THE POLITICAL MANN: Obama fights his policy
Barack Obama
isn’t just presiding this week over what many of his supporters
consider a civil rights milestone, he’s fighting it.
Last month, a
judge overturned ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the U.S. military’s policy
forcing gay and lesbian personnel to keep their sexuality secret or
face dismissal.
As a result, the Pentagon told recruiters that for the first time they can accept openly gay and lesbian applicants.
Mr Obama pledged to help end to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and you might expect him to welcome the judgment.
But the White
House says it’s up to Congress to repeal the law, not the president or
the courts. Congress isn’t rushing to do it.
The judge’s ruling
broke the logjam but the Obama administration is appealing, hoping a
higher court will reverse the ruling and let Congress act.
The battle raged in the courts this week and the administration convinced other judges to temporarily restore the policy.
But it makes for a strange predicament for Obama: fighting a policy
he supports, that was pushed forward by a judge, without the help the
president promised.
Leave a Reply