A certain recommended diary thanks Jon Stewart for speaking out when, amid many things that we are thrilled to see from the Obama administration, there are signs that the folks we voted into power are moving in directions other than those they promised.
Jon Stewart did a good job of juxtaposing the practice of Don't Ask, Don't Tell against other controversial actions which may affect national security and military readiness. He's often been the only voice out there in any form of current events reporting who has called out inconsistencies and looked at politicians and said, "WTF?"
This time, he's not alone.
Weirdly, the mainstream media has picked up the scent.
Here's a tidbit from today's White House Press Conference with Robert Gibbs:
Q: Well, the President says that releasing the detainee photos poses a danger to our troops, but doesn't dismissing otherwise qualified soldiers also pose a danger? Is it a question of degree?
MR. GIBBS: No, no. What I talked about in terms of "don't ask, don't tell" was the President -- the President, as you know, supports changing that because he strongly believes that it does not serve our national interest. He agrees with former members of the Joint Chiefs in that determination.
But unlike photos, the only durable solution to "don't ask, don't tell" is through a legislative process, and the President is working with Congress and members of the Joint Chiefs to ensure that that happens.
Q: But couldn't he in the meantime put a moratorium on these discharges until that can be accomplished?
MR. GIBBS: But again, the President has determined that that's not -- that's not the way to seek any sort of lasting or durable solution to the public policy problem that we have.
Q Then how would you respond to the criticism, though, that dismissing a qualified linguist endangers the troops?
MR. GIBBS: I think I would respond by saying that the President has long believed that the policy doesn't serve our national interest.
What was that...mainstream media reporters asking tough questions about current issues? ZOMG...and even follow-up questions that PRESS the issue and look for clarification?!
It actually makes some kind of perverse sense.
The mainstream media is still lost in the idea that we're a center-right nation -- that President Obama is still some kind of aberration from the Republican norm. Based on that, they're looking for ways to make Obama look bad. At the same time, an end to Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not exactly a Republican priority, cosidering the nature of The Base. Even so, polls consistently show widespread support (over 60%) for an end to this discriminatory practice.
The MSM are right to look at the Obama campaign promise to end DADT, followed by equivocation on the issue by Defense Secretary Gates and by National Security Adviser General Jones, and ask, as many now are, "Is the administration not going to follow through on this?" They smell blood and they want their bite of flesh. In the frenzy, they end up questioning the admistration on an agenda which isn't exactly dear to The Base for the Genitally Obsessed Party. And today's not the first day they're asking about it.
What odd bedfellows this has made, no?
I'm perfectly happy to give the administration reasonable time to do the work they feel they need to do to end this deplorable practice, especially considering the many issues we face. We're not very far into his (hopefully first) term. At the same time, we continue to spend funds to enforce this needless rule and lose valuable high-quality servicemembers who very much WANT to serve this nation. The administration is not powerless to act. The president himself has said that an administration must be able to work on more than one thing at a time. The public (other than the far conservative right) broadly supports this change. Many other countries have already made this move without military convulsion -- the latest to announce they will do so is Uruguay.
Uruguay? Not exactly widely renowned as a hotbed of liberalism (although they also have implemented nationwide civil unions - another story).
This isn't 1993. The playing field is significantly different -- the Obama administration has plenty of time to both learn from what mistakes were made at that time, and can use their message machine to better control this conversation, highlighting it as the mainstream issue it really is. This is where civil rights and national security overlap, and the right thing to do is clear.