What could be worse for him is that he not only lost, at least temporarily, independent voters as evidenced by the elections, and from the outset of his presidency he has been hammered by the right wing of the Republican Party (expected), but Obama is also allowing the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to slip away. Among them, LGBT folks, once huge supporters of the president, are disappointed and angry.

The latest struggle in dealing with the extension of the Bush tax cuts proved Obama has lost his hold on those very Democrats who pushed him over the top in 2008. He needs to get back his base. He needs to return to his core principles and his campaign promises. He needs to show some feistiness, some fight or he will be a one-term president.

One way to help fix that is a nationally televised speech from the Oval Office on the Senate’s failure to enact the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Although I am not a speechwriter, I suggest something along the following lines:

My Fellow Americans (note the “birthers” will already be snickering):

When I addressed Congress and the Nation during my State of the Union Address on January 27, I called for the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I said, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It’s the right thing to do.”

I believed that then, and I still do. With many problems facing our country this year both at home and abroad, I focused on some immediate steps, such as reforming the health care system and doing whatever it takes to get our people back to work and our economy back on track. If I didn’t directly and aggressively push Congress on the repeal of the discriminatory policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” I do apologize, because it remains a high priority to me and my Administration.

In late May the House of Representatives did vote for the repeal of the law as did the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of a broader Defense Department spending measure.

However, key opponents of the law asked that a survey be undertaken of our troops to determine if the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would cause significant disruption to unit cohesion, readiness and effectiveness.

That survey commissioned by the Department of Defense and conducted by the Comprehensive Review Working Group has been completed and reported earlier this month. It found that a significant majority of those troops who responded said that they would have little or no problem serving alongside a service member who is gay or lesbian. In addition, more than 9 out of 10 who were aware of gay or lesbian troops in their unit did not oppose repeal.

The repeal of this law, which has accounted for nearly 14,000 discharges of qualified, patriotic service members—many with critical skills needed for our nation’s security—has been supported by Defense Secretary Gates; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen; members of the Joint Chiefs themselves, and countless current and former military leaders, such General Colin Powell. Moreover, a vast majority of fair-minded Americans, including a majority of conservatives, are in favor of overturning this law.

To my great disappointment, despite this mounting body of support for repeal as well as the evidence contained in the Comprehensive Review Working Group report, the Senate by 3 votes failed to vote on the bill. Another attempt for repeal is underway in Congress as a stand-alone measure.

All along, I firmly believed that since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” needs to be repealed by legislative means. Since the 1993 law was put in place by Congress, it should be overturned by Congress.

However, as Commander-in-Chief, I see this discriminatory law harmful not only to our patriotic Americans who are willing to fight and die for our country, but it also impairs our efforts in the global war on terrorism and our defense in general.

Accordingly, I have decided to take the following steps should the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” not be accomplished during this Lame Duck session of Congress:

First, as Commander-in-Chief, I am empowered during a time of war to use the measure called stop-loss. As such, effective immediately, I order that no further discharges of gay or lesbian service members be permitted under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Second, I am instructing the Justice Department to stop appealing federal court cases challenging the constitutionality of the law as these cases make their way through the judicial system.

This country was founded on the principles of equality and justice for all. To discriminate against a class of people who are otherwise qualified to serve in our military runs counter to the values for which our men and women in uniform have fought and died throughout our history to defend.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been a blemish on our nation, and as President of the United States, I am fulfilling my promise by ending it now and forever. Accordingly, we will now join the other 35 nations who allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in their armed forces. As I said in my State of the Union address, it is the right thing to do.

God bless you and God bless America.

• Contributed by Steve Charing and cross-posted at: Steve Charing OUTspoken!

According to a blog on The Washington Post:

The truth is that gay and lesbian servicemembers have already served openly — as Judge Phillips noted in her ruling, the military has halted DADT investigations for servicemembers deployed in combat situations, undermining the notion that allowing gays and lesbians to serve undermines military effectiveness. Judge Phillips’ denial of a stay however, means that the public will be able to see that for themselves.

More here!

More at the original source: Steve Charing OUTSpoken!

And the best part…that vote has been planned all along!

According to a post on DC Agenda:

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning to hold a vote this year in her chamber of Congress for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, according to her office.

“It is the Speaker’s intention that a vote will be taken this year on ['Don't Ask, Don't Tell'] in the House,” Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesperson, told DC  Agenda in a statement Monday.

The announcement is promising news for repeal advocates because Pelosi has yet to put legislation to the floor that hasn’t had sufficient support for passage.

Michael Cole, a Human Rights Campaign spokesperson, praised Pelosi for planning the vote.

“As we’ve been saying for a long time now, the time to repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law is this year, and it’s a positive sign to hear congressional leaders affirm that,” Cole said.

So perhaps all of this hullabaloo over broken promises and not enough, not fast enough is simply that…hullabaloo (although I feel certain some who think they’ve influenced this decision will be jumping to take credit)!

Read more at DC Agenda!

THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA!



Well, let’s hope so, and thanks to blogs like, Because It Just Might Help, it actually may just help. According to a recent post about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell:

According to military law, publicly criticizing the president is grounds for punishment due to insubordination. However, the man will not be reprimanded and the Army considers the issue closed.

If this man can get away with criticizing the president openly, then I would like someone to explain to me why a soldier can be discharged for openly declaring his or her homosexuality. Both instances violate military code.

I guess the old saying “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” doesn’t apply when it comes to the military and its homophobic attitudes.

So I say this, we should all write our congressmen as the general suggests. Only what we should be asking for is that the general be punished for insubordination according to military law.

This is no time for double standards!

Read more at: It Just Might Help…others find a little understanding!

He began traveling around the country to interview and shoot military personnel. At first he paid his own travel expenses; later, he was helped by a grant from the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation.

While the “Fearless” photographs were shot on film, Sheng has used a digital camera for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which allowed him to show his subjects their pictures right away — and so, he says, help build their trust.

He has photographed 40 servicemen and servicewomen so far, and plans to shoot 20 more. His “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” exhibition, featuring around 30 photos, will open at the Kaycee Olsen Gallery in Culver City in September. Sheng is at work on a second volume of the book.

He describes his subjects, identified only by pseudonyms, as people who “didn’t want to risk their careers, but who wanted to take some kind of stand.”

Read more and find out where you can get a copy or make a donation at: Mercury News!

On September 13, 2008, Belok attended a party at Beta Theta Pi, a fraternity which he later pledged, when two other midshipmen [MIDN], Dave Perry and Squad Leader Nick Trimis, said they saw Belok kiss another male on the lips.

Read more at: Focus On The Rainbow

Lieberman press secretary Marshall Wittmann would not discuss the details of the bill. “We anticipate knowing more later this week,” he said.

It’s also not clear whether the bill will debut with bipartisan support. “We are in the process of reaching out to Republicans,” Wittmann added.

More at: The Advocate!

“Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Adm. Mike Mullen said in riveting, military-man eloquent testimony Feb. 2 before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“No matter how I look at this issue,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs continued, “I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

The nation’s highest-ranking military officer concluded: “I also believe that the great young men and women of our military can and would accommodate such a change. I never underestimate their ability to adapt.”

Game over.

Now, of course, the losing team can’t be expected to look at the one-sided score and just walk off the field.

Sen. John McCain — the Arizona Republican who in 2006 said if military leaders ever told him DADT should be repealed “we ought to consider seriously changing it” — peevishly lectured Mullen and the Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also testified “I fully support” repeal:

“Well, I’m happy to say that we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell, despite your efforts to repeal it, in many respects by fiat,” McCain told them.

More at: The Cap Times!

The no-change-during-wartime argument is an example of conventional thinking about war and American society. “Wartime” is imagined to be a temporary condition. It is a special kind of time. Wartime, by definition, is preceded and followed by “peacetime.” American history is thought to consist of the movement from peacetime to wartime and back again. In this conceptualization, wartimes always comes to an end.

This idea that wartime is by definition a temporary time is an essential ingredient of the argument that social change shouldn’t happen in wartime. This is presented as an argument that does not challenge change itself, but simply asks advocates of change to be patient. Change can come after the war is over.

But what if there is no end to war?

United States military deployment overseas has been on-going since at least World War II.

More at: LA Progressive!