Defense secretary Robert Gates will offer “a way ahead” later this week regarding changes in the enforcement of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
Gates, who testified in February before Congress alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen in support of a repeal of the 16-year-old policy, will “address the changes [to] the department’s policy to provide a more humane enforcement and application of the law,” Defense Department press secretary Robert Morrell told reporters.
Not a full repeal, but moving in the right direction, and at a pace that it doesn’t spook anyone nor give the Republicans an opportunity to engage in election-year gay-bashing. And with Gates and the Brass leading the way as agents of the change, albeit slowly, it will stick.
Elections matter.
arguingwithsignposts
This is totally OT, but it’s going to get lost in a previous thread now that you folks are posting so fast: Patrick Kennedy leaves a note at Ted’s gravesite: ‘Dad, the unfinished business is done.’ Don’t read the comments.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Admiral Mullen’s testimony gave DADT the death rattles and it is only a matter of time till the wingnuts cave and we get the 2/3 majorities to repeal. This is a good step in the meantime.
And change takes time, yes, only a hundred years to pass HCR.
arguingwithsignposts
Oooh, my Senator, Dick Durbin, is up now smackin’ down the Repubs. And he gets 10 minutes! (cspan.org, bitchez! – watch a bunch of crusty rich old white guys debate health care for people who are polar opposites of themselves!)
soonergrunt
I can’t begin to understand what it must be like to be a second-class-citizen, and make no mistake, that is what homosexual people are in our country. I can’t begin to fathom the frustration and the pain, and I wouldn’t tell them for a minute that they should wait under any circumstances for their rights.
As a veteran, I can tell you however that while the majority of younger people in the service do not care about sexual orientation, the people who set policy and run the day to day operations of the military still do. They know that change is coming, whether they want it or not, and they know that as leaders, it will be their job to make it happen. If you want to ensure success, then let them own every part of it. Make sure that they understand that the change is coming, and they are responsible for the success of that change. Then leave the implementation details to them. It will happen and they’ll make it happen.
It’s a wierd thing about the military mindset that when you make them take ownership, military leaders will bust their asses (and everyone below theirs) to succeed, even if they hate the idea.
Look at the integration of women, and the conversion away from a draftee-based manpower system. If you make them responsible, they’ll succeed just to piss off the people who say that it can’t be done.
Short Bus Bully
So are you telling me that the GOP is not only the last bastion of defense against the total repeal of Medicaire (as the Dems were OBVIOUSLY trying to do), but they are also anti-military and oppose the generals and DoD now?
…
Fuck. Me. Running.
arguingwithsignposts
Ooh, durbin is dropping the new HCR poll on them pasty GOP asses! “I wonder if my republican colleagues are going to amend that premise that we should follow the opinion of the American people …”
Daayyuummm.
rob!
Barack Obama–Great President or Greatest President?
If this keeps up, I actually am going to expect a pony.
stuckinred
@soonergrunt:
I had gay comrades in both Korea (67-68) and Vietnam (68-69). Their sexual orientation never had any impact on how they did their jobs.
Mnemosyne
@rob!:
I’m going to call mine Princess. :-)
R-Jud
@Short Bus Bully:
Does it have to be running? My trick knee is bothering me.
freelancer
YES. WE. DID!
soonergrunt
@stuckinred: We had a gay guy in our unit in Afghanistan. Nobody cared about the showers or any of that shit because he plinked a moving Taliban in the head from about 600 meters with an M-24 sniper rifle.
stuckinred
@soonergrunt: roger that
freelancer
@soonergrunt:
Wow, I’m not gay, but I just got turned on by that. That’s amazing.
Comrade Mary
@stuckinred: And you could say that in a British unit without anyone freaking out.
soonergrunt
@freelancer: It was one of the damndest things I’ve ever seen.
Polish the Guillotines
@soonergrunt: You said it. I can sympathize with people who’ve been waiting — far too long — for this situation to change, and I can understand their frustration with the pace of the change. But the big casino here is that it’s not going to be some ephemeral executive order that’ll be tossed out the second a Republican is president.
This repeal will be permanent, and permanent is more important than immediate.
Leelee for Obama
@soonergrunt: One of the finest men I ever knew was in Vietnam; coincidentally, he was gay. His brother married my SIL. He received several commendations and was an exemplary friend, Brother, BIL, Uncle and Son. He died several years ago, likely due to Agent Orange, but no one knows for sure, and left this world a much smaller place through his absence. All of his fellow soldiers knew Allen was gay, they didn’t give a shit. They were impressed with his bravery, his marksmanship and his empathy.
If this stupid policy is ended soon, it will be because the military and civilian leaders have decided that in a world where there are only volunteers, you should never tell a patriot he/she cannot serve because of who they love. They love their country, and that is all that matters.
gbear
@soonergrunt: Queer eye for the bad guy.
bemused
It’s great to see our Dems energized. They need to keep striking while the iron is hot on all issue & we need to keep calling them with encouragement.
SGEW
@freelancer: Getting “turned on” by the intentional death of a human being, however justified, is Not Good.
Just saying. Vociferously.
stuckinred
@Leelee for Obama: You shouldn’t tell them that even if they are drafted. There were plenty of people who loved their country who were US (draftee’s as opposed to RA, Regular Army).
mcc
There are also a number of indications that we will also be seeing ENDA moved forward by the Committee on Education and Labor after Congress gets back from their 3/29-4/9 break. (By “a number of indications” I mean “congressional leaders specifically say so… but, they’ve said that before.”)
Cat Lady
@gbear:
:-D
Win.
freelancer
@SGEW:
Ugh. Do you have any idea how much raw skill that takes? That’s what I’m stunned by.
Leelee for Obama
@stuckinred: Only referring to this day and age. Back in the old draft days, gay men who served went out of their way not to be known as gay, and straight men who didn’t want to serve, tried to be known as gay. At least that happened where I lived. It was pretty much the opposite of today.
In the all-volunteer era, gay and lesbian people have been refused the right to serve, because of their sexual orientation, and that is insane on spec. To kick people out who are great soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines, because of their sexual orientation is insulting, insane and expensive.
SGEW
@freelancer: Stunned, sure. Astonished, admiring, or awestruck, even. Totally understandable.
Just got squicked out by the sexualization of homicide. Does that to me. Sorry.
soonergrunt
@SGEW: I think it’s more the whole “phenomenal piece of marksmanship” thing that “got him going” as it were. But I understand where you’re coming from.
Tape a quarter-sized piece of paper to a dartboard, and then move to about seven feet away from it, and throw one dart at it while walking past. Hit the center. That’s actually easier than what my friend did.
Mike in NC
But will President McCain throw his full support behind his SecDef? He’s a man of principle and convictions, after all.
Tsulagi
Gates has been a good SecDef. Obama was smart to keep him.
As far as DADT, the legislation not only requires a SecDef to establish regs and procedures for enforcement, but also gives him broad authority in their implementation. Gates has already made tweaks such as limiting the circumstances under which investigations can be initiated.
Last June he also asked general counsel to explore how much flexibility a SecDef has in enforcement given national security interests. Sort of seemed like he was going for a gay Yoo opinion. I think the four-stars across the services, including Mullen, can see the writing on the wall.
@soonergrunt: Well now that gay trigger puller made a fashion statement for the Taliban.
Ash Can
@arguingwithsignposts: Dick Durbin is a stand-up guy. Years ago, the late, great Bob Collins (who I didn’t even realize was a conservative until his post-mortems said so; he was that skillful an interviewer) would get Durbin on the phone for chats on his morning-drive WGN radio show on a regular basis. Durbin was personable and informative, and it was obvious that Collins and Durbin had a mutual admiration society going on.
Bob Collins was one of the last of the old-school moderate, sensible Republicans. May he rest.
ed
1. I want DADT overturned in an Election Year. Let the gay bashing proceed. It will backfire this time (or at least in the foreseeable future). Sooner is better on this. Either way, we’ll keep track of who opposed the overturn and mock them accordingly as we would anyone who opposed Civil Rights Legislation (Hi Buckley!).
2. It’s gonna stick either way. As with HCR, once it’s passed, pretty much everyone will embrace it (or not outwardly care at worst). The few deadenders who do bitch and moan will look foolish and, as noted above, will be mocked.
joe from Lowell
Election-year gay-bashing is done. Done.
The Republicans squeezed every last election they could out of it, but now it’s over. Remember 2001, remember Rick Santorum? They used to talk about teh ghey all the time; they thought it was a big winner.
Republicans hardly ever talk about it anymore. Even in DADT, they’re straining to make a national security argument instead of a culture war argument.
It’s done. Which isn’t the same thing as progress, but it’s something.
Rick Taylor
From a diaryon dailykos:
__
__
I’d be a lot more patient about the pace of reform if it weren’t for stories like this.
cliff
Well, yea, but sometimes they don’t until someone chains themselves to a fence in front of a Whitehouse presser.
Jay C
@ed: @joe from Lowell:
Well, given the fact that they have just been dealt a major legislative defeat, and have reacted to it like a gang of gibbering morons (even more than usual, that is), my rection would be “why the hell not”? Pace joe’s comment, I think it’s naive (to say the least) to believe that gay-bashing is “done” as a political tactic. Disgusting as it is, there are still, I am sure, plenty of places left in this country where there is a great deal of political mileage to be gotten out of fulminating
fag-bashingagainst the “homosexual agenda” – and given that the GOP has little to lose (and little else to run on other than hate, fear and BS), they might just as well…Fern
@arguingwithsignposts: You weren’t kidding about the comments, were you. Yikes.
soonergrunt
@gbear: awesome.
New Yorker
@Tsulagi:
.
Amen. It becomes a lot easier to repeal DADT when you’ve got a SecDef who was appointed by Bush. I know the teabaggers will hate him for it, but Gates is one of the last vestiges of when the GOP actually had some sanity to it.
Someone needs to explain to the wingnuts that Israel allows openly gay people to serve in the IDF. Their heads would explode.
Restrung
CHAAAANGE! but the, the commanders on the ground? Oooh, that sounds kinda hot, now. How ’bout boots on the ground? Support the troops? gonna stop now. hoo
Alex S.
In a way, DADT is already repealed, at least inofficially.
cliff
Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and fluent Arabist being discharged from the Army for being openly gay, was arrested last week along with former Army captain Jim Pietrangelo II, after handcuffing themselves to the White House gate in protest of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. They were handcuffed with the help of Robin McGehee, a former PTA president turned activist who last week cofounded GetEQUAL, an LGBT activism group inspired by civil-rights organizations and gains made through civil disobedience. “We’ve held marches, lobbied, manned the phone banks,” says McGehee. “The last resort is to rumble.”
All three were arrested, and Choi and Pietrangelo spent one night in jail. Both men appeared in court the next day, in shackles and handcuffs, and pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to obey a lawful order. A trial date is set for April 26. Several other GetEQUAL activists were also arrested last week for staging sit-ins in support of federal antidiscrimination in employment legislation at the San Francisco and Washington offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In his first interview after the arrest, Choi spoke with NEWSWEEK’s Eve Conant about what drove him to act, the schism within the gay movement, and why those in support of gay rights need to be prepared to make personal sacrifices in the quest for full federal equality. Excerpts:
When you walked into the courtroom after your night in jail, you were in uniform, handcuffed with a chain around your waist. You are a West Point graduate and Army lieutenant, how did you reach this point?
Being in chains, for me, matched what was in my heart the whole time I was serving and was closeted. Harriet Tubman once said she had freed 1,000 slaves but could have freed so many more if they only knew that they were slaves. People don’t always know that they are in fetters. Even my feet were shackled so I could only take small steps forward. To me that symbolizes what it is to live under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the only law that enforces shame. Those chains symbolized how my country is trying to restrict my movement, how we are only allowed incremental, tiny steps.
Critics of last week’s civil disobedience at the White House and Nancy Pelosi’s office say this is not the time for actions like this. They argue that the gay-equality movement is so close to progress, why risk it all now?
Why not now? Within the gay community so many leaders want acceptance from polite society. I think there’s been a betrayal of what is down inside of us in order to achieve what looks popular, what look enviable. The movement seems to be centered around how to become an elite. There is a deep schism [in the gay-rights movement], everyone knows this. But this shouldn’t be about which group has better branding. There is a tremor right now in every gay and transgender youth that these groups are not grasping. I would say to them—you do not represent us if all you are looking for is a ladder in to elite society.
When I get messages from people who want to be a part of this I ask back: what are you willing to sacrifice? We are tired of being stereotyped as privileged, bourgeois elites. Is someone willing to give up their career, their relationships with powerful people, their Rolodex, or their parents’ love to stand up for who they are? I’m giving up my military rank, my unit—which to me is a family—my veterans’ benefits, my health care, so what are you willing to sacrifice?
They say freedom is not free, but it doesn’t have to cost anything either. Jesus up on the cross did not have a party with all his major donors to raise money for his cause, his cross was free. Gandhi did not need three-course dinners and a cocktail party to get his message out. These are people who sacrificed their lives. For them it was hemlock, a cross, the bullet that shot Harvey Milk … it was not the size of their distribution list, but their message that endured.
cliff
When did you decide to take this step, to go beyond talking and do something like chain yourself to the White House gate?
There are so many moments. When I first fell in love? When I was closeted while serving in Iraq? You know, the military puts the idea of sacrifice in your mind the very first day you join. We learned very quickly that someday we might be asked to sacrifice life, limb, comfort, and freedom. My soldier training has made me a better activist, and being a gay activist makes me a better soldier. I can use tactics of both to make both roles better.
Why now? Because you get tired of talking. [Over the past two years] I’ve done 50 live interviews, a hundred other interviews, how much more talk am I expected to produce? When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if [the Human Rights Campaign] thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that’s the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don’t know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community. Kathy Griffin and [HRC president] Joe Solmonese said they would march with me to the White House but didn’t. I feel so betrayed by them.
We all know the political reality now. The only way for the repeal to go through is for the president to take leadership and put it in the Defense Authorization Bill. There’s a sunset on this, and it’s happening quickly. Obama told us at the HRC dinner last year, you need to put pressure on me. I was there at that dinner, in uniform. So this is my mission; the president said to pressure him and I heard that as a warning order.
What was it like in jail? Were you at all scared at where this might be headed?
I’ve detained people in Iraq, I’ve read them their rights, and I’ve applied handcuffs and zip ties. I’ve talked with people in Arabic who’ve just been arrested. I know what it means to arrest someone for my country’s mission. But I’ve never been incarcerated, and for something that I thought was not my country’s mission. I know my country’s mission is not to make an entire group of people into second-class citizens.
I asked seven or eight times to speak with a lawyer. I was not given a phone call. I was called a liar by one officer; I was scoffed at by another one. But there were others who wanted to talk with me about their service. The first time I saw a lawyer was in the courtroom, and I didn’t know who he was and I couldn’t understand what he was telling the judge at first. I asked him, “Did you just plea for me?”
[Choi, shortly after Pietrangelo did the same, went against the lawyer’s advice to pay a $100 fine and walk away, instead pleading not guilty and preparing to stand trial.
So what is next for you?
When I was handcuffed to the gate someone else asked me what’s next. I’m standing there with hands lifted skyward and I just told him, “This is.” I have fully committed my life and all the sacrifices necessary to manifest equality and America’s promises. Like I said at court, “I’m not guilty, I’m not ashamed, and I’m not finished.”
© 2010
cliff
F^(< the haters.