Telling, Not Asking
Local congresswoman Lois Capps – and 76 of her colleagues in Congress – just told President Obama he needs to wise up. How can this be, you ask? Well, you can thank UCSB’s Palm Center.
In a letter sent on June 22, the legislators urged Obama to suspend the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and initiate a repeal process. The reasoning is evident, of course: The law discriminates unfairly against a segment of the population and it hurts the military by banning openly gay individuals from service. After all, according to the letter, more than 12,500 people have been discharged since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was implemented in 1994 (nice one, Bill). Obama’s already seen 250 servicemen and women kicked out under this law.
As for how UCSB comes into play? Well, it’s kind of a big deal. The Palm Center recently released a study that showed the president has the authority to end the ban by executive order. Before the study, many people claimed only Congress could do so. Now, however, UCSB has put Obama in the spot.
[Image Courtesy of BrokenSphere under Creative Commons]
2 Responses to “Telling, Not Asking”
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Combined with his administration’s sickening brief in support of the DOMA, it’s almost like he doesn’t care about the gay community at all and just wants their money and votes for nothing! Shocking that a politician could do such a thing…
Oh now, T, don’t be so shocked! Perhaps, coming from a conservative family, I’m more used to this, but, in the nasty world of politics, it is not uncommon for a politician to claim to be the ally of a particular interest group in order to get elected, and then proceed to either ignore them completely, or even completely about-face and enact policies harmful to them. Pro-lifers have been getting that since the days of Reagan, so much so that in 2008, many pro-life voters decided to vote for Obama, not because he was any more “pro-life” or “anti-abortion” than McCain, but simply because he was at least honest about his stance on abortion, and, unlike McCain, promised to end the very un-pro-life wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.