"Obama To Fire His First Gay Arabic Linguist"

[Bluebear]

I do not think that Barack Obama is homophobic. In fact, I suspect in his heart of hearts he supports all of our rights, including marriage. But we scare him. And our rights scare his advisors. I fear there will never be a "good time" to advance the cause of our freedom. And every day we wait, every soldier we fire, will only make it that much harder to one day do the right thing.

I respect this President, and I thank God that he, rather than McCain-Palin, is in office during these troubling times. But I take no solace in knowing that even with a black man in the White House, the torch of bigotry continues to burn bright.- John Aravosis

http://www.americablog.com/

by Aaron Belkin

Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and officer in the Army National Guard who is fluent in Arabic and who returned recently from Iraq, received notice today that the military is about to fire him. Why? Because he came out of the closet as a gay man on national television.

Some readers might think it unfair to blame Obama. After all, the president inherited the "don't ask, don't tell" law when he took office. As Commander-in-Chief, he has to follow the law. If the law says that the military must fire any service member who acknowledges being gay, that is not Obama's fault.

Or is it?

A new study, about to be published by a group of experts in military law, shows that President Obama does, in fact, have stroke-of-the-pen authority to suspend gay discharges. The "don't ask, don't tell" law requires the military to fire anyone found to be gay or lesbian. But there is nothing requiring the military to make such a finding. The president can simply order the military to stop investigating service members' sexuality.

An executive order would not get rid of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, but would take the critical step of suspending its implementation, hence rendering it effectively dead. Once people see gays and lesbians serving openly, legally and without problems, it will be much easier to get rid of the law at a later time...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-belkin/obama-to-fire-his-first-g_b_199070.html

[lunatica]

1. I would love it if he suspended this travesty n/t

[ZombieHorde]

2. Choi should have tortured someone, the punishment is not as harsh as being gay.

(eta: I know my comment is a bit over the top.)

[mix]

4. right on, not over the top n/t

[ProgressIn2008]

12. No, I think it was just about right. nt

[rvablue]

3. While I think DADT is dumb, the reasoning in this HuffPo article is off.

Choi wasn't, in fact, "investigated."

He went on national television and voluntarily announced his orientation.

Not disagreeing with the point of the article, just the reasoning.

[stray cat]

5. So now Obama is condemned for choosing to suspend legal investigations

if they happen to be ones he is unhappy with.

[Bluebear]

7. Yes, poor guy, he just can't catch a break, can he?

Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens.

[FreeState]

8. Opps you did it again... n/t

[ZombieHorde]

13. Is that a Spears quote? nt

[nevergiveup]

6. In the end I am confident

Obama will get this right. There is much understandable impatience here but we must take a step back occasionally and try to fathom the incredible mess this man has inherited.

[shadowknows69]

9. Am I wrong in remembering that he promised to executive order this out of existence

on the campaign trail?

[FreeState]

10. It was widely believed that is what he would do...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4241873/Barack-Obama-to-end-US-armys-dont-ask-dont-tell-policy-towards-gays.html

President-Elect Barack Obama will end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy towards gays in the military as part of moves to sweep away remnants of the Bush era.

The move is expected to be among a series of symbolic changes he will push through quickly to stamp his mark on the presidency.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98078696

Morning Edition, December 22, 2008 · Mr. President-elect, you rarely spoke out as a candidate against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that excludes openly gay people from the military. But when the group Human Rights Campaign asked you about it a year ago, you said this: "America is ready to get rid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. All that is required is leadership."

Then in July, when The Military Times asked you about ending that policy, you sounded a bit more conciliatory. "This is not something that I'm looking to shove down the military's throats," you said.

"I want to make sure that we are doing it in a thoughtful and principled way. But I do believe that at a time when we are short-handed, that everybody who is willing to lay down their lives on behalf of the United States, and can do so effectively, can perform critical functions, should have the opportunity to do so."

http://www.sldn.org/news/archives/sldn-calls-on-president-obama-to-keep-campaign-promise/

SLDN Calls on President Obama to Keep Campaign Promise
Pro-military Group Runs Roll Call Ad Urging Him to End Mixed Signals on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Avoid Albatross

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the first national LGBT organization to hold President Obama accountable for promises made during the 2008 campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) tomorrow is running a full-page ad in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call contrasting what Obama said as a candidate on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" with what are contradictory statements made April 16 by the Pentagon.

"On the campaign trail you said repeatedly the ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law should go," wrote SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis in the open letter to the president. "But since November, you've been silent. Your Defense Secretary said , ‘If we do it,' meaning if the law is repealed. Mr. President, we thought we were talking about how and when to do this, not if."

The Center for Military Readiness, the leading proponent of keeping "don't ask, don't tell and where the grandmother of the far right movement, Phyllis Schlafly, sits on the Board, even sees "mixed signals from the Obama administration."

Sarvis in the letter calls on the President to end the "mixed signals" on repeal. If the White House still favors repeal, Sarvis' letter to the president encourages him to begin speaking out and leading on the issue.

"You are about to submit your administration's defense budget to Congress. This is the logical place to kill ‘don't ask, don't tell.' If you don't, you will soon be approving the firing of men and women for being gay. That infamous law will become your infamous law, your albatross."

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the only federal law on the books today under which gays and lesbians are fired because of their sexual orientation. Almost 13,000 have been discharged since 1994.

The letter concludes by reminding the President, "Gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members are now fighting and dying for their country in two wars. They're making the ultimate sacrifice, just like their straight counterparts. Now, they need you to speak up and lead in getting rid of this shameful law."

In addition to the letter in Roll Call, SLDN will be running ads on Huffington Post asking the President to keep his promise of repeal. Click here to read full text of the Roll Call ad.

[freeplessinseattle]

11. "Obama Sends Handwritten Letter to Gay Solider Ousted...

...From the Military Promising to Repeal DADT"

In January, Sandy Tsao, an army officer based out of St. Louis, MO, told her superiors that she is gay — a violation of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law. Tsao then wrote to President Obama, urging him to change the DADT policy: “I do hope, Mr. President, that you will help us to win the war against prejudice.” On May 5, Tsao received a handwritten letter from Obama with a pledge to repeal DADT at some point:




In the letter, Obama wrote that he is “committed to changing our current policy” but that “it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action).” Yesterday, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), who has sponsored legislation repealing DADT, discussed the issue with Rachel Maddow, saying, “I’d like to see us move it by this summer, and I think we can.”


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/08/obama-dont-ask-dont-tell/

[nichomachus]

14. All Obama needs to do

is issue an executive order suspending DADT until the military investigates it. Then, no one can criticize him for ending it, because he didn't. Then, he can make sure the military drags its feet on investigating it. Pretty soon, it will become a dead issue and he can end it entirely because it won't have been in effect for years. The issue will just go away. The problem now is that no one wants to be the one to say end it because the religious right will go ballistic. So, you don't end it. You just suspend it "temporarily" for four or five years -- and then just kill it quietly some Friday afternoon during the Christmas holiday.

[Duke Newcombe]

15. We are now less safe today than we were last week...

Whatever your feelings or stance on things GLBT, DADT is a dumb, DUMB policy. And without the services of Dan Choi, one that may wind up getting folks dead, in this instance.

[shadowknows69]

16. Spot on

[marmar]

17. He needs to get the pen and use it.....This policy is beyond ridiculous.

Shouldn't national security and intelligence gathering be more important than maintaining and idiotic discriminatory policy?

:wtf: