Emily
MikeI’ve always suspected that Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ statement that he supported the elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was very possibly bogus. His coupling of his supposed support for elimination of the policy didn’t quite jibe with his repeated emphasis on the supposed need for a full year of study by the Pentagon. In my mind, the policy should have been eliminated immediately, but the military would have time to decide exactly how to implement any changes. (There are really no changes necessary, but I’ll give Gates the benefit of the doubt that there are some details that might have to change.)
It never would have surprised me if Gates had come back after a year of review and said that there was still a need to keep DADT. And it also never would have surprised me if President Obama went along with Gates. Again, Obama could have easily stopped enforcement of DADT without Congressional action and without any need for a Pentagon review. (Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that “[“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”] is a policy that is going to end,” but I remain suspicious of the true intent of the Obama administration.)
Now, there is more reason to think that Gates wants to keep DADT in place. In the wake of the great rulings by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips that, first, in September, found DADT unconstitutional, and, second, yesterday, that rejected an Obama administration request to delay an injunction and ordered enforcement of the 17-year-old policy permanently stopped, Gates said that “I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training. It has enormous consequences for our troops.” That doesn’t sound like someone who really wants DADT to be eliminated, does it? Gates also said that, besides the changes in training, regulations will need revisions and changes may be necessary to benefits and Defense Department buildings. I agree that computer systems will need to change to enable equal benefits, and I agree that there will be training necessary for the people who administer the benefits. But changes to “Defense Department buildings?” I can think of no possible reason that that will have to occur. And, theoretically, the military does not discriminate against protected classes, does it? Therefore, all that theoretically should be necessary to stop discrimination against gays and lesbians should be to say there will be no discrimination and to add that to the ongoing anti-discrimination training.
Let’s get on with the immediate elimination of DADT. All President Obama has to do is to decide not to appeal Judge Phillips’ rulings and tell Secretary Gates to take immediate action to end the policy.
Filed under: GLBT, Law, Workplace Tagged: | Barack Obama, Robert Gates, Robert Gibbs
