WH spokesman Gibbs refuses to commit to repealing DADT this year, after Prez promised in SOTU

[Bluebear]

via americablog:

Regardless of your position on repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell this year, imagine how you'd feel if you were promised repeatedly that the discriminatory law would be repealed, then you were specifically promised in the State of the Union that it would be done this year. Then, when a reporter goes to the White House spokesman and asks, repeatedly, over the period of a few weeks, would you support the law's repeal this year, the spokesman chokes up.

In many ways, it's very much the public option all over again. Strong initial support for a position popular in the polls, then when the detail work begins, the White House backs off and starts to send mixed signals. It's a strange and rather inexplicable pattern, one that we've all been trying to get our heads around. But whatever the justification, it's a poor way to manage relations with any Democratic constituency months before a crucial midterm election. (And we mean you, Mr. Messina.) Read More......

http://www.americablog.com/

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. It is betrayal, Bluebear.

Plain and simple. And who walks door to door to get these people elected? The people they repeatedly tell to "wait their turn". :(

[Bluebear]

2. I have not forgotten your plight, my friend.

Some day.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. And I won't forget yours.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. :^(

[sabrina 1]

5. I think they will pass it. But not until close to the election.

Progressives especially are not too thrilled with them right now, for many reasons. They don't care about that obviously, as the DLC is running the WH. However, they are not stupid enough to not realize that without the base working for them in the Fall, they might see a repeat of Mass all over the country. This won't stop, as we've seen already, the lurch to the right, but close to the election they may calculate that if they throw progressives something, they can use them once again.

Dadt should be an easy bill to pass. There is enough support for it, and little strong opposition, that there is now reason NOT to do it. So, why the delay? It isn't like it would hurt the Corporations, which of course this administration will never do.

But, if they put it off until around September, progressives would be happy and maybe willing to get on board for the election. Of course once the election is over, they will be told to STFU again.

As their supporters like to say, they are playing chess and in the twisted minds of those who live inside the DC bubble, holding up someone's civil rights for political purposes wouldn't cost them a thought.

[leftstreet]

6. +1

As their supporters like to say, they are playing chess and in the twisted minds of those who live inside the DC bubble, holding up someone's civil rights for political purposes wouldn't cost them a thought.

You got that right!

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. I hate to say this but the President made no promises about repealing DADT

Don't get me wrong. I'm the parent of a gay teenager. I live and breathe hoping it gets repealed SOONEST. What we got though in the SOTU was doublespeak just like we get on a host of other issues.

"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."

"I will work with Congress" isn't a promise do accomplish anything at all.

Doublespeak. It's not the Change I Hoped for.

[Bluebear]

8. 'America is ready to get rid of the Don't Ask, Dont Tell policy.All that is required is leadership.'

Obama in 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."

http://www.barackobama.com/people/lgbt/

[unc70]

11. Develop action plans, develop procedures, work with Congress --

Doesn't exactly say he will take any direct action or leadership role, certainly not at any particular time.

BTW would his powers to pardon not be the most direct way to handle those already separated from the services? I remember what Carter did his first day in office in regard to those who resisted Vietnam. I have seen no justification for Obama not ending all enforcement of DADT by Presidential order as CinC.

[Toasterlad]

19. Pardon Is Unsavory. These People Didn't Break the Law.

The vast majority of them were exposed by others against their will, found "guilty of being gay" in military kangaroo courts, and then robbed of their careers and pensions.

This situation is not analagous to those who resisted Vietnam. Whatever their reasons for protesting, those people were fighting against legal conscription which applied to them all. The laws they broke were not government-institutionalized discrimination. Gay people in the military are put in the position of having to deny who they are, and serve at the mercy of anyone who might bear them a grudge who happens to find out they're gay. They shouldn't be pardoned, they should be reinstated.

[unc70]

23. I understand the differences, but the powers are far ranging

I am also very sensitive to these issues for family reasons.

My comment was more to the issue that Obama has all the power he needs to resolve this issue without involving Congress at all. It would require a careful use of language in the issuance statement, but could have been done the first day of the administration. I suspect few of us would have objected if Obama had issued a proclamation his first day in office.

While the comparison with VN is imperfect, they have a lot in common. Carter did not campaign using weasel words, and he followed through completely on his first day in office.

[Toasterlad]

24. Well, Obama Could Certainly Suspend DADT, And He Should Have Done So Day 1

However, Congress still needs to repeal the law prohibiting openly gay men and women from serving in the Armed Forces before those discharged servicemembers can be reinstated.

[Rage Inc.]

9. Two Words

Oil Drilling.

[EFerrari]

10. Thom Hartmann, who has a brain I respect a great deal, keeps saying

that Obama is beating the Republicans at their own game by denying them targets. That's my paraphrase of his idea which, when he says it, doesn't sound like 10 dimensional chess for some reason.

I want to believe that and do not believe it.

If it turns out that I am wrong, the residual problem is that the administration is not doing a good job of signaling their support for myriad issues important to many of the communities in their base.

The whole situation is dispiriting on so many levels.

[joeybee12]

13. If indeed this what Thom says, you're right, he should still be talking

with his core constituencies to keep them on board for the long term.

[EFerrari]

22. The part about the base is my worry, not Thom's

that I know of.

[Iggo]

12. So the Dems refuse to commit to receiving Iggo's donation check this year?

Okay.

(I spel gud)

[placton]

14. Iggo - the Dems only want the BIG DONOR checks

from the nuclear power guys, Big Oil, and the rest of the military industrial complex

[Iggo]

18. Ah, of course.

Little checks got the Pres elected, but big checks are the real prize.

And Abramoff is still doing time, right? LOL.

[QC]

15. He's just not that into you. n/t

[Toasterlad]

16. Barack Obama Doesn't Care About Gay People.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. Since he called for more "study" ---

I do not think it will happen this year. And damn that sucks. :( Another kick in the stomach from O and a great disappointment.

[Dinger]

20. This Reminds Me Of Something

Remember when the giggling murderer (*w) would do a photo-op, and then praise a program one day, and then cut it the next day? This seems to ehco that, at least a little bit.

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Aside from the typical bigotry

This 'refusal to commit' thing is not the winner they think it is. On many issues.

[Bluebear]

25. Silence speaks volumes sometimes,