By TNichlsn
from The Edge-
An overwhelming majority--75%--of Americans say that gays should be allowed to serve openly, recent polls have found, including a survey conducted by the Washington Post and ABC. A similar 2008 poll showed the same result.
The Post reported on demographic variances revealed by the poll. Democrats and Republicans alike supported the repeal, though Democrats were more in favor at 83%, opposed to 64% of Republicans. Independents fell in the middle, with 77% favoring the ban’s repeal.
Differences appeared according to gender as well, with 65% of men in favor of rescinding the ban, compared with 84% of women. The generational divide was as apparent among civilians as among members of the military, with 69 percent of older Americans in favor of scrapping DADT, whereas 81% of the under-30 set indicated support for ending the ban.
SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT, CONGRESSIONAL/SENATE DEMOCRATS, WITH A 33% APPROVAL RATING, ARE WORRIED THAT TACKLING AND OVERTURNING DADT WILL SPOIL THEIR RE-ELECTION CHANCES IN NOVEMBER, A MOVE WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY A HUGE MAJORITY OF BOTH THEIR DEMOCRATIC (83%) AND REPUBLICAN (64%) CONSTITUENTS. ---THESE KINGS HAVE NO CLOTHES! THEY ARE HOMOPHOBES!
DADT repeal dominates fall LGBT agenda in Congress and Courts-
Building on last week's federal court decision that Don't Ask Don't Tell is unconstitutional, the focus on military policy this week will remain intense.
In Tacoma, WA, trial begins this morning in Witt v. Air Force, another constitutional challenge and the one that set the new standard for DADT cases that Judge Phillips applied in the Log Cabin case.
In DC, the Senate returns today from its summer recess for a four-week session, a period that could be do or die for enacting the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains the provision to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” And the situation seems to be getting worse. According to Kerry Eleveld at the Advocate, Dems who see little to be accomplished are starting to press for a shorter session and adjournment before Oct. 8. Truncating the session would essentially mean no action on the NDAA, and only a long shot chance of repealing DADT in a post-election lame duck session.
Majority Leader Reid has repeatedly promised that the bill will come up for its crucial vote during September, but concern that he would not stick to that schedule built last week from press reports like this one on a blog oriented to the defense industry:
The chances that the Senate will take up the National Defense Authorization Act before the next recess are declining by the minute; “contingency planning” is now the operative phrase..
The pressure is two-fold: Democrats want to spend the time trying to enact tax breaks for small businesses, to help them in their campaigns; and some Dems, perhaps including Reid, are in freak-out mode over tackling DADT with polls showing so many incumbents at risk. Eleveld calls the problem "some combination of timing, strategy and sheer lack of guts."
The best hope is that momentum from the Log Cabin Republicans decision will flip the dynamics in DC. Politico's politicos, however, think a vote before the election is "unlikely."
Meanwhile, trial is beginning in the challenge to DADT in the Witt case and is expected to last into next week. Judging from the pre-trial briefs filed by the ACLU, who represents the plaintiff, and the Justice Department, the government's last-ditch strategy may be launch a smear attack on Margaret Witt.
The main difference between Witt and the Log Cabin case is that the ACLU's strategy in Witt was to win the principle that the government had to prove in each individual case that retaining the gay service member would threaten unit cohesion. They achieved this when the case was before the Ninth Circuit on an earlier appeal. [527 F.3d 806] Now the case is back before the trial judge, for the government to try to meet that standard. Needless to say, if this rule stands, discharges would ground to a halt, since the government could never meet that standard in the great majority of them, and the resource burden of trying to do so would be absurd.
Major Witt served for 19 years as a flight nurse, receiving several medals (including one personally from President Bush) and being chosen as an emblem of the nursing corps for an Air Force recruiting program. The Justice Department's brief indicates that they will attack her personal life, introducing evidence that she had relationships with a married woman (whose husband complained to the Air Force) and with two other Air Force officers, and that she acknowledged her lesbianism to other women in her unit.
It's an insidious and disgusting tactic, not necessary for the Justice Department to use, and one that it should be ashamed of. The idea is that Witt is not entitled to relief because she "told," which the Department tries to turn into a kind of presumption of harm. But its implicit logic dregs up a stereotype of irresponsible sexuality associated with being gay.
The government's brief does not allude to any evidence that Witt's presence disrupted the business of her unit, or even bothered anyone (except perhaps the unlucky husband). The ACLU has multiple witnesses to testify that there was no disruption. The fact that any of this would be aired in open court -- without a foundation established that her private activities actually had an impact on her workplace -- is itself testament to what an odious policy remains in place.
from Nan Hunter, Professor, Georgetown Law, Washington, DCThe Rank and File Not Worried-
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, appeared before Congress along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last February to announce a year-long review of the 17-year-old ban. It might have therefore been an expected topic for discussion when Mullen subsequently met with about two dozen servicemembers in Jordan on Feb. 16. But no one raised the issue--until Mullen himself did, reported a Feb. 17 HeraldNet article.
"No one’s asked me about ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ " Mullen remarked. The reason, according to the HeraldNet article: those in attendance knew that they were serving with gays and lesbians, and it wasn’t an issue. They had other things on their minds. The casual attitude on display among the ranks is a marked contrast to how Congress reacted, where some lawmakers--John McCain among them--voiced stringent objections to lifting the ban; even now, McCain is reportedly seeking support for a filibuster on the Defense Authorization bill and its amendment mandating repeal of the anti-gay law. The bill is scheduled for a vote next month.
Part of the reason for the nonchalance of American servicemembers regarding the question of openly gay comrades in arms is pragmatic: today’s uniformed soldiers are not naive. They know that they live, work, and fight with gays who wear the same uniform, and they don’t worry about who might or might not be gay on the field of battle or in the shower. Indeed, today’s troops accept that gay soldiers, like any other soldiers, live by a code of conduct and a chain of command. While some anti-gay civilians (including the MCC’s parent organization, The Center for Military Readiness) warn of sexual apocalypse in the wake of any repeal of the ban, the men and women of the fighting forces know that the issue is actually a nonissue--especially when larger issues are far more pressing, including the problem of manpower as America prosecutes two wars.
But differences in attitude are sharply defined by generation, and older officers--such as those at the top of the different armed forces--still oppose lifting the ban. The article noted that Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway has spoken out against ending the ban, while Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey has cited those very same two wars as a reason why the policy should continue to hold sway.
Among the men and women on the ground, there’s a different perspective. 33-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Peppur Alexander has been in uniform for 14 years; she spoke up to let Mullen know that she’d served with gay colleagues, and it didn’t faze her. Said Alexander, "We have lost good soldiers because of that because they wanted to be who they are. It’s sad."
Military readiness my ass! These folks are pathetic homophobes and could care less about the state of the military. They are for the most part cowardly old men with their heads stuck in the 1960s or firmly lodged up their asses! President Obama, Attorney General Holder, where is your head?
THIS MORNING LADY GAGA SENT HER NEAR 7 MILLION FOLLOWERS:
"http://twitpic.com/2ocx9i - Gay Veterans were my VMA dates. Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. CALL HARRY REID to Schedule Senate Vote"
SEN. REID QUICKLY TWEETED BACK TO GAGA:
"@ladygaga There is a vote on #DADT next week. Anyone qualified to serve this country should be allowed to do so http://bit.ly/9ucdIj #nvsen"
--- Millions more updates from SDLN follow ---
PEOPLE TAKING ACTION: http://www.LadyGaga.com continues serving as an action page to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- The message to Senators: Vote on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal the week of Sept. 20!
JUST POSTED: PEREZ HILTON NOW SENDING HIS PEEPS TO TAKE ACTION: http://bit.ly/aiyYge
GAGA TO ELLEN ON SEASON PREMIERE SHOW: Take action and support DADT repeal http://bit.ly/9GpBFL
YAHOO SEARCH CONFIRMS GAGA IMPACT: "After the [VMAs] aired, Web searches soared on everything from "lady gaga guests" to "what does SLDN stand for" (it stands for "Servicemembers Legal Defense Network"). The official site for SLDN has posted a message encouraging those who feel "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be repealed to call their representatives in Washington. Lady Gaga is an outspoken supporter of gay rights." http://yhoo.it/bDPc4J
BREAKING LAST NIGHT: SENATOR REID ANNOUNCES HE INTENDS TO HOLD VOTE ON REPEAL: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) confirmed last night that he intends to bring the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to the senate floor next week. The NDAA contains the amendment to allow for the repeal of DADT.
STATEMENT FROM AUBREY SARVIS: "We applaud the Senate Majority Leader's courage and his statement tonight to bring the defense bill to the floor. Now, we must deliver." --"Repeal proponents may well need 60 votes in the Senate to get to this important debate in September. We are now in the final stretch and we must prevail. Repeal supporters should not stop calling their senators. --Sen. John McCain has been a strong and vocal opponent from the start and it is critical that we beat back any filibuster threat, defeat attempts to strike repeal, and defeat any crippling amendments."
*NEW* SLDN LEGAL TEAM SENDS PENTAGON FORMAL RECOMMENDNATIONS TO IMPLEMENT REPEAL: http://bit.ly/cuRXqv
TODAY'S POLITICO MORNING DEFENSE:
--SNEAK PEEK: Servicemembers Legal Defense Network submitted "implementation recommendations" to Carter Ham and Jeh Johnson, the heads of the Pentagon's Working Group on DADT. Those recommendations included a simple message: Don't worry, this will be easy. SLDN will release those recommendations later this morning, but Morning Defense got a preview.
--LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO: The recommendations contain a number of legal provisions SLDN believes the Working Group should incorporate into the law in order for repeal to take place. But the bottom line is this, SLDN says: If the bill passes next week with repeal language intact, the Pentagon will have very little else to do. "What we're underscoring is, don't be confused by all the sound and the fury of all the third parties" about implementing repeal, SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis told Morning D.
--Read the exec summary of the report http://bit.ly/cWexAp
FOR LAUGHS: Gaga supporting repeal turns into an e-card: http://some.ly/boxMc4
MTV NEWS ON THE SERVICE MEMBERS WHO WALKED WITH GAGA: http://on.mtv.com/boXrF2
BY THE NUMBERS: The VMAs grabbed 11.4 million viewers and is the #1 cable telecast of 2010 for the network and the third-most-watched telecast on MTV ever.
FACEBOOK POST ON REPEAL BY LADY GAGA WITH 24,641 "LIKES": http://bit.ly/coK4Ur
GAGA INTERVIEW ON WHITE CARPET WITH SERVICE MEMBERS / MOST WATCHED MTV.COM VIDEO: http://on.mtv.com/cD1B00
IN THE COMMENTS: U.S. Soldier in Iraq watches Lady Gaga on MTV, calls Senate switchboard, and writes thank you note: http://www.SLDN.org/Gaga --
> From Balad, Iraq: "Thank you Lady Gaga! I called my Senators from Iraq
... it took all of three minutes (one minute was dedicated to all the numbers I had to push on the telephone). Let's keep the pressure up!"
THE WASHINGTON POST w/VIDEO: http://bit.ly/bRbVrN
--By Ed O'Keefe: "Gay rights advocates hoping to convince the U.S. Senate to move quickly on repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy have enlisted a big-name lobbyist: Lady Gaga. "The voice behind "Bad Romance" and "Alejandro" won several prizes at MTV's Video Music Awards on Sunday night, but also turned heads by waltzing down the red carpet with four former service members impacted by the Pentagon's gay ban.
--SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said Gaga's move "casts a spotlight on the unjust burden that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' imposes upon the brave men and women who defend our country every day, and further underscores why the Senate must swiftly act to get rid of this despicable law for good."
--Her Web site also will direct supporters to call the U.S. Capitol switchboard to urge the Senate to include a repeal in the annual Defense spending bill. The House's version of the bill already includes a repeal.
POLITICO MORNING DEFENSE ON MONDAY:
--LADY GAGA: TELEPHONE THE CAPITOL - The pop star walked the red carpet with four service members discharged under DADT at the MTV Awards last night, and wants Americans to call the Capitol switchboard to push Congress to repeal the policy. Gaga tweeted: "real heroes on my arms tonight." Gaga met with other service members affected by DADT in D.C. last week.
--THE FOUR ON HER ARM - David Hall, former AF staff sergeant, Mike Almy, former AF major, and Stacy Vasquez, a former Army SFC, all discharged under DADT; and Katie Miller, a West Point cadet who resigned in August in protest against the law.
STATEMENT FROM SLDN'S AUBREY SARVIS:
--"Lady Gaga's recognition of these fine patriots casts a spotlight on the unjust burden that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' imposes upon the brave men and women who defend our country every day, and further underscores why the Senate must swiftly act to get rid of this despicable law for good."
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