Diabolical Compromise

(11 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen — Barack Obama is about to fulfill yet another campaign promise!

(Pregnant pause, whilst heralds blow trumpets and Obamatons fall over themselves in rapture)

White House Green Lights Repeal (of DADT)

Let the minstrels sing.  Let church bells be rung throughout the land!

In the letter, Orszag wrote that “ideally” the Pentagon’s review of implementation would be completed before Congress takes legislative action, but adds, “the Administration understands that Congress has chosen to move forward with legislation now…”

Wait….wait  Is that an actually an admission that the Obama administration never wanted, nor intended, to repeal DADT this year?  That Barack Obama always intended to break his solemn word to the honorably serving GLBT soldiers and the rest of GLBT America?

But, never fear, Obama will keep his promise.

The language would not include a automatic nondiscrimination policy but rather will return authority of the regulations for open service by gays and lesbians to the Pentagon.

Ok, in the words of Margaret Cho, “That’s not what I meant!”.  You mean, returning control of how and why gay people are drummed out of military to the very organization that has been witch hunting gays for 40 years?!

Man, this deal is looking worse all the time.

This is, you know, still a civilian run military, isn’t it?

The proposal under consideration would legislatively repeal the statute this year, but the current policy would remain in place and implementation of repeal would be contingent on two occurrences: completion of the Pentagon’s review due in December and certification from President Barack Obama, Defense secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs chair Adm. Mike Mullen that the new law will not have a negative impact on readiness, recruitment, retention, and other key factors affecting the military.

They have run many such studies for decades.  Where is the compromise, here?

Oh, I see — the compromise with a supposedly civilian led government is that the military will do whatever the hell it wants with gay people in the military.

Aubrey Sarvis of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network called the developments a “dramatic breakthrough” that should help produce the votes necessary for repeal measures to be attached to the Department of Defense authorization bill in the House and Senate.

Say what?  Ok, let’s look at this,

1.  Obama promises to end DADT “this year”.

2.  Members of his administration including Defense Secretary immediately renege on the promise by telling Congress the administration isn’t really in favor of “moving precipitously”, but Obama will not acknowledge he intends to go back on his word.

3.  Members of his administration tell people including Alcee Hastings (D-FL) that they do not wish him to work on DADT repeal.

4.  Magically, with only days remaining for insertion of DADT into the Defense Authorization Budget, a compromise is reached with unnamed “gay activists” (who these are, we are not given to know) which looks very similar to a promise to stop torturing someone by stabbing them in the heart instead.

5.  Gay people are to clap louder.  The promise has been “kept”.

This guy really does play 11-dimensional chess.  Against US.

(Oh, and if you don’t care about gay rights at all, what does this say about the military — do you really think the military is answerable to civilian authority if it can decide when, in what manner, and if at all it will follow Congressional law?)