08 November 2010

Gays in the Military, Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) -- Obama is no Truman!

I was just as this question on a web site I participate in, and thought I'd share my response here for all of you to see.

  •  What is your solution to keeping gays in the military?
     Robert, when Truman integrated the military, he didn't wait for Congress. He didn't poll the foot soldiers to find out how they'd "FEEL" about having to live and/or serve with other races in the same unit. He didn't pussyfoot around. He issued a fucking executive order as Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the troops fucking followed his order. Period, end of discussion!

The only reason that can be inferred from POTUS Barack Obama's refusal to end DADT and order an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians serving in the Armed Forces of United States of America is because he doesn't want to.

US  President Harry S. Truman
Truman's top military aides and advisers all thought he was bonkers for integrating the military. But guess what? He issues the order, and the military did not fall apart. It kept functioning, and did so quite well in Korea.

And for those who argue that POTUS needs the permission of Congress to repeal DADT by law, here's another tidbit of history for you:




In 1948, President Harry S Truman's Executive Order 9981 ordered the integration of the armed forces shortly after World War II, a major advance in civil rights. Using the Executive Order (E.O.) meant that Truman could bypass Congress. Representatives of the Solid South, all white Democrats, would likely have stonewalled related legislation. Source: Desegregation in the Military, via Wikipedia
I do not see why people keep making excuse for this POTUS, one who promised to repeal DADT as one of the first things he would do in office, in order to garner the support of the "gay vote." Well, he got their support, and what baffles me most is that he continues to have their support.

Obama, if you want to end DADT, get off your bloody arse and issue the fecking Executive Order already. But I doubt you'll do that; you don't have the cojones to be POTUS.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. fr41trekTuesday, November 9, 2010 at 2:13:00 AM EST

    "cojones to be POTUS"

    I don't know if those are the words I would use.

    “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”

    I believe the father of your new Governor said

    ReplyDelete
  2. GodblufferTuesday, January 24, 2012 at 6:32:00 PM EST

    Some defended Obama not issuing an executive order by arguing that such an order can just as easily be reversed by the next POTUS, and therefore preferring the route of broader support that was eventually taken. On the other hand, it could be argued that if he HAD decided to issue it, and it had inevitably become clear that all the hoopla had been based on nothing but fear and prejudice, it would not be so easy for *any* next POTUS to simply reverse the decision. He *could* have displayed the courage and the vision to just do it.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)