President Barack Obama reaffirmed his campaign pledge to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but offered no timetable or specifics for acting on that promise.
He acknowledged to a cheering crowd that some policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected.
[…]
Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners.He expressed strong support for the Human Rights Campaign agenda – ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people – but stopped short of laying out a detailed plan for how to get there.
“My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will look back and see a time when we put a stop against discrimination … whether in the office or the battlefield,” Obama said.
They’re stumbling over crap trying to push it out the door. Pelosi and company have screwed up so badly, the midterms will probably guarantee gridlock for the last two years of his term. It’s like they are planning strategy from old West Wing scripts. Any healthcare reform without any Republican votes will be dismantled over the next decade piece meal. Moderate Republicans will eventually shut the far right up, and bring a more appealing agenda forward for next year. This is a damn Jimmy Carter rerun.
Did anyone else notice all the drunks dancing on tables there?
#33–RTaylor==Define: “moderate Repuglican” and outline how anyone so predisposed will ever get nominated?
qb–let me add that when Obama told the truth that the Republicans were all about fear, all about “guns, gays, and God” he was recounting simple truths.
The government of the USA has been overthrown by the two party system. Opposition to the party in power by the party out of power MERELY to regain power. Thats not in the Constitution that said we were to be a Three Branch Government, not a two party government.
I honest to God don’t know where I stand (yet) on the gay issue. But I have two observations: There is a little girl I see in the grocery store there with her “two daddies” and no mommy. I feel for her.
Also, I have seen (and read) that the “gay lifesyle” contains generous amounts of self-loathing and self-destructive behavior. Not that the straights don’t have that, but some of the gays seem hell-bent on self-destruction.
I would agree Obama is not quite satisfying the gay activists but as a gay man, I understand he has to go slow on this. Obama has lots on his plate to accomplish.
Example – he needs to avoid giving the Christian Taliban in this country a red herring issue like gay rights to distract from healthcare and Afghanistan. I get this and hence I support his go slow strategy.
Let’s face it, human rights is a slow and arduous process that does not come easy nor does it come by popular vote.
Women’s right to vote did not come from a popular vote by males. Black rights did not come from a popular vote not did interracial marriage.
The fact is, it takes bold leaders to affect change (Kennedy, Gorbachev, Obama, Tutu, etc) but the timing has to be right. In the mean time, it’s a slow but steady march.
The Israel is one of 24 nations that have openly gay military policy. The US will eventually come but it will take perhaps one more cycle for Christian Talibans in this country to die off.
#36–Rich==valid observations. Now, think thru them:
1. There is a little girl I see in the grocery store there with her “two daddies” and no mommy.===correct. No Mommy. Is this child better off in Foster Care or who knows what? Any child with one adult who loves them is better off than most. Two loving adults is a gravy train.
2. “gay lifesyle” contains generous amounts of self-loathing and self-destructive behavior /// That happens when the society in general tells any group that they are unnatural, immoral, and an affront to god while otherwise “good” people find themselves not knowing where they stand. Why don’t you?
Why does deviant behavior warrant special rights for the homosexual?
What about the rights of those in the military forced to tolerate such debauchery? Is it a hate crime and off to the brig if they complain?
This goes much deeper than a few homosexuals wanting to play soldier. It’s an attack on the institutions that keep us safe and that should never be tolerated.
Hmmmm. Sounds like the US Military should restrict service to traditional and natural soldiers. That would be married heterosexual males with children. Single men – that’s unnatural, no way. Divorced men – you’re out. Men who’ve adopted children – obviously that’s condoning non-traditional sexual activity. Men with vasectomies – talk about unnatural. Men who had sex before marriage – keep them out. Men who masturbate – holy crap, no that’s dwelling on their sexuality.
Could you imagine a masturbating soldier in a theatre of war?
I was watching Steve Wynn on Fox this morning and he said a brilliant thing; the Federal Government should be focusing solely on job creation, and he’s right. Without jobs there is no consumer spending and without consumer spending the economy is basically in the toilet. I’m not sure what Obama’s plan is, but keeping two wars going at the behest of Israel, so Iran can be surrounded and isolated is not a good way for us to be spending our money and it is not a good plan for creating any kind of peace in the Middle East. But peace is not what Israel wants- they want a destabilized situation there and they want to destroy Iran and they want our tax dollars. I think Obama has become Israel’s bitch.
He can end (don’t ask don’t tell) with just a stroke of a pen. I’ll cut him some slack on a lot of the campaign promises taking time to work out or turning out to be just not as doable as we had hoped but not this one. All he needs is a Bic. Should take less time then picking a dog.
Bobbo #28
“who among us doesn’t?”
LOL! So true, so true…
Let’s see.. Which nations allow gay & lesbians to serve in the military? Canada, England, ISRAEL, Spain, Germany.
Which nations have a ban on allowing gay & lesbians to serve in the military? Russia, China, Yugoslavia, SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN, IRAQ.
That sure says a lot about what club the U.S. Armed forces belongs to.
#42, I was watching Steve Wynn on Fox this morning and he said a brilliant thing; the Federal Government should be focusing solely on job creation, and he’s right. Without jobs there is no consumer spending and without consumer spending the economy is basically in the toilet.
Wrong.
You need production, not consumption. Without production, you buy products produced in other countries. Thus, your money goes there.
Saying you should consume and not produce is saying you shouldn’t save. Keynes hated savings accounts. He said they were bad for the economy because it reduced demand for products.
Who in their right mind would possibly think saving your money is bad?
It was production that pulled us out of the GD, not spending. We spent two years selling hardware to the Allies before we ever stepped into the war.
The only people opposing this are the people that are afraid the Village People are going to do to the rest of the armed services that they did to the Navy.
#43, “He can end (don’t ask don’t tell) with just a stroke of a pen.”
Not true, at least not in that it will achieve the ends you are looking for. It is currently against the law for gays to serve in the military. What “don’t ask don’t tell” does is sidestep the law by not asking people if they are gay when they are at the recruiting station. In order for gays to serve openly in the military, Congress will have to change the law.
#48 Right!
DoD POLICY
http://milcom.jag.af.mil/ch07/homosexual.doc
Congress has determined homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service
Homosexual orientation is not a bar to service entry or continued service unless manifested by homosexual conduct
Homosexual conduct is the focus of the DoD policy
Bi-sexual conduct is treated the same way as homosexual conduct
LibertyLover said:
“Keynes hated savings accounts.” Actually he disliked excessive savings, just like he disliked excessive spending. Like most economists, it’s not an either/or for him.
Alfred: “Its too disruptive to be “sexual” on the battlefield…having folks who dwell on their sexuality…in the military, weakens it.”
Only Eunuchs in the armed forces then? It’ll cut down on STD related health care too!
Lawrence of Arabia was gay and he did alright.
#48&49
All it would take to end it is an executive order. Obama is, after all, the Commander in Chief.
I’m sure he wants Congress on board so as to diffuse the political heat.
Doing the right thing will often get you in to hot water
Ok so he thinks there are bigger fish to fry, I guess there are it might be an end of show maneuver in 2012 or 16
#53, being commander in chief doesn’t give the president some special power to override an act of congress when it is given the power
“To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;”
lol, hyper-intelligent indeed.
# 51 tcc3 said “Only Eunuchs in the armed forces then?”
I hadn’t thought of that but it certainly makes sense. Personally I was surprised to Alfred1 and Dodd vigorously pushing a pro-masturbation agenda.
…”homosexuals serving openly in the military”….
Should they admit to being in the military?
Somebody FTW
Take money from gays to give to Democratic politicians. At some point, he’ll have to do more than nominate a gay ambassador.
#50, Actually he disliked excessive savings, just like he disliked excessive spending. Like most economists, it’s not an either/or for him.
I stand corrected.
What he didn’t believe in was saving for the future. He was a hedonist who believed in living for the now — easy credit and self-gratification. Sound familiar?
LibertyLover, I’m not sure if he was what you make him out to be. He loved the arts and hung around with writers, and he loved his wife who was a ballerina. He personally amassed two large fortunes, was a liberal but anti-communist, and travelled extensively.
I think he had a well lived life by the sounds of it.
As for his views, people think he was pro-inflationary (if I’m guessing your point). What he said was that he preferred inflation over deflation which is far different. He was repeatedly adamant about the evils of inflation, especially for the working classes.
Here’s the thing. In the past, the military services NEVER drafted women, in the USA. And I’m certain, that in some future time when the draft is reactivated, they still WON’T draft women. And I’m pretty dawn certain they NEVER drafted the openly gay, either.
So it’s as if the gays already enjoy MORE rights than straights do! They’re not forced to fight and die for something, whether they believe in it or not. And if they’re already enlisted, all they have to do is say, “Hey, I’m gay” and they’re OUT!! Though I’m sure the military puts them thru some kind of degrading and dehumanizing exam. Because it would be far too easy if they just took someone’s word for it. They don’t readily believe those claiming Conscientious Objectors status.
Obama isn’t doing the gays in the military any huge favors! Come on, think about this. He’s closing the loophole that let’s them leave! Because the US military has become desperate to hold on to as many soldiers as they can. Just as the credit and banking industry was so desperate to keep people from filing bankruptcy, to get out of debt, that they got Congress to tighten up on that.
With this new bit of news, I expect the next military draft is fast approaching. They’re getting ready for it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the C.O. status was quietly dropped too. If you’re not a registered Quaker, you’ll be eligible. Hmmm. They might not draft Muslims either. I’ve been wondering why the Cassias Clay story has been replaying on the THIS channel.
“#35 bobbo, most things are plain to see said,
The government of the USA has been overthrown by the two party system. Opposition to the party in power by the party out of power MERELY to regain power. Thats not in the Constitution that said we were to be a Three Branch Government, not a two party government.”
EXACTLY! Which is why I propose we go around and round up everyone registered into these two parties, and execute them. Or at the very least exile them to shark infested waters with an arterial cut in a leg.
I will mention this, once he allows gays in the military it will be political dynamite to try to remove them. Keep in mind, that there is actually a huge contingent of gays already in the military. So all this will mean is that they cannot be bumped from the military because they are gay.
Honestly, I won’t believe it until he actually does it because I know his Chiefs of Staff are going to oppose it along with most of Congress.
If you are not going to prevent gays from voting, then you shouldn’t prevent them from fighting and dying for their country.
#32
Unfortunately, there is a decent size contingent of people in the US that are socially liberal and fiscally conservative and right now, there is no party that represents those views. The Republicans have long abandoned being fiscally conservative and have turned wacko on social issues and the Democrats have been and still are far from fiscally conservative.
#42
> the Federal Government
> should be focusing solely
> on job creation
Wouldn’t allowing gays in the military BE job creation?