Posted on 05/24/2010 8:59:29 PM PDT by ConjunctionJunction
Gay rights groups met with White House and congressional leaders this morning to discuss a potentially-imminent repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
The impetus for the meetings is a push in Congress, which passed the measure under President Bill Clinton, to add a repeal of the policy to the upcoming defense authorization bill.
Repeal "had been on a slow track awaiting completion of a Pentagon study at the end of this year," reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin. "Gay rights proponents and their Democratic allies on Capitol Hill and in the White House have decided it's now or not for a very long time since the elections this fall are expected to bring in a more conservative, more Republican Congress."
On Thursday, as the Washington Post reports, the Senate Armed Services Committee will vote on adding the repeal provision to the bill; the House may also vote on the matter this week.
While repeal could pass via the defense authorization bill, it would reportedly not go into effect under the pending deal until after the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff review an ongoing Pentagon study into the impact of repeal. That review is set to be completed by December 1st.
The president and military brass must approve moving forward after the review comes back, and implimentation of repeal could take years.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen has already called ending the policy "the right thing to do," and President Obama has vowed repeal.
According to the Advocate, a Statement of Administration Policy on the issue is expected this week.
It is not clear that there are enough votes to attach a repeal to the defense authorization bill. Sen. Carl Levin, the chair of the Armed Services Committee, is believed to be at least one vote short of the 15 votes he needs, though up to six senators are reportedly wavering.
"The Pentagon was caught flat footed by this sudden change in the legislative landscape and officials are scrambling to figure out whether they are for or against the compromise - and whether there are enough votes on the Hill to pass it," reports Martin.
Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Rep. Patrick Murphy sent a letter today to Mr. Obama urging him to support their "legislative proposal...that puts a process in place to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' once the working group has completed its review and you, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs certify that repeal can be achieved consistent with the military's standards of readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention."
"It is our firm belief that it is time to repeal this discriminatory policy that not only dishonors those who are willing to give their lives in service to their country but also prevents capable men and women with vital skills from serving in the Armed Forces at a time when our Nation is fighting two wars," they write.
The White House said they support the Democrat's legislative amendment to repeal "Don't Ask" even though it would have been ideal to wait until the review was finished.
"The Administration is of the view that the proposed amendment meets the concerns raised by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget for the White House wrote in a letter to Lieberman. "The Administration therefore supports the proposed amendment."
You have one in the white house.Now you are seeing social cohesion disappear.He is doing that purposefully, sort of an anti Camelot president, the Mordred type of King Arthur infamy.Obama is truly a "Dark Lord."
I notice he has refised to go to Arlington for Memorial Day.The piker is now afraid, and well he should be.
They finally gonna ask Kagan?
Afraid he might stuff wasabi taffy into the coolant pipes?
They’ll need a draft in a few years.
Every base will have a lawyer to find for homorights everytime a Sgt yells and makes someone cry.
It is a slap in the face to everyone who ever served. Handicapped people are willing to give their life for their country so where do we draw the line, no paraplegics or quadrapelgics? Every year thousands of service members are discharged for failure to maintain their weight, fat body discrimination must stop! We need to redefine standards because fat bodies are willing to serve and die. Allot of people from allot of groups are barred from service, for the good of the service. Does not mean they are not patriotic, I know of men who starved themselves to make weight to enlist, but could not sustain their weight and were kicked out. Lieberman is a scum bag, literally and figuratively.
Johnny will be prancing off to war soon.
Obama will need a draft of millions to get the angry young men off the streets. Our angry young men will be sent to kill the angry young men of South Central Asia and on the Yellow Sea.
History is repeating itself.
I wonder if Rosie the Riveter will gleefully march off to the factory with the patriotic fervor as they did in the 40’s.
Yeah, because THIS is what we need to worry about right now!
We have double-digit unemployment, a trillion dollar deficit, oil clogging up the Gulf, and N Korea about to go apesh*t, and we’re worried about gays in the military?? WTF???
I always look to see who is still clueless enough to keep the bumper stickers on their cars.
9 out of 10 times they’re women, more often than not, exactly as you describe them.
IMO, the goal is to advance an agenda. Weakening America is a consequence..not a goal.
So it takes 3 years, half-a-dozen environmental impact studies and hundreds of thousands of dollars to even put a shovel in the ground to build something. But we can launch a potentially devastating social experiment on our armed forces without so much as a tough question. I’m starting to wish for bad things to happen to these assclowns.
Obama, the community organizer continues to use issues like immigration and gay rights to divide and polarize the American people and energize his base.
Exactly, Chief. BTW, thanks for your many years. I was gonna do my 20, but my rating closed up and I got a great civilian offer.
Also, during my short stint as a Naval Reserve Recruiter at North Island, my CPO supervisor was a butch but was one of the best supervisors I worked for in my 11 years. DADT, works and allows gays to serve. So what's the problem?
And don't even start me on females aboard small surface combatants or submarines! When I served, women were still serving on tenders, oilers, and supply ships. Even then, they had a huge problem with the girls crying harassment for nothing more than a male sailor looking at them. Then there was, and still is, the matter of women getting pregnant or faking female problems so as not to deploy. You know who takes up the slack.
Women on subs in those narrow passagways? I'm astounded that our Navy brass is so short-sighted.
US Navy brown and black shoe - 1975-1986
I second your "yep" from another gator. USS New Orleans (LPH-11).
Well, no...but I'm afraid he'll make some of the stuff and attempt to feed it to someone. That crap could be used for a torture method at Club Gitmo.
What kinda frightens me is if they station him aboard a sub. Think about it.
Homosexuality is a mental illness and the mentally ill have no place in the military.
It’s really all about those in the military now and how they will handle the out of the closet stuff - in your face.
What if two gays start going at it in the barracks after lights out? Would that event also be acceptable?
That is Great.
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