Obama Using "Don't Ask" To Save Dems In November 2010?

Our U.S. Military is currently actively engaged in two wars.

As if Pentagon Officials and Generals on the ground don't have enough to consider (like stopping Terrorists), the Obama admin. decides to throw out a nugget to his Gay Constituency by suggesting Congress Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

Of course this idea appears to be nothing more than a strategic move for saving the Democratic Party from "Sudden Death" come November (2010 Elections).

Once again it seems as if Pres. Obama is blowing "smoke & mirrors" by casting "Pearls of Wisdom" to Voters of whom he believes are beneath his level of thinking.

Pres. Obama never served in the U.S. Military and despite his public praises of Military Personnel, he's basically Anti-War/ Anti-Military.

Thus he has NO knowledge of Military life, nor the distraction and risks that Homosexuals (mainly Gay Men) could pose to Straight comrades when carrying out dangerous Military Missions.

How in the world are Pentagon Officials supposed to safely withdraw U.S. Troops from the Middle East theatre within 18 months if they've been mandated to focus on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?

THIS IS CRAZY!

So Pres. Obama cares more about his Political career than he does the safety of our Troops?

My husband served in the U.S. Military for 23 years.

He witnessed Gay guys getting beaten up and discharged due to lying about their Sexual Orientation prior to enlisting.

Because the Military often requires its personnel to openly shower along side their comrades in the same stalls, some of those same guys would become sexually aroused and than get beaten up for displaying such lack of self-control.

In most cases those guys were than immediately dishonorably discharged (Chapter 13).

This is a FACT!

Why was this allowed? The UCMJ.

The United States Military Code of Justice are Laws (Regulations) that every member who enlists and serves in the Military must obey.

When a person enlists in the U.S. Military they become Military property plain and simple.

Failure to obey those laws (regulations) could lead to one being Demoted, Dishonorably Discharged, Imprisoned or all three.

Since the Draft is currently not in effect each recruit enlists voluntarily.

Anyone who considers enlisting and all new Recruits are alerted to the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regulation.

Long story short if you want to live an openly gay lifestyle than don't join the U.S. Military because its the wrong environment.

Who cares if Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Admiral Mullen agrees with Pres. Obama on this issue.

Don't they work for him??

Gates & Mullen are Military guys.

They are afraid to say NO or disagree.

Military guys (including Top Brass Officers) always obey their Commander-In-Chiefs even when they don't agree.

Please understand its not that I don't care about Gay Rights but this is most certainly NOT the time to consider repealing "Don't Ask".

Just because Pres. Obama throws out an idea which sounds good in theory, doesn't mean its practical or feasible.

This is one time Pres. Obama needs to adhere to the advice of Senator John McCain.

Our Pentagon Officials should remain laser focused on stopping Al-Qaida and keeping our troops safe.

Pres. Obama please stop throwing out gimmicks like this to save Dems in November 2010.

If your administration geniunely cares about Voters than act like it by focusing on Jobs, Jobs, Jobs and stop secretly protecting Wall Street.

Once most Americans have become gainfully employed, you won't need to throw out nuggets like these to appease a certain population.

We don't want gimmicks. We want real ACTION!

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

Thank you

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"Don't Ask" Law On Slow Road To Repeal?


The sight of the top officer in the U.S. armed forces, in uniform, calling for an end to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was hailed by some as a watershed moment in the nearly two-decade-long battle over the ban on gays in the military.

To others, the words of Adm. Mike Mullen were welcome but did little to blunt their disappointment that the Pentagon was announcing another year of studies and another year of delay — and not the quick repeal they believe President Barack Obama had promised during his campaign.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military is launching a review of what changes in housing, fraternization and personnel policies would be needed to implement an end to the ban on openly gay service members. He promised a detailed plan “by the end of the calendar year.”

“A year is not a reasonable time frame,” said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of gay advocacy group Lambda Legal. “This may be the first step, but, boy, when they say a year, I get that knot in my stomach. This seems like too little, too slow.”

Cathcart said the call for a year to devise an implementation plan would be galling to many who thought the administration was working through the practicalities over the past year. “It’s not clear what happened” during that time, he said. “Part of the problem now is, patience is at an end. The reason why patience is at an end is we’re in February 2010, not January 2009.”

“There have been dozens of studies dating back to World War II. ... Delaying repeal only gives opponents time to stir up the hysteria,” said Dixon Osburn, who spent years organizing opposition to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Still, others marveled at the historic nature of Tuesday’s testimony by Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who offered a poignant repudiation of the current policy as an affront to American values.

“It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Mullen said. “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.”

Aubrey Sarvis, president of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, said, “Adm. Mullen’s personal statement, his personal conviction, I think it is very important,” adding: “I was struck also by how he focused on integrity — the integrity of service members.”

Richard Socarides, a gay activist who wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed just over a week ago excoriating the administration for its inaction, said the hearing convinced him that Obama’s quiet, behind-the-scenes approach is paying off.

“I really thought what they had to say was highly significant and a vindication of Obama’s strategy to get them on board before moving. It took a long time to get to this, but having Gates and Mullen on board fully seems to have been worth it,” said Socarides, the gay community liaison under President Bill Clinton.

Mullen’s support may make it even more difficult for Republicans to mount a strong opposition, said John Ullyot, a former spokesman for Republicans on the committee.

“Any change in the policy should be done with great care, but if it’s inevitable in the coming years, Republicans are in many ways better off not going to the mat over something that is supported by Secretary Gates, Adm. Mullen and many in uniform and is rapidly becoming a nonissue for younger generations of voters,” Ullyot said.




However, most Republicans gave no sign Tuesday of rolling over on the issue, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) rebuking Gates for being “clearly biased” in favor of repeal and trying to reverse the congressionally mandated policy “by fiat.” McCain pointed to a petition from 1,000 former flag officers and generals opposing any change to the policy.

McCain’s objection was particularly striking to some in the gay rights community because, as recently as 2006, he had said he wouldn’t stand in the way of a repeal of the policy. “I’ve had these debates and discussions, but the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, ‘Senator, we ought to change the policy,’ then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to,” McCain said on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that year.

But at this point, McCain is not swayed by the personal opinion of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan. “Adm. Mullen was speaking for himself, not the military as a whole,” Buchanan said, adding that McCain will wait to see the results of the review and hear the collective decision by all the Joint Chiefs. “There’s a huge difference there.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said repealing the ban on openly gay service members could undermine limits the military enforces on fraternization, alcohol use and other behavior. “If we change this rule for ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ what are we going to do with these other issues?” Chambliss asked.

Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) expressed some reservations at the call for an additional year of study. “Obviously, I’d like to see this resolved before that,” he said. He said he might press first for legislation creating a moratorium on discharges as a prelude to full repeal of the policy at some point. The defense authorization bill is a likely vehicle for such a moratorium, Levin said.

Cathcart noted that 500 more service members could be discharged in the coming year while the Pentagon works on its plan. Gay advocates have urged Obama to issue a stop-loss order that would prevent such discharges, but the White House had said the only “permanent” way to reverse the policy is for Congress to repeal the 1993 statute.

But Gates was clear that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is on the way out.

“The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change but how we best prepare for it,” Gates said in his opening statement to the Armed Services Committee session. “We’ve received our orders from the commander in chief and are moving out accordingly.”


Sources: MSNBC, Politico, CNN