Comments on: Withers: Obama working on DADT?

By: michaelandfred

michaelandfred — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:07:43 +0000

Of all the gay issues, THIS one seems to me to be exactly smack dab in the middle of Obama’s full plate. We’re still entrenched in two wars, where our military is outnumbered by the mercenary troops like Black Water we are spending hundreds of millions on because our troops are spread so thin.

Keeping our troops in is not only a national security issue, but a financial one in these hard economic times. How can this NOT be a top priority issue?

By: Brian O'Reilly

Brian O'Reilly — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:59 +0000

Agreed. Doesn’t his Oath and the traditions of the Office of President require:

1. Protect the United States from all ememies, foreign or domestic.
— Don’t we need the gay vets to do that? Many of these soldiers have developed skills during their tenure. You dump them? Does that not hurt security?

2. Uphold the Constitution.
— Doesn’t the constitution require equal protection of the law? Doesn’t permitting discharges under is watch violate his Oath of Office?

3. Isn’t the President supposed to honor veterans and soldiers, living and dead?
— Even though the previous presidents have done it too, isn’t Obama disgracing veterans and soldiers, and all they have died for, by dumping them for an irrelevant personal characteristic?

By: Alan in IL

Alan in IL — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:32:39 +0000

bob – yes, he could issue a “stop loss” order that might hold up…during his term. And his successor could countermand it in 2013 or 2017. DADT is a law passed by Congress and signed by Clinton. To repeal it requires a law being passed. While I, too, would like to see it ended yesterday I suspect that if he issued the stop-loss order it would take any pressure off of congress to do anything. A sad fact of life is that it is always harder to undo a bad law than it was to pass it in the first place.

By: bobweekend

bobweekend — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:04:41 +0000

What I don’t get is the office of President is Commander in Chief of the military. Why won’t he just write an order to end this. Congress’ only involvement in the military is it controls the money.

By: Brian O'Reilly

Brian O'Reilly — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:23:04 +0000

Health care should take a long time. It is new legislation changing a big chunk of the economy. But what effort is required to take a couple of discredited, senseless laws off the books? Where is the work in that? And he has been in office for a year, and a year for now, if the republican party takes over the senate, all hope of repealing DADT and DOMA will be gone. At that time, we will be asking why the Democratic Party could not deliver two simple repeals in the two years they has a supermajority. How did we get so low on the to do list? I’ll tell you how. Extreme approval by groups like the HRC, and silence from the gay elites in Washington and New York.

By: Rick365

Rick365 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:04:07 +0000

Gee, Brian O’Reilly, it seems to me like getting healthcare reform on his desk has been a real problem. Perhaps another example of the instant gratification you allege he has received in the less than nine months he has been in office would be helpful.

By: Brian O'Reilly

Brian O'Reilly — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:13:57 +0000

Obama has a great PR machine on DADT. Keep the gays happy by making it appear that Obama is working for the repeal. But I am not happy. When Obama wants any bill on his desk, he gets it. Trillion for the Banks? Right away. Complex re-organization of the health care economy? On your desk. But what is the problem with a simple repeal of this policy? All it means is the the discharge proceeding stop. Some military officer gets a memo: Hey, Officer John, stop that discharge paperwork. Where is the work? There is no work. The democrats have ABC 123 priorities, and gays just the lowest on the list because of fear of loss in the midterms and Obama’s re-election. How did gays get so low on the priority list for a commander in chief needing vets to fight two wars? Let’s throw Prince Obama another feast, with standing ovations and toasts, and ask him why he is complicit in dumping loyal gay soldiers on the curb every month.