• The Obama Administration’s Department of Justice today announced it would be appealing the decisions from Massachusetts (Gill v. Office of Personal Management) which found parts of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.  Appealing the choice makes no sense on any front, especially when you consider the improbability of success with any plan to stand by the Administration’s promise to repeal DOMA through legislative action.  Considering what a fight Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been, I challenge anyone to present a reasonable theory on how this could happen through Congress.
• A federal judge ruled today that all investigations and discharges under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell must stop immediately.  The ruling was not stayed, which means the era of DADT is over…unless the Obama Administration should decide to resurrect it by appealing the decision by U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips.  Based on all previous rulings that have found for gay rights, one has to expect that the Department of Justice will appeal this.  If one were to believe that President Obama wants to keep his campaign promises of repealing DADT and DOMA and enacting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the step after appealing this decision would be to finally push for repeal.  If this makes no sense to you, you’re not alone.

“The National Defense Authorization Act is a good bill that is important for the overall health and well being of our forces, especially given the ongoing campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world,” White House spokesperson Shin Inouye said in a statement. “This legislation received bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate Armed Services Committee and the President hopes it receives similar bipartisan support in the Senate.”

Funny how at this crucial moment there is absolutely no acknowledgement that this is the make or break moment to repeal. No inspiring rhetoric. No comment at all.

It’s not just incredibly disappointing, it’s infuriating and sadly not shocking. With more than 75% of Americans supporting repeal, it shows a shocking lack of political backbone and is just plain baffling. Lots of people are to blame if the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell fails, and unfortunately it may be one of the few bipartisan efforts we’ll see this year.

The president does oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples, and benefits and other issues, and that has been effectuated in federal agencies under his control. He’s supports civil unions, and that’s been his position throughout. So nothing has changed.

Which is it?  The two ideas are proven to be mutually exclusive.  We’ve seen over and over again (New Jersey being just one example) that civil unions aren’t full equality.  And this attempted doublespeak isn’t cutting it anymore.  People are noticing and it’s frankly not earning him any support he didn’t have before.

As John Aravosis reminds us, Obama once before stated his support for marriage equality, but it was in 1996.  Who’d have thought he would be moving the opposite way of history.  And before saying that he probably privately supports same-sex marriage (something I’m inclined to believe), tell me what good that does.  It would simply mean he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions on an issue that is passing him by.

Over at AMERICAblog there is a petition for Obama to fire Jonathan Katz, who he recently appointed to a team offering federal scientific and technological support to BP engineers.  Why?  Because he’s a self-described (and self-published) homophobe and climate change denier.  John and Joe point out some of his worst moments in his “In Defense of Homophobia,”  (yes, that’s actually the name) including this one:

The religious believer may see the hand of God, but both he and the rationalist must see a fact of Nature. The human body was not designed to share hypodermic needles, it was not designed to be promiscuous, and it was not designed to engage in homosexual acts. Engaging in such behavior is like riding a motorcycle on an icy road without a helmet. It may be possible to get away with it for a while, and a few misguided souls may get a thrill out of doing so, but sooner or later (probably sooner) the consequences will be catastrophic. Lethal diseases spread rapidly among people who do such things.

Unfortunately, the victims are not only those whose reckless behavior brought death on themselves. There are many completely innocent victims, too: hemophiliacs (a substantial fraction died as a result of contaminated clotting factor), recipients of contaminated transfusions, and their spouses and children, for AIDS can be transmitted heterosexually (in America, only infrequently) and congenitally. The icy road was lined with unsuspecting innocents, who never chose to ride a motorcycle. Guilt for their deaths is on the hands of the homosexuals and intravenous drug abusers who poisoned the blood supply. These people died so the sodomites could feel good about themselves.

But it doesn’t stop there.  It turns out that being gay is just like being a potential murder or adulterer.

What of those cursed with unnatural sexual desires? Must they forever suppress these desires? Yes, but this is hardly a unique fate. Almost everyone has desires which must be suppressed. Most men and women think adulterous thoughts fairly often, and find themselves attracted to members of the opposite sex to whom they are not married. Morality requires them to suppress these desires, and most do not commit adultery, though they feel lust in their hearts. Almost everyone, at one time or another, covets another’s property. They do not steal. Many people feel great anger or intense hatred at some time in their lives. They do not kill.

I am a homophobe, and proud.

No matter how smart he is (and I have to doubt his scientific prowess as he denies climate change), there is no way someone who openly advocated discrimination against some other minority would be serving in this role.

Sign the letter.

It’s unclear exactly where that leaves the White House.  I can’t imagine the White House ever vetoing the Dept. of Defense Authorization over a policy change they publicly support, but the timeline will present something of a challenge.  From Eleveld’s piece:

A second source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the White House was partially in a bind based on an agreement White House officials had made with Defense Department officials earlier this year to let the Pentagon’s working group study reach completion before pushing for a repeal vote…

…White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has repeatedly declined to say whether the president favors legislative action this year.

But during an April briefing he said the president was committed to letting the working group complete its study.

“The president has set forward a process with the Joint — the chair of the Joint Chiefs and with the secretary of Defense to work through this issue,” he said.

Pressed on whether that study would have to be completed before legislative action was taken, Gibbs added, “Well, again — the House and the Senate are obviously a different branch of government. The president has a process and a proposal I think that he believes is the best way forward to seeing, again, the commitment that he’s made for many years in trying to — changing that law.”

• Constance McMillen, the Mississippi high school senior who was banned from her own prom if she brought her girlfriend, was dupped into attending a fake prom.  The other students invited to this fake prom?  Those with learning disabilities.  Pam Spaulding points out that this is not unlike what black students faced 40 years ago.
• Following a major legislative fail (that highlighted the cruelty of the legislation), the Oklahoma State House killed a bill to undo federal hate crimes legislation.
• Governor Baldacci, who was the second Governor to sign marriage equality into law, is hosting a fundraiser for Preble Street, the charity that lost funding for its support of marriage equality.
• The White House today distanced itself from the Department of Justice defense of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
• There continues to be confusion around the status of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  The Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, announced discharges wouldn’t be pursued…only to clarify that they would be.
• The Marriage Ref, a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine, is going to have its first gay couple.
• Jason Mraz joined the “We Give A Damn” campaign (worth a watch!).  Kudos.  Anna Paquin joined the campaign and revealed she’s bisexual.

Democrats allow themselves to be cast as weak on security every election cycle.  Sure, Hillary Clinton runs as a hawkish democrat who refuses to set a deadline for withdrawl, but no matter what, we’re all cast as weak on defense simply because we’re not in the NRA and think that maybe we should engage in talks before we engage in bombing (an oversimplification, but not by that much).  Here, once again, we’re casting ourselves as weak on military issues.  This may not be as significant as starting a war, but President Obama is also the Commander in Chief.  So he should command.  And everyone else in the armed forces should follow that lead, just like they promised.  Why are we looking for approval on a policy change that most people agree with?

Do we think some republicans will use this to their advantage come November?  Sure, if swift, just action were taken now and DADT were repealed, some candidates might face the issue in their reelections.  But frankly, punting it a year down the road just means that instead of the campaign attacks asking why did you support this “radical liberal agenda,”  it will be a legitimate issue of future legislative action.  It will be a campaign promise of (and for) the homophobes rather than a settled piece of policy that is just one more vote that has come and gone.

Barring any truly momentous events,  the 2010 election will be about jobs and the economy.  If President Obama were to announce today that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would not be enforced until Congress passed its repeal, soldiers would not stand up and leave the armed forces (and anyone who thinks they’re loyalty is that superficial, please stand up).  Further, there won’t be some mad rush of men and women in the armed forces coming out and putting on their rainbow camo.  They’d continue to do their jobs, and they wouldn’t have to hide.  They could openly talk about what most of their colleagues probably know.  The partners and husbands and wives of those soldiers could finally speak out about what they go through on a day to day basis and get the support that straight husbands and wives receive.  This doesn’t require a lot of political capital–especially if done through the Defense budget.  What it does require is an little bit of courage.

Now, an update for those who haven’t been following closely.

• Today the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing, featuring Secretary of Defense Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen.  Mullen’s opening remarks that he personally supports the repeal are below.
  

  “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 institutions

• Based on the previous remarks of Sen. McCain, he should be open to voting for the repeal.
• Carl Levin gets a bit weak-kneed, thinking maybe a pause is better than repeal.
• The Pentagon is starting a year long commission, headed by  Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Army Gen. Carter Ham to look at how to “safely incorporate” openly gay soldiers into the armed forces.  There is also a 45-day review to look at ways to reduce discharges (citing third-party outings as a situation that could be reduced).  More from the AP here.
• Republicans are turning on Secretary Gates (that’s right, the Bush appointee), calling him an activist Secretary of Defense?
  

  Republicans on the panel accused Mr. Gates of usurping Congressional prerogatives by suggesting that the Pentagon commission would study how, not whether, to implement a repeal of the ban.

  “Your statement obviously is one which is clearly biased, without the view of Congress being taken into consideration,” said Sen. McCain, accusing the defense chief of trying to repeal the law “by fiat.”

More to come, but I’ll leave you with a few statements:

Statement from the Service Members Defense League.

We strongly applaud Sec. Gates supporting the President’s view that DADT needs to go. It’s a matter of when and how, he said, not if. We also strongly applaud Chairman Mullen who unambiguously personally supported gays and lesbians serving openly. The top military brass of the United States just laid out a roadmap for full repeal.

The statement of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Contact: Bethany Lesser (202) 224-3873

GILLIBRAND STATEMENT FOR SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE HEARING ON “DON’T ASK DON’T TELL”

First Congressional Hearing Since Discriminatory Policy Was Established 17 Years Ago

Gillibrand Helping Lead  the Charge in the Senate to Immediately Repeal the Policy

Washington, D.C. – Today, as the Senate Armed Service Committee holds the first hearing on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy since it was first established 17 years ago, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement. Senator Gillibrand is helping lead  the charge in the Senate to repeal the unjust, harmful policy that undercuts the civil rights of some of America’s bravest men and women, and weakens America’s national security.

Chairman Levin, Senator McCain, distinguished Members of the Committee; I appreciate your leadership in hosting this important hearing today.
James Madison once said, “Equal laws protecting equal rights… the best guarantee of loyalty & love of country.”

Lesbian and Gay servicemen and women have been serving in our armed forces bravely while being denied the full equality they deserve. Since 1993, more than 13,500 American troops have been discharged from the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), at an estimated cost of over $400 million. Those discharges include more than 800 specialists with skills deemed mission critical by the U.S. military, including at least 323 linguists, approximately 10% of foreign language speakers, 59 of which specialized in Arabic, and at least nine of which specialized in Farsi, the official language of Iran. Among these specialists were pilots, engineers, doctors, nurses, and combat medics, all of which the military has faced shortfalls of in recent years.

These brave Americans were not discharged because of poor performance, but rather because of their sexual orientation.

According to a recent study by the Williams Institute, an estimated 66,000 lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are serving in the US military. According to data provided by the Department of Defense, discharges under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps declined to 428 in 2009 from 619 the previous year. This represents a 65% drop since 2001, the highest number on record.

In a time of war, discharges have decreased, even as anecdotal evidence strongly suggests larger numbers of lesbian and gay service members are serving openly. Despite the current law, individual commanders are deciding to retain otherwise qualified personnel.

Why is this the case? Because the Armed Forces is experiencing shortfalls in several types of mission-critical personnel, especially in the midst of fighting ongoing wars, and is losing additional trained and highly qualified personnel under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It has been estimated that the U.S. military loses more than 4,000 gay and lesbian military personnel each year, which it would have otherwise retained, had the service members been able to be open about their sexual orientation, and that more than 40,000 recruits might join if the ban is lifted.  Commanders on the ground believe what many of us strongly believe-it’s time to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

In a January 2007 Op-Ed article published in The New York Times, General John M. Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when the policy was enacted, stated that his opinion was that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell should be repealed. He argued that due to the U.S. military being stretched thin by its current deployments in the Middle East, the Armed Forces need to accept every American who is willing and able to serve. Last week I was proud to share another statement from General Shalikashvili, 1 of only 17 people in the country’s history to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling for an end to this failed policy.  In his statement he said:

“When I was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, my support of the current policy was based on my belief that implementing a change in the rules would have been too burdensome for our troops and commanders at the time.

“The concern among many at that time, was that letting people who were openly gay serve would lower morale, harm recruitment and undermine unit cohesion. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was seen as a useful measure that allowed time to pass while our culture continued to evolve. The question before us now is whether enough time has gone by to give this policy serious reconsideration. I believe that it has.”

Twenty-five foreign militaries now let gays serve openly, including our closest ally, Britain.  I sit on the Foreign Relations Committee and I am acutely aware that most of our allies – Israel, Britain, France, 22 of 26 NATO nations in all – allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly and I believe the American military should follow suit. At a time when our nation is fighting two wars, and with increased national security threats, we can ill afford this loss of personnel and talent in our national defense. Our military is the best in the world. Once gay and lesbian service members are allowed to serve openly, our military will still be the best in the world.

As we look at the path that has brought us to this hearing today, regarding how best to repeal the Don’t ask, Don’t Tell policy, I am reminded of several leaders in the fight to allow openly gay service members into the Armed Forces.

One is then West Point Cadet, Lt. Alexander Raggio. In his 2006 award winning thesis he stated:

“The military should abandon the false acceptance of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and allow the open service of homosexuals immediately.”

And he added, “Current policy cannot be rationally explained except as a reflection of the personal prejudices of those who create and enforce it and, rationalized by faulty logic and double standards.”

These steps towards equality are our duty.  I strongly believe that equality is an inalienable American right – and should not be ascribed based on gender or race, religion or sexual orientation or gender identity. America must lead by example when it comes to equality and justice.  Freedom from discrimination is a basic right that all Americans should enjoy. Lifting the ban on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is not only necessary for realizing equality, but it’s necessary for ensuring that our armed forces remain the best in the world.

Pepe Johnson, a former Sergeant, U.S. Army sums up the moral imperative on why we have to change this policy. Every day this policy remains we ask these soldiers to lie about who they are, Pepe said  ”Honesty and integrity are everything in the army.  I felt if I was lying, I didn’t have it.  I wasn’t serving with integrity. I felt trapped. Lying is not the way of the Army — I felt I was violating regulation.

“During the three years I served I only wanted to be all I could be – to borrow the old recruiting slogan – but Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell forced me to be something other than what I was. And that’s not consistent with the Army’s Values: ‘Leaders are honest to others by not presenting themselves or their actions as anything other than what they are, remaining committed to the truth.’ (FM 6-22, Army Leadership) As long as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell exists, there is a hole in the integrity of the entire military.”

We must recognize that human dignity and respect are part and parcel of who we were as Americans – male or female, African American or Caucasian, Gay or Straight, Bisexual or Transgender.

We must ensure that our armed forces are fully prepared with the best resources we can muster.  Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a threat to our men and women in uniform and our national security. We cannot afford to handicap our efforts because of ignorance or hatred.

This policy is wrong for our national security and inconsistent with the moral foundation upon which our country was founded. It is critically important for this Congress to take up President Obama’s call to permanently end the ban on LGBT Americans serving in our armed services. We will strengthen America – both militarily and morally — by repealing this discriminatory policy.

On the stimulus and compromising in legislation

A lighter moment to the serious issue of hyper-partisan politics limiting the ability to come together and find real solutions: