UPDATE: The word “repeal” has been restored on the civil rights page. But it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the change is in earnest, or to just shut up those damn annoying civil rights advocates.
Until this week, Obama’s whitehouse.gov civil rights page said “President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy….The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.”
Today, it says this: “He supports changing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security.”
Change? That implies retention. 75% of Americans believe we should REPEAL Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. WTF IS WRONG WITH OBAMA?
Also, the section about developing a comprehensive nationals HIV/AIDS policy has been removed.
This seems pretty black and white. My own guess is that the POTUS is once again indulging his bipartisanship fetish and the minute a GOP member of Congress objected (and I’m sure there are still a few who would) he started talking compromise. Since it’s law, he does need an act of Congress to repeal, but I was REALLY hoping he wouldn’t repeat President Clinton’s mistakes on this one.
None. He only talks about change.
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p>(That’s a little unfair – but not totally unfair.)
How many freshman Mass. legislators does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
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p>I’ll tell you once Rob DeLeo decides.
You make everything into a “gay issue.”
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p>j/k
Remember DADT was at one time a step forward that allowed gays to serve as long as they didn’t “tell”, and they wouldn’t be “asked” either. Previously, they were asked, and kicked out. So it can’t just be repealed without some other policy in place to allow gay soldiers to be out. Maybe?
It needs to be repealed immediately AND dems, former Clintonians, Hillary herself AND Obama need to have the balls to say that DODT was wrong, anti-American, and disrespectful to service men and women. And I guess with this new backpaddling, “it was a good transition policy,” that dems, former Clintonians, Hillary herself and Obama need to say that any pre-DODT policy directed at gays was wrong, anti-American and disrespectful to service men and women.
if obama hadn’t already back peddled many times on dadt. people excuse him saying he’s busy with “more important” things, yet he seems to have plenty of time to mention repeatedly (via underlings) that repeal of dadt is getting put on the back burner, then taken off the stove all together. he’s also responded to the historical marriage events in iowa and vermont in the most ham-handed way (when he bothers to respond at all). he is not the “fierce advocate” of lgbt people he has claimed himself to be. rather, he’s a total wimp and moving in the direction of proving himself to be a liar.
i don’t think that’s what Obama meant.
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p>Otherwise, he would have stated such – and received credit for the point.