimulus!"

[bluedawg12]

11. I wonder, is the military so homophobic that they can't control the troops?

There has to be an underlying reason above and beyond Gates per se.

For the President this could be a "give me" easy shot at scoring liberal/base points.

The American public is ready for it.

Experts say it is better for the military to get rid of DADT.

Is it that since 9-11 we have recruited young people from very red States, with very red State ideas?

A friend of mine singed up for the Navy, a sharp young, confident, 20 year old gay man. He was raised to be open by enlightened, supportive parents. He lasted 2 weeks in basic, due to death threats last summer and spent his last two weeks in the infirmary, basically for his own protection.

That's the point of eliminationism, we have a decades long history of gay baiting and hate speech in conservative quarters and many recruits come from soically conservative backgrounds and locales, is it so deeply entrenched that neither the Generals, SECDEF, nor POTUS can control the homophobia, to the shame of our nation, but can't admit it?