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Friday, September 10, 2010

Mr. President, Tear Down This Policy!

On June 12, 1987 President Reagan (yes, that President Reagan) stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and challenged General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Michhail Gorbachev, to

...come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

And while it won't make history or be remembered in any way (although it might dredged up fifty years hence thanks to Google), I now, standing at my Internet gateway, challenge the President of United States, the Commander in Chief of the United States Military, Barack Obama, to

Tear Down This Policy!

and end Don't Ask, Don't Tell now, for good, and forever.

DADT,Choi



With yesterday's decision (PDF) by US District Court Judge Virginia Philips declaring the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy unconstitutional, the last shred of rationale has been stripped from the President's arguments for not acting.

No, Mr. President, you no longer have to faithfully execute this law, because this law has been declared unconstitutional.

No, Mr. President, you no longer have to defend this law in court, because this law has been declared unconstituional.

No, Mr. President, you no longer have to wait for Congress to repeal this law, because this law has been declared unconstitutional.

And no, Mr. President, you no longer need worry about 'process' or how the military brass will react, because you took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and this law has been declared unconstitutional..

In the speech you gave yesterday Mr. President, you said


But you didn't elect me to do what's easy. You didn't elect me to just read the polls and figure out how to keep myself in office. You didn't elect me to avoid big problems. You elected me to do what's right. And as long as I'm President, that's exactly what I'll do.


Mr. President, this is the right thing to do. You've said it yourself many times. In fact, Judge Philips quoted you saying just that in her decision!


Reversing this policy is the right thing to do ((and)) is essential for our national security.


And you know what? Not only is it the right thing to do, but doing it now is going to help you keep yourself and your party in office. Democrats are in danger of losing both the House and the Senate, mostly because of the lack of enthusiasm of your supporters, not because you are outnumbered.

No, repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell isn't going to change the unemployment rate or cause businesses to start hiring, but it will be a huge boost to the morale of your troops on the ground -- those rousting up the votes for House and Senate candidates in November you so dearly need. Because you will have kept your promise.

Keep this promise.



Embrace Lt. Daniel Choi and scores of others who have been cast aside; stand before the American people (who support repeal by an overwhelming majority) and tell them that you have ended this unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional policy as of NOW, and it will be a political coup.

gay coffins

Sure, the right-wing fundamentalists' heads will explode. But that's a good thing. They'll be flaming away on national television, looking like raving lunatics while the sane rest of America looks on, wondering how anyone could possibly listen to such people. And meanwhile you will be standing tall as the Commander-in-Chief, having done what is right.

So Mr. President. Do it. Now. Announce that effective immediately, because Don't Ask, Don't Tell is unconstitutional, because it is unjust, immoral and insane, you have ordered the United States Armed Forces to no longer investigate or pursue anyone in this regard. As Judge Philips put it:


The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Act infringes the fundamental rights of United States servicemembers...


So say we all.

DADT

(DADT protest at the White House fence circa 1993)

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