Judge Yves de Montigny said Friday the board erred last February when it rejected Bethany Smith’s bid.

Smith says she fled the army instead of going to Afghanistan with her unit because she was harassed and threatened by fellow soldiers over her sexual orientation.

The U.S. military has a policy of discharging openly gay members but Smith says she was denied a discharge because soldiers were needed for the Afghanistan mission.

The judge says the board unfairly dismissed evidence suggesting that gays face harsher treatment in the American military justice system.

Smith says she would fear for her life if she were returned to the army.

Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, an Air Force hero, a decorated officer, is being booted – because yes, he’s gay.

SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis has a great post on the silliness of letting go great servicemembers during wartime:

Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, a fighter weapons systems officer, has been flying the F-15E Strike Eagle since 1998. He has flown numerous missions against Taliban and al-Qaida targets, including the longest combat mission in his squadron’s history. On that infamous September 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach was handpicked to fly sorties above the nation’s capital. Later he flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has received at least 30 awards and decorations including nine air medals, one of them for heroism, as well as campaign medals for Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is now a flight instructor in Idaho, where he has passed on his skills to more than 300 future Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force weapons systems officers.

Since 1987, when Fehrenbach entered Notre Dame on a full Air Force ROTC scholarship, the government has invested twenty-five million dollars in training and equipping him to serve his country, which he has done with what anyone would agree was great distinction. He comes from a military family. His father was a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, his mother an Air Force nurse and captain. Lt. Col. Fehrenbach has honored that tradition.

And the Air Force is about to discharge this guy, a virtual poster boy for Air Force recruiting, because he is gay? Someone has to be kidding. This is sheer madness.

 

But then he ends up saying, poor Obama, being sidelined on this issue by the charismatic folks at the DOD.

I like the blunt statement on Pam’s House Blend instead:

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, stated today that the Pentagon has no plans to, and has not been asked to plan for, the repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians serving in our nation’s armed forces. We now have it from the White House per statements from the President himself, from his press secretary, and from the White House website, we have it from Congress, and now we have it from Obama’s own Defense Department that there are no plans to repeal DADT

Obamabots can try as hard as they like to paint this as careful politicking, and say that we have to give the Administration time. 2LT Sandy Tsao doesn’t have time. LT Dan Choi doesn’t have time. Lt.Col. Victor Fehrenbach doesn’t have time. This is insanity. Long past excuses of craven cowardice, this is nothing short of a freshly renewed attack on patriotic American troops, driven by hate and bigotry.

If Republicans and Conservadems want to complain about wasteful spending, I’ll point them to the fact that they’re throwing away $25 million in the form of an accomplished pilot strictly because bigots don’t like how he fucks in the privacy of his own home.

 

Obama might want a legislative solution here instead of an executive order, and that’s fine. But the military ban is relevant right now. RIGHT NOW. We’re in a war. We need all the experienced servicemembers we can get. If he doesn’t want to end DADT right away, for whatever misguided political reason, then he should put it on temporary hold. Stop-Loss, if you will.

Obama should just say: Hey, we’re losing a lot of Americans in Afganistan and Iraq. There’s no need to disrupt units by sending good soldiers home for reasons that have nothing to do with their service. Let’s stop the bleeding until we have time to figure this out. Let’s let gay soldiers stay in, until this Administration has had the chance to review the policy.

If Obama isn’t going to keep his campaign promise, he should at least compromise, and put the discharges on hold.

Today I’m glad I live a TV free life. If I had to listen to talking heads go on and on and on and on about President’s Obama’s first 100 days there would be damage done to my person-hood. I’m perplexed by the arbitrary nature of the number and don’t know what it means in a president’s overall term. Will these days be talked about 2 years from now? Tend to doubt it, but the game is being played so might as well get my shots in.

Time magazine has a handy dandy grade-card. The First Lady’s grade surprises. Isn’t she Stokely Carmichael in a dress? Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, earned a grade inflated A- (no one is asking but I would give him a B-) and Tim Geithner’s ranking, seems about right.

Of course if President Obama and his team was being graded by some of you here, there would be a lot of Fs. It’s not saying anything new that when it comes to gay stuff, the president has been slow. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still in place and from all indications it looks like it will be around for awhile. Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, penned an op-ed asking the Commander-in-Chief to abide by his campaign promise.

A fair request, but gay Democrats have to be honest that when it comes to fulfilling promises to gay voters the Democratic party has a checkered hisotry at best. One-hundred days is too short of a time to judge a president, but can we really be surprised that thus far the rhetoric has not matched the reality when it comes to gay issues?

Why? Because Barney understands the political process and he knows doubletalk when he hears it.

Barney would cut through the blather and by the afternoon of next January 21 he’d have the Pentagon’s E Ring snapping to attention and listening.

True, Barney doesn’t have much military experience but you don’t necessarily need military experience to deal with the brass, just brains, determination, and solid judgment. Barney is about accountability, not excuses.

Secretary Frank would act immediately to stop the violence against women that has never been dealt with seriously by the military.

This Secretary would stand for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and he would throw open the windows in a place that desperately needs a breath of fresh air.

Aubrey Sarvis is executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

Go back to the main story for more opinions on where we need LGBT officials.