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No sh*t, Bob. This is what the Secretary of Defenses said about the upcoming lame duke session.
“I would like to see the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are. And we’ll just have to see.”
– to reporters aboard a U.S. military aircraft shortly before landing in Australia for annual bilateral talks.
He sure hasn’t been urgent about the matter until the whole political house of cards fell down last week, and of course the remote chance of passage makes it easy to say this now.
Unless the lame-duck Congress acts, the repeal effort is considered dead for now.The current, Democratic-controlled Congress has not acted to lift the ban, which President Barack Obama promised to eliminate. In his postelection news conference Wednesday, Obama said there would be time to repeal the ban in December or early January, after the military completes a study of the effects of repeal on the front lines and at home.
With Republicans taking control of the House in January, and with larger margins in the Senate, supporters of lifting the ban predict it will be much more difficult.
UPDATE: SLDN’s response–
“We welcome Secretary Gates call for the senate to act on repeal in the lame duck session. Indeed, the senate should call up the defense bill reported out of committee and pass it before it goes home for the year. If the President, Majority leader Reid, Secretary Gates, and a handful of republican senators are committed to passing the comprehensive defense bill, there is ample time to do so. Any talk about a watered down defense bill, whereby the ‘Don’t Ask’ revisions would be stripped out, is unncceptable and offensive to the gay and lesbian service members who risk their lives everyday.”
Within hours of Gates’s comment, newly minted commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, unloaded this:
With U.S. troops – including 20,000 Marines – locked in a “tough fight” in Afghanistan, now is not the time to lift the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military, the new commandant of the Marine Corps said Saturday.Gen. James Amos told reporters in San Diego that he was concerned about a possible loss of unit cohesion and combat readiness if the ban is overturned.
“There’s risk involved,” Amos said. “I’m trying to determine how to measure that risk. This is not a social thing. This is combat effectiveness.
“We’re talking about our young men – laying out, sleeping alongside of one another and sharing death, fear and loss of brothers,” he said.
Meanwhile, there wasn’t any comment from the President; he was hard at work abroad…
48 Comments
“It’s dead, Jim”DADT is the red shirted anonymous crew member from the Enterprise killed in nearly every episode of Star Trek. Now, the Administration, which relentlessly fought judicial solutions, is merely shifting blame
There is nothingAnd I mean NOTHING to study. We don’t need separate quarters, we don’t need special treatment, we don’t need a damn thing but to be able to acknowledge who we really are.
People seem to be excitedAnd one news outlet described him as “urging” Congress to act.
But I am sorry, that’s the weakest “urging” I’ve ever seen. He’s the MF-ing Def Sec and the best he can come up with is “I would like…?”
How would you ask for more troops or funds for war? You’d tell Congress and the press they are necessary or the terrorists will kill us all!
I find this statement telling in it’s weakness. As has most of what he’s said.
What would President McCain do?What would President McCain do, if confronted with a majority of Americans wanting DADT repealed?
1. Even though all other nations took 3 months to study, plan, and implement repeal… he’d make sure there was at least a 9 month planning phase, to end after the Dems had lost control of congress.
2. He’d instruct his DOJ to fight any and all attempts in court to de-implement this unconstitutional law.
3. He’d make sure that he, his SecDef, and at least the chairman of the JCS would have to swear that there’d be no temporary dislocation at all if DADT was repealed – an absolute impossibility, just one resignation would be enough.
4. But he’d say that he wasn’t against repeal, just wanted to see it was done in an orderly way – so no Stop Loss order.
Thank goodness the US elected a Fierce Advocate like President Obama instead!
What an ASS! Wait until the 11th hour to say “uhhh…boss? I got this load over here that has to go out on the 10:30 truck…”WTF? Congress is in ‘R’ now but I don’t think they’re gonna back the bus up for this.
But, that was the plan all along wasn’t it? Set the date of the report to be delivered to Congress on December 1st so the lame-ass session would not repeal DADT.
I am so glad I’m out of the military. Total waste…
We can turn up the heat on him, no?Without getting nasty (and drawing ire), it would be possible to say, launch a campaign, right now, called, “Do right by your own!”.
This could be used to put pressure on Gates to use whatever influence he has on the Hill. He is a persuasive guy.
It could also be the first shot in our effort to frame the debate that will be coming, when the report rolls around, no?
We could picket the Pentagon with signs like that, get some press.
The point of getting press would be
a) be proactive – avoid just responding to events
b) pre-empt the McCain crowd by getting some “experts” of our own on TV, people who are going to tackle things like the Chaplain-issue head-on, these issues that we know are red herrings, but which might resonate just briefly enough to do their damage.
LA TimesAnd again in today’s LA Times, Obama’s choice for the new commandant of the Marines, Amos, speaks out against passage of the “repeal”:
http://www.latimes.com/news/lo…
If indeed the administration is pro- this legislation, one would expect that something would have been said to Amos after the last time he openly disagreed with the Commander-in-Chief either by the Secretary of Defense or the President. I’m not holding my breath that anything will be said this time either.
…
With respect, not fit for leadership…At the risk of sounding very cheesy (but at least it is something the public can related to/see easily enough), this guy’s remarks remind me of two scenes from Crimson Tide.
The first, in which Ms. Gene Hackman schools the upstart Denzel Washington that ‘confusion is not to be feared’, after calling for a launch simulation during an onboard fire alert.
The second, in which Hackman takes the com and tells everyone on board that if they are having a moral problem, then can get off the submerged submarine, immediately. Adding, “that is all”.
Anyone know Marine billeting in Afghanistan?I remember this objection from back in February.
I forget what NATO does now, on billeting.
As I recall, the “formula” that I made up was to always billet a minimum of two gay troops together, if possible (for legal reasons).
Otherwise, let the homophobes self-identify through the billeting process. Although that might not always be possible, it could be useful information…
Hard at work abroadPam, the President is hard at work doing what Presidents to — representing their nations across the globe.
You’re like a cafe-colored Rush Limbaugh.
It’s disgusting!
Work out your Black Man issues somewhere else — not at the expense of our nation!
Pheh!
Go boil your head.Obama is not “representing his nation,” he is representing the interests of billionaires and our Christofascist military leaders, which is pretty much all he ever does. It may come as news to you, but there’s a difference.
“His nation” overwhelmingly–80% of the population–wants DADT to end. Obama is fighting like a rabid dog to keep it in place. How, pray, does that constitute “representing his nation”?
Nice misogyny there, Kaufman
You call it misogyny….I simply call it the truth.
You don’t have to read too deeply between the lines on this site to see that Pam clearly has a problem with Pres. Obama as a BLACK MAN.
As a Black woman with a white partner preaching to a mostly white audience, this means something. And it’s not good.
And because Pam’s audience is mostly white, it’s left to those of us who aren’t to speak up. I would love to see Pam as a guest columnist at Essence.com or theroot.com
This sh-t wouldn’t be tolerated for a moment!
Kev — As you well know, it’s an ongoing battle/evolution to make our way through this nation as people of color. Especially LGBT people of color.
But Pam seems to get a special kind of glee mocking, bashing and battering our President.
She’s worse than a white man — or perhaps she simply wishes she was?
Now would you say the same thing toBruce Dixon and the folks over at Black Agenda Report?
They have far more problems with Obama as a “black man” tham Pam Spaulding ever did (if she does at all)
You’re wasting your time, Kev.Trying to reason with an Obamabot is less productive than trying to reason with a Jehovah’s Witness. It’s pretty obvious that every other defense of Obama they’ve been using has been punctured, mostly by Obama’s own actions. Trying to paint his critics as racists is the only thing left to them, and it’s not going to work any more than all the previous ones.
Oh, you know that I know that but still…
This has been a charge leveled against black women by black men since the end of slavery (if not before the end of slavery)…that black women align themselves with white men against “the black man.”
I know that history and black nationalist sentiment very well it’s very deeply misogynist.
Pam is not against “THE BLACK MAN”….she is against A BLACK MAN
I can’t comment on her feelings for the rest of the male gender.
While there may be something misogynistic about the phenomena you detail above, my comments have nothing to do with it.
So to be against “A Black Man”that happens to be President of the United States is, in fact, Pam aligning herself with a few “white men” is what you’re saying
As if a black woman (or any black person for that matter) can’t do that based on their own conscience and politics.
If you can’t see the misogyny in that Kaufman, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Ooooooh, we’re mighty defensive about that charge, now aren’t we.
See, to me it’s OK to disagree with Pam’s politics in this situation. You’re the one deploying the castrating black woman archetype by bring her blackness, her gender, and even her partner (what does Kate have to do with this?) into the situation.
Now THIS is what a non-misogynist critique would look likeBlack Agenda Report’s recent takedown of Angela Davis.
It’s based on the substance of her comments (well, in the comment section, there is the suggestion the Professor Davis is gettin a little “bougiefied”).
I posted my pretty cynical take on thisGates comments, not unprompted by the way, he was asked by a reporter boil down to “I hope it passes, but it probably won’t.”
Which is a pathetic message to be sending. The GOP will be coming after us with stories of gay rapists in the showers and the best the admin can muster is “I hope, we’ll see?”
They don’t really want it to pass, and Gates’ concern trolling is merely buttering up the electorate to expect failure, so they are not surprised.
I was so frustrated with the media painting his comments as “urging” I chose a more accurate headline:
Def Sec Gates Meekly Allows His Feeling Known On DADT Repeal
Not holding my breath waiting for anyone at the Pentagon or the White House to call this homophobe to the carpet for undermining their supposed plan to repeal this law.
Isn’t that insubordination to speak out so publicly and undermine the supposed goals of the Commander-in-Chief? I guess another example of Obama having no balls what so ever.
Or Ovaries, sorry ladies…He’s a eunuch.
Don’t take the baitthey’d like to divert any criticism of this President’s handling of any issue into a race war.
By no measure has he handled the issue of DADT competently. It has been a disaster. He’s taken a policy position that enjoys 80% public approval, damn near unanimous in his own party, and turned it into an albatross around his and the Democratic Party’s neck.
This is sheer incompetence at best. Malfeasance if you want to believe there’s no sincere effort to deliver the goal, as many believe.
She’s against a leaderwho’s failing miserably on delivering the promises he made to our community.
He happens to be black. That doesn’t give him a pass.
I’m a doctor, not a legislator dammit…or something like that
Yeah Pam, get the hell off your own blog!!!LOL. David, your comment is so comical.
“Gates: DADT repeal needs to happen before new Congress is seated”And in other astonishing news, the goldfish that just flopped out its bowl needs to be put back in the water before it suffocates or gets eaten by that cat over there that looks weirdly like Michele Bachmann.
Joe Solmonese and Robert Gates have scheduled a meeting for just after Xmas to determine whether the fish in question is a guppy or an oscar, at which time they’ll also come up with a firm suggestion as to the best course of action for placing the fish back in its tank.
OT: KatRose, what’s worse than Gates/Obama DADT Kabuki theateris the fact that Michigan’s defense gave up 65 points yesterday.
Understood, clarknt67but still…
Considering the different posts that we’ve had about misogyny with Dan Choi, it would be hypocritical not to note the very explicit misogyny in what Kaufman wrote.
That’s exactly what I’m critiquing there and nothing else…
What does this have to do with Obama being black?Plenty of times I’ve mocked Bush’s overseas diplomatic adventures in EXACTLY the same manner, and it had nothing to do with race then. YOU are the one seeking to throw the race card down.
And when they come for you Davidwhen the Right has their crusade in full swing, because President “Reach across the aisle, lose an arm, and reach again” has eneacted nearly nothing except a hugely watered down hate crimes law, you just might want Ms Spaulding and others like her to help you.
As for her parnter, well, sir, that is none of your bloody business
As for your comment that she wishes that she were a man based upon her being with a woman, well, Sir or Ma’am, I am sure that someone on the board knows the name of a good surgeon since you must wish that you were a woman, though you are missing some of the predicate qualities of temprament and strength. Not an insult, mind you, I just don’t think that you would make a good woman.
you just don’t understand command language!“I would like to see our army cross the Delaware tonight but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are. And we’ll just have to see.”
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure, but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are. And we’ll just have to see.”
“I ask that the Congress declare that a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire, but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are. And we’ll just have to see.”
“To halt this offensive buildup a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back, but I’m not sure what the prospects for that are. And we’ll just have to see.”
And we’ll just have to see, won’t we?
There are a few major differencesDan fucked it up once that we know of, he’s apologized, and we’re attempting to have a reasonable discussion about societal misogyny.
Kaufman never comments here except to complain about how Pam supposedly hates black men, specifically POTUS, and no matter what the discussion is, he always screeches about the same made-up shit. I wonder how much the Administration is paying him?
Just think of all the fun that awaits us!How entertaining it will be! I can’t wait to hear Joe S’s rationalization for why this failure (among all the plethora of failures) is no big deal, we tried, it’s just a temporary setback, just wait till next year, we need your money, etc. Monty Python hasn’t produced new shows for years, but we still have HRC as a source of absurdist humor.
And don’t forget“The buck stops here, except that I’m more focused on finding common ground with people who want me to fail.”
And
“It happened on my watch, but you really ought to blame somebody else, okay?”
It’s akin to Ruben Diaz saying gay marriage offends Spanish culturewhile Spain has same-sex marriage……
The scene: The crowd outside fo the Casa Rosada crying “Evita,” hypnotised.fade to: the crowd outside of the White House chanting “Obama,” hypnotised….
no, this is the scene where Obama sings “You Must Love Me”Or, maybe, he dances the waltz with Robert Gates.
“Is this (cafe table) worth dying for?”spoken by my mentor pointing to the table where we gathered daily to debate politics, philosophy, feminism.
It was the 23 of February, 1982, the coup was on, and a group of women students and elderly profesoras built a barricade to stop an armored division, armed only with glass jars with pencils sticking out of the tops marked “PELIGROSO!” and a few molotov cocktails, motivated by that one sentence.
You see, Rebeca could lead. She had that within her. She drew lines, absolutes, beyond which she was unwilling to comrpomise and was willing to dare and to risk everything to maintain.
…come back Rebeca, you’re not meant to be the shadow of a ghost…….
Yes – but they did win.Perhaps we should put the Wolverine Defense in charge of getting DADT repealed. It’ll be really ugly, but it will happen………no?
I dunnow….
Besides….
I was at the Iowa-Indiana game. We only gave up 13 points but we deserved to lose in spite of winning.
Perhaps Joe and Winnie and Hilary, et. al., can remake ‘How Not to Be Seen’Only, this time they’ll call it ‘How Not to Accomplish Anything.’ (Dean Martin pulled it off; but I bet the Sham-pain Campaign will screw it up as badly as…well, everything else they ‘do’)
“By no measure has he handled the issue of DADT competently.”Unless he’s homophobic. In which case, he’s handled it like a seasoned politician.
Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. I don’t think mere incompetence can explain this adequately.
He’ll work towards that in his second term. In an orderly fashion.
And the PROCESS!We mustn’t ever forget that it’s the PROCESS that matters here. Fuck the goal, we can’t do without proper PROCESS.
Obama gives into the silk shirted onesnot the shirtless ones(descamisados=shirtless ones)
DADTwas never going to be repealed under Obama. This was just a ploy to get the LGBT’s vote and $$$. If u cant see this by now…then u are easily fooled. Now…I may eat my words on this…but I really don’t think so.
Amos on DADTin my latest veteran magazine, he is on record, opposing repeal of DADT..FOREVER….current situation, or not.
So when it was possible he VOCIFEROUSLY fought the Senate voting for repeal…
Now that it’s completely impossible he’s vociferously supporting the Senate voting for repeal.
Does it take a brain surgeon to figure out the level of his sincerity or the scheme he, AND OBAMA, planned all along?
SNDL should NOT be patting this shyster on the back. They should be calling him, and Obama, out for their thinly veiled fucking of our community.