The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell today, missing it’s opportunity to overturn the discriminatory policy:

“The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration.

“The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.

“In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.””

While it’s certainly disappointing that the Supreme Court would choose to let this opportunity to challenge the Constitutionality of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell pass, the Obama administration’s contribution to the case is even more problematic.

The administration has said all along that it will follow and support the law while it remains legal, and yet their argument– that the policy is “rationally relationed to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion”– seems callous to the extreme.

The complete dearth of leadership on this issue is made only more complicated by the reality that a vast (and growing) majority of Americans want to see the policy overturned. A new poll from Gallup shows that 69% of Americans want to see the policy overturned, an increase of six percent over the last five years. While liberal support for overturning the policy has consistently been high, the most dramatic change is among conservative and church-going voters.

Americans are six percentage points more likely than they were four years ago to favor allowing openly gay men and lesbian women to serve in the military, 69% to 63%. While liberals and Democrats remain the most supportive, the biggest increase in support has been among conservatives and weekly churchgoers — up 12 and 11 percentage points, respectively.

The significant– and diverse– support for ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell means that it is time for change. The Obama administration had better wake up and smell the progress on this one, before it becomes even more obvious that they’re playing politics with our national security.