More on Obama and the ruling and injunction on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

There are some necessary thoughts about the effects of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Rachel Maddow on her show on MSNBC, which it shouldn't be a surprise that I love, interviewed two service members, both decorated Air Force fighter pilots who have served tours in central combat zones. Both men were kept in shadow and their identities were protected. The first of the two interviewees has a partner and laid out one of the most essential problems with the policy. Because he is gay and is forced to remain in the closet, his relationship with his partner must remain absolutely secret. That means the partner has no official relationship status with the service member.

One of the consequences of this lack of status is that the partner of a service member on active duty would not be notified if their partner was killed in action. The reverse is also true, should anything happen to the non-military partner, unless a family member or close friend was able to inform them, which is not always the case if they are in a heavy combat area, that military person wouldn't know if they're partner died. If they were recognized by the military, the administrative arm of the military would make sure that this notification happened either surviving partner.

Also, according to the interviewee, a service member can be sent home to be at the bedside of their spouse. Because of DADT, when his partner was in the hospital because of medical complications and his heart stopped and had to be resuscitated, he not only couldn't be there by the partner's side but wasn't even able to be informed of the situation. As a result he didn't find out until later how critical the health scare was. Because he's not out to his family or any but a few very close friends he couldn't obtain that information indirectly either. In the interview he said that he'd written a letter for a friend of his to give to his partner in the case of something happening to him during active service, and that that would be the only way his partner would be notified.

Estimates as to the number of gay men and lesbians in active military service probably vary widely, but a statistic I thought looked good from the methodology of those studying the issue came up with about 11,000 lesbians, 14,500 gay men. I've heard estimates that are three times that number.

Whatever the actual number of service members are gay or lesbian, it is inconceivable that anyone who truly respected the service of troupes and the needs of military service members would not recognize the incredible burden they are placing on these people by not repealing DADT. It is a clear example of the hypocrisy of the right-wing of politics that they have taken control of discourse around the meaning of freedom and liberty and what it means to be a patriotic American, yet they largely oppose open-service. You cannot be both. Either you are a patriot who loves our country and the freedoms that are at the foundation of our society, that you respect and are devoted to the welfare and well-being of all our service members, or you oppose the fundamental right of people in the service to healthfully and respectful acknowledge and embrace their essential identity and be unafraid of reprisals because of that openness.

It is a fact that Obama could issue an executive order that would put a moratorium on the execution of DADT. It is nearly a fact that there is no chance of the repeal of DADT actually passing as a part of legislation in the Senate, especially with the inevitable results of the 2010 mid-terms. Let me repeat that to be perfectly clear, there is almost NO chance for the repeal of DADT to pass in the Senate. If that doesn't happen, there is absolutely no way for Obama to oversee it's outright repeal. Even with a moratorium via executive order, that would only stay in effect until the next president decides to lift it, thereby reinstating the policy.

Right now, barring an act of honesty and integrity on the part of the Republican minority in the Senate, the only way for DADT to be repealed is through the courts and the only way for it to happen under Obama's current term is for him to instruct his Justice Department to not appeal the ruling from "Log Cabin Republicans vs. the United States" and the subsequent injunction. If he is honestly serious about seeing the policy end, which he states over and over again, this is his last real option. If he is honest in claiming that he is an ally of the LGBT community, this is his chance to prove it.