On Friday the House of Representatives voted to end the controversial Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy that allows homosexuals to serve openly, but the legislation gives the Pentagon the chance to finish its study which will be completed in December.
The question that I have is not on the merits of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, or repealing this ban is why now? If the President truly wanted to end this controversial policy he could have done long ago with an executive order, much like President Truman did when he issued Executive Order 9981 that desegregated the armed forces.
The question remains why President Obama didn’t issue his own executive order ending this policy if he truly believed it was wrong and discriminatory. If he feared a backlash from the military then he failed to understand the basic tenets of the military. We may disagree with political policy but in the end we swear allegiance to the constitution and would carry out any order or direction by the President of the United States.
The real reason is plain and simple and has everything to do with Novembers mid-term elections. The president realizes like most political observers that the mid-term elections if continued trends persist will be disastrous for the Democratic Party. The president needs to galvanize his base supporters and the one group who vote heavily for Democrats; is the gay community. They already are angry with Democrats for not ending this ban and see the president as caving into what he had promised while he campaigned for the presidency.
This is a president who says one thing while campaigning but act in a different manner as president. We see the same thing with regard to immigration reform and a host of other issues. You can’t just talk leadership you have to act as a leader and this president has failed on so many levels.
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