Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Neff: Obama needs to end Don’t Ask now
Team Obama rocked the vote, a powerhouse band playing to stadium crowds.
Here’s hoping Barack Obama’s new house band is just as in-tune, just as rocking. Here’s hoping an Obama administration doesn’t go mellow on us, and that the first 100 days of the new administration play out like an encore to the campaign.
There’s a tendency when rockers hit it big — and Obama, for all his calm, cool frontman style, is much like a rock star — to dial down the sound and get reflective. Already the talking heads on the 24-hours news channels sound like a scratched record on the first days of an Obama presidency — “don’t overreach,” “don’t overreach,” “don’t overreach.”Wonder what happens if you play them backward?
We don’t need an unplugged Obama in the first 100 days — there will be plenty of time for the administration to compose a masterpiece of legislation or create a timeless program. During that honeymoon period, during those first 100 days, it ought to be full-tilt boogie with Obama and his band jamming with the Congress to pass much needed reform measures.
In his first 100 days, Franklin D. Roosevelt drafted the Emergency Banking Act, moved the Civilian Conservation Corps bill, signed the Federal Emergency Relief Act into law, signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act into law and created the Securities Exchange Commission.
John Kennedy signed an executive order creating the Peace Corps in his first 100 days.
Jimmy Carter, in his 100 days, pardoned Vietnam draft-dodgers, signed the Emergency Natural Gas Act to deal with an energy crisis and met with the prime minister of Israel and the president of Egypt.
Bill Clinton, in his first 100 days, named Hillary Clinton to head up a task force on healthcare reform, signed the Family and Medical Leave Act and revoked the Gag Rule that prohibited federally funded clinics from treating abortion as an option.
There was discord between President Clinton and some in Congress — like the Grateful Dead trying to jam with the Pat Boone family — and the White House staff ended up with some hangovers.
One of the big aches came with the failed effort to lift the ban against gays serving in the military — the push began early in the Clinton administration and the fight lasted through much of the first year. By the end of 1993, Congress had passed “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
We know where Obama stands on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. He agrees that it should be repealed, that the test for military service should be a sense of duty and discrimination prohibited.
Because the Clinton administration bombed on gays in the military doesn’t mean the Obama administration shouldn’t try to cover the issue early on. Yes, the new administration will be dealing with an economic crisis, energy concerns and two wars, but the president elect was quick during the campaign to point out, “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”
As the new administration acts to address military readiness and Defense Department budget concerns, the new administration can act to promote equality in the ranks.
In 1993, the Clinton crew encountered military brass uninformed on the issue of whether gays should wear uniforms and serve openly.
Fifteen years since, the attitude among military officers has changed dramatically. In mid-November, 104 retired generals and admirals signed a statement calling for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’ tell.”
The new president will be working with a Senate that has no Sam Nunn, a House that has no Newt Gingrich and opinion polls that show a majority of people support lifting the ban.
Encore, encore.
Obama won’t do it. He’s the first “black” President of the US, and that means he has to be the “whitest” President in history if he wants to leave the door open for future black leaders. America will be lucky if he does anything to advance the causes of racial minorities, let alone gays.
I have never served in the military and will never serve, but I have a great deal of respect for the men and women who do serve. I have slightly less respect for those in charge of the military, and very little confidence in their decision-making abilities, but the men and women who serve in the US military work hard to defend their country. I believe their country should show them the respect they deserve.
And that means eliminating discrimination. If you expect a person to fight and die for their country, they have every right to expect that you will allow them to pursue happiness freely and openly. After all, isn’t that part of the American ideal? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – or is it “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness unless you happen to be gay”?
Though it left a bitter taste in a lot of people’s mouths, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was a step forward from what existed before it. I know Clinton has been bashed for his half-assed “victory” here, but it was progress and while he could have done more he moved it to a place where the only step forward is to allow gay men and women to serve openly in the military. And now is the time to take the next step.
Unfortunately, I doubt Obama has the integrity or the balls to take that step. Don’t misunderstand me – I am very, very happy that he was elected. He will make a fine President and was certainly the best candidate out of those available. Hillary Clinton may have been a better choice from an LGBT perspective, but I think she would have been the wrong choice for America. Out of all the possible candidates, Obama was the right man for the job.
And it shows that America is moving in the right direction. OK, so he may just be the whitest black man in history, but he’s black enough that his election is a massive step forward. Unfortunately, he’s going to have to work twice as hard as a white President to be reelected next time. He’s going to have to show himself to be twice as good as any other President to stand a chance at reelection. Fortunately, after the bumbling fool he’s following I don’t think that will be too hard.
Unfortunately, pursuing a progressive agenda is not what’s going to keep him in office. Abolishing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” would dramatically decrease his chances of being reelected in four years…or at least that’s what I’m willing to bet his advisers will tell him.
If Obama is gets a second term, I think it’s possible he might attempt to do away with “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” then. To do it now would take bigger balls and a great deal more integrity than I believe he possesses.
Prove me wrong, Obama, by all means, but I fear you will merely live up to my humble expectations.
I am a US Army Retiree. It took me ten yrs to come out of the closet after I retired. I think the example set by the British Royal Navy is something to look at and take full advantage of. Society is just now starting to adjust to the presence of the Gay Agenda. If the envelope is pushed at to rapid a rate, the backlash & subsequent outcry by the religious right, could be catastrophic.(Note what happened in the Propostion 8 in CA!) The Royal Navy utilized a Group – Stonewall, very effectively in instituting the recuiting of gay personnel and the intergration into the ranks.
I think a lot of people are going to be fooled by President Elect Obama!!
JANORM
President Elect Obama:
What an opportunity for a new president who overcame obstacles that perhaps even 4 years ago could not have been overcome, but you did it. Now it is your time to show the world and the gay and lesbian men, women and children that you hold our rights and freedoms as important as the rights that you have fought so long to over come, and there are still poctkets of discrimination, but we need this boost from you. I am 64, I would like to be able to marry my partner before I die, and I want it to be legally accepted and I want him to be able to receive all the rights that go along with marriage.
So, please sir open your heart and mind, and see the wrongs being done in the name of God. They talk of blasphemy, but have no clue what it really is means. In essence the word means “to blame”.
Once again I feel you have a time in history to right that is wrong and has been long for centuries.
Don’t hold your breath. It will never happen. He will never do it. He just used us to get elected.
Obama has proven that the only time he cares about LGBTQI people is when they’re voting for him. The rest of the time they’re either in the back of the bus or under it. Don’t look for any favors from the black man who espouses “separate but equal” civil rights. Oh, I don’t think he’d veto a repeal if it came across his desk, but I have no faith he’d actually put in any effort to get it there.
Clinton 2.0!! Now comes with an extra side of hypocrisy and a free economic crisis to explain it away!
I support DADT because it gives everone an immediate GET OUT OF THE MILITARY card. I told my straight Nephews when they had to sign up for the (non)draft to declare themselves Gay, and they did, to avoid ever being conscripted.
Moreover, as long as we LGBT people are 2nd class citizens we DO NOT owe the government, let alone the military agressing illegally against other nations, anything.
DADT is a blessing we should celebrate.
“We need to learn to grow up and play political ball.” DEAD WRONG. Growing up is when we decide NOT to play games with our lives. Unfortunately for gays and lesbians in America, politics is VERY personal and we do in fact need to grow up, but playing “political ball” is the absolute last thing we need to do.
Gay and lesbian voters will NEVER be taken serious, nor will our issues, unless we ourselves take them seriously. This means, even if Obama has other priorities(ie the economy, the war, etc) we’re the ones who have to put our issues out front and NOW. If we ourselves feel that our issues aren’t important, no one else will either.
The American gay and lesbian community does need to “grow up”, but if growing up means being stupid and “playing political ball” then that is the last thing we need to do. Also all this talk of “growing up” from the likes of Mark is a direct insult to the younger generation of activists who’ve gotten our community out of paralysis. We need youthful impatience right now, because we’ve taken the tranquilizing drug of gradualism so much that even nations like Nepal and South Africa are zooming past us at the speed of light. So,, if “growing up” is what we need to do, sure then lets do it, but growing up should never mean learning to accept inequality and inaction forever.
Obama can’t do this alone. Clinton could have, by simply issuing an executive order, much as the military was integrated by executive order. Unfortunately, Clinton’s fumble ending up with Congress passing DADT, so not it’ll take a congressional act to change it.
Having said that, Obama has a Democratic congress, and over 70% of the public saying that gays should be allowed to openly serve in the military. He can’t do this himself, but he certainly can name it a priority and ask congress to support him. I believe they would.
Will it be a hot potato? Yes. Is it the right thing to do? Yes. Will it pass? I believe it will. Will Obama and the Democratic congress have the guts to do it? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.
I firmly believe that Obama will have the most gay friendly administration we have ever seen, however, I disagree that these issues need to be top priority on his agenda right now. The GLBT movement needs to learn from the past, Clinton tried to deal with gays in the military right off the bat and we got DADT and the Defense of Marriage Act. Obama needs to deal with the economy and the war in Iraq first, prove himself a leader, form a consensus and then move on to these very important social issues, otherwise we could very well see a resurgence of the Republican right wing in 2010. We need to learn to grow up and play political ball.
Why is there such a focus on DADT right now? The president elect’s first priority is going to be economic in nature. I would like to see a push on ENDA first since its an economic issue.
Obama isn’t going to do it, at least not any time soon. Don’t get your hopes up. He’s just another political tool. He’s a typical spineless democrat fool. He is not going to risk his career for the rights of a handful of gays, who according to the general population of the US, “may or may not be engaging in a morally wrong lifestyle.”