Military -- Time To Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

May 12, 2009

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, and Ryan Powers

MILITARY

Time To Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

During his campaign for the White House, President Obama pledged that he would push to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) -- the military's policy that bars gay men and women from serving openly. Since taking office, however, Obama and other officials serving in his administration have pushed the issue to the back burner. When asked about addressing DADT in March, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "I feel like we've got a lot on our plates right now and let's push that one down the road a little bit." Ret. Gen. Jim Jones, Obama's national security adviser, told the President recently "not to add another controversy to his already-full plate." On ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopolous asked Jones if the policy would be overturned. "I don't know," he replied. In fact, the White House website recently watered down language on repealing the policy, replacing the administration's commitment to "repealing" DADT with a commitment to simply "changing Don't Ask Don't Tell in a sensible way." (The more definitive "repeal" language has since been reinserted.) At the same time, Obama has indicated that he remains committed to repealing the policy. Sandy Tsao, an Army officer who told her superiors last January that she is gay, wrote to Obama urging him to act on repealing DADT. Last week, Obama personally responded to Tsao, writing, "I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete. ... I intend to fulfill my commitment!"

DADT STILL CLAIMING CASUALTIES: DADT continues to weaken our nation's military. Last week, the Army sent National Guard Lt. Daniel Choi -- a West Point graduate who served in Iraq and is fluent in Arabic -- a letter informing him that he is no longer welcome in the U.S. military because he is gay. The Army said it was dismissing Choi for "moral or professional dereliction," specifically for admitting "publicly that you are a homosexual, which constitutes homosexual conduct. Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard." Choi is one of more than 13,000 U.S. military personnel to be discharged because of DADT. This number includes those with special skills deemed "mission critical," such as pilots, combat engineers, and linguists like Choi. The Government Accountability Office found in 2005 that the cost of discharging and replacing servicemembers fired because of their sexual orientation during the policy's first 10 years totaled at least $190.5 million -- roughly $20,000 per discharged service member. While DADT cannot be repealed without congressional action, University of California associate professor Aaron Belkin notes that as president, Obama has the authority to suspend enforcement of the policy. Though it is unclear whether Obama will take this route (especially based on Jones's advice), Choi said on MSNBC last week that he plans to "fully fight" his dismissal "tooth and nail." "I believe that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is wrong, and what we really need to be encouraging soldiers to do is to don't lie, don't hide, don't discriminate, and don't weaken the military. That's what we need to be promoting," he said.

REPEAL DADT: Supporters of the discriminatory DADT often argue that repealing it would weaken the military (despite the fact that Arabic-linguists who are in short supply have been discharged because of it) and fragment unit cohesion. However, a bipartisan study commissioned by the Palm Center at the University of California last year found that "the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win." Choi said that "the biggest thing" he is "angry about" is that the Army claims that his unit suffered "good order and discipline" because he is gay. "That's a big insult to my unit," he said. After he came out as gay and before he was discharged, Choi said that "so many people came up to me, my peers, my subordinates, people that outranked me, folks that have been in the Army -- and this is an infantry unit, infantry men that -- coming up to me and saying, 'Hey, sir, hey, Lieutenant Choi, we know, and we don't care. What we care about is that you can contribute to the team.'" Indeed, a December 2006 survey of servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan found that 73 percent of those polled were "comfortable with lesbians and gays." Moreover, the American public doesn't care either. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, nearly two-thirds disagreed with the argument that "allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military would be divisive for the troops and hurt their ability to fight effectively." Ret. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Hugh Aitken, who participated in the Palm Center's study, has criticized Obama's plans to allow the Pentagon to review the policy before deciding to act on any repeal. "There's been enough studying throughout the years," he said. "Creating a new study will not change the facts."

RIGHT WING STILL OPPOSES A REPEAL: The ultra-conservative Center for Military Readiness (CMR), a group that opposes women and gays serving in combat, is leading an effort against repealing DADT and even trying to block gays from serving in the military altogether. The group's president, Elaine Donnelly, told Congress last year that having gays serve in the military "sexualizes the atmosphere" because they "engage in passive aggressive behavior." CMR also tries to muddy the waters with "gay horror stories" from the military, despite having acknowledged that such stories are "very difficult to find." Prominent members of Congress continue to obstruct as well. When asked about DADT last Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered his support for it. "Right now the military is functioning extremely well in very difficult conditions," he said, adding that "the policy has been working and I think it's been working well." Other members of Congress, such as Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), disagree. Sestak, himself a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, said of DADT recently on MSNBC, "We have to correct this. It's just not right." "I can remember being out there in command, and someone would come up to you and start to tell you -- and you just want to say, no, I don't want to lose you, you're too good," Sestak said.

ENVIRONMENT: RIGHT-WING TRADE GROUP TRYING TO CONCEAL ITS DENIAL OF CLIMATE CHANGE: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), one of the "most aggressive business coalitions opposing legislation to address global warming," is suddenly trying to appear neutral on pending climate change legislation in the wake of recent opposition from members. Last week, Duke Energy Corporation announced that it will no longer be a member of NAM, a decision made in part because of NAM's staunch opposition to climate change legislation. While a spokesman for Duke Energy announced that the company would like to see cap-and-trade legislation "happen this year if possible," NAM has funded climate change denier groups and heavily lobbied against any efforts to curb emissions. Indeed, NAM "refuses to address -- or even acknowledge -- man-made global warming." However, NAM Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Keith McCoy, expressed a change of tune in the organization's stance on climate change while speaking on Capitol Hill yesterday. Glossing over Duke Energy's recent departure from the coalition, McCoy said, "In terms of Waxman-Markey, I think it's clear in anything you've read that the NAM hasn't taken a position whether for or against it." This may indicate that Duke Energy's departure is part of a larger pattern of unrest over climate change in the business world. Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, said that NAM, the Chamber of Commerce, and Republicans "ought to roll up their sleeves and get to work on a climate bill, but quite frankly, I don't see them changing." Duke Energy is not alone in this assumption, as 35 corporate members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, including Nike and Johnson & Johnson, have joined coalitions promoting climate change legislation. Further, these corporations have been outright critics of the Chamber's opposition to Waxman-Markey to the point of threatening to withhold dues until the Chamber's positions "reflect the full range of views, especially those of Chamber members advocating for congressional action."

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is expected to announce today that he will run next year for the U.S. Senate. Crist's announcement "will trigger one of the most chaotic and wide open election seasons ever in Florida."

A U.S. soldier shot and killed five of his fellow soldiers yesterday at a counseling center at a base outside Baghdad in "the worst such attack" of the six-year Iraq war. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that "such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced yesterday that "he had asked for and requested the resignation of his top commander in Afghanistan, Army General David McKiernan, after only 11 months in that theater." McKiernan's removal is "the first time a civilian has fired a wartime commander since President Harry Truman ousted General Douglas MacArthur in 1951."

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) has been hosting "lasagna dinners" to allow Blue Dog Democrats to meet with more liberal Democrats and "talk about the details of the looming cap-and-trade bill." It is not yet clear if Welch's gatherings "will help jar loose the legislation from committee."

To pay for its health care plan, the Obama administration yesterday "proposed to raise nearly $60 billion more over 10 years mostly from tightening rules for inheritance taxes affecting the wealthiest estates." A Treasury official said the tax changes "would hit less than three-tenths of 1 percent of estates in any year." More

"More than 150 car dealers plan to descend on Capitol Hill starting today, in a lobbying push aimed at saving their sales outlets as General Motors and Chrysler move to sharply pare back operations," reports the Washington Post. GM plans to close 40 percent of its 6,200 dealerships, while Chrysler dealers "fear that 800 to 1,000 of 3,200 sales centers could be shuttered."

In Pakistan, "mainstream Muslim religious leaders...have formed an alliance to openly oppose the Taliban," which may give "authorities broad-based support to fight militants who have imposed a reign of terror on much of the northwest."

"The top senators on the Senate Banking Committee have reached a compromise on a bill that would protect consumers from abusive credit card industry practices, increasing the likelihood that the Senate will pass it as early as this week." The compromise includes a ban on raising rates within the first year a credit card account is opened, among other consumer protections.

Forty-five Blue Dog Democrats in the House "have protested the secretive process by which party leaders in their chamber are developing legislation to remake the health care system." In a letter to three committee chairman writing the bill, the conservative Democrats said they were "increasingly troubled" by their exclusion from the bill-writing process.

And finally: Vice President Biden thinks his dog is better than President Obama's. Asked by a youngster if he had ever petted a dog, Biden said yes and that his dog, Champ, was the "smartest, coolest dog in the world." "My dog is smarter than Bo, his dog," Biden said of Obama's new pup. "I think so," Biden added. "Yeah, I do."

Dick Cheney either misremembered or misinterpreted his oath of office.

Just 24 percent of voters are aware that the current "cap-and-trade" proposal deals with environmental issues.

Joseph Nye and Dan Drezner discuss how academic institutions appear to discourage scholars from conducting policy-relevant research.

Republican leaders emphasize that they're sticking with Rush Limbaugh.

Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal's installation as the top commender in Afghanistan is a sign of "how thoroughly Gen. David Petraeus is taking command" of the war there.

Conservative talker Bill Bennett disrespects El Rushbo.

More questions about the accuracy of the CIA memo describing briefings of congressional leaders on "enhanced interrogation techniques."

Without cram-downs, "there's nothing" in the Treasury's plan to address underwater mortgages.

"[Democrats have] had control since January of 2007. They haven't passed a law making waterboarding illegal."
-- Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 5/10/09

VERSUS

"The Senate voted yesterday to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics used by the CIA, matching a previous House vote and putting Congress on a collision course with the White House over a pivotal national security issue."
-- The Washington Post, 2/14/08

Think Progress

Time To Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

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