If one listens to hyperbole, then it will be the most important speech of his presidency . . . until his next State of the Union address.
I wonder if Rep. Joe Wilson will open his mouth? I hope he does and I hope Michelle Obama wings him with a high heeled pump.
Seriously, tonight will be interesting on a lot of fronts, especially when it comes to Don't Ask, Don't Tell - the policy regarding gays in the military.
According to the Huffington Post, Obama is expected to call an end to it:
President Barack Obama will directly address the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in his State of the Union address on Wednesday evening, sources on Capitol Hill and in the gay-rights community tell the Huffington Post.
What exactly he will say about it remains a topic of intense debate, however -- though the betting among plugged-in sources is that he will call for its repeal.
"It is going to happen," said a source in the gay-rights community. "And it is going to be brought up in a somewhat significant way. But what that significance is we don't know." A Hill aide confirmed that the White House communications department told congressional press colleagues that the president would discuss the policy during his prime-time speech.
The article goes on to say that the pressure has been mounting for Obama to take a stance on the issue.
And why not? Maybe it's just me but the religious right as a whole seems to have abandoned this issue. Other than token opposition by Elaine Donnelly (and we all know what happened to her at the DADT hearing two years ago), there hasn't really been that much of a backlash against the notion of allowing gays in the military.
Still, if Obama does call an end to DADT, expect the customary cries about "military cohesion" and such to erupt.
It's what we have come to expect.
But seriously, what do you think he will say?
The floor is yours. BE NICE!!!
2 comments:
He'll call for an end to it, then appoint a "bi-partisan" commission to study it, which commission will be charged to come up with recommendations some time in December 2012.
I am not in favor of outright repeal; there needs to be an affirmative law forbidding discrimination in the military on the basis of sexual orientation. Don't forget that DADT made things better for gay service people. It was a LOT worse before. A simple repeal will NOT fix the problem.
I think at best we'll get pretty words about how he plans to do something about DADT. Then he'll go on to make some excuses and do nothing, just as he did this past year.
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