Jul

13

Obama Uses The Word ‘Change’ Instead of ‘Repeal’ When Asked About DADT

Filed Under Barack Obama, DADT, LGBT, Politics 

Anderson Cooper spoke with President Obama about the Clinton administration’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. Obama stated that while he’d like to see DADT changed (sooner, rather than later), he insisted it’s not appropriate for the president to say he won’t enforce a law that’s constitutionally valid. Obama stated: “I do think that there’s the possibility, though, that we change how the law is being enforced even as we are pursuing a shift in congressional policy.”

What’s interesting to note here is that Obama used the word “changed” instead of “repealed,” although he recently called on Congress to repeal both DADT and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’d like to beat Bill and Hillary Clinton with a nail-spiked baseball bat. The Clinton administration left a mess for Obama to clean up.

Comments

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

5 Responses to “Obama Uses The Word ‘Change’ Instead of ‘Repeal’ When Asked About DADT”

  1. christopher on July 14th, 2009 1:03 am

    I dunno…by changing his own language, is he not just as guilty as Clinton? Slap a band-aid on the issue to save your carreer. Wasn't DADT implemented to try and address issues on both sides? Of course the LGBT community lost out. And now, that we finally have a minority president in office, he too is a puppet as he tries to please his master (the majority) by denying the rights of another minority.

  2. Dana on July 14th, 2009 2:22 am

    Yeah, he's been backing off of his support for LGBT rights since the election. Even though his supposed ease at talking about LGBT issues during the campaign was one of the things that was reassuring about this virtually unknown politician, he has now shown time after time since taking office that he's not willing to spend political capital on advancing LGBT rights.

  3. sisterstalk on July 14th, 2009 2:38 am

    Dana: I'm not sure I agree with your comment "he has now shown time after time since taking office that he's not willing to spend political capital on advancing LGBT rights."

    I had this very conversation with someone else a week or so ago. Obama has never encouraged the passing of any anti-gay laws, nor has he signed off on any anti-gay laws.

    I agree though. He hasn't rushed to overturn any of the Clinton administration's anti-gay laws either. But, I'm willing to wait to see what happens before his first term ends. We shall see.

  4. Tawny on July 14th, 2009 4:24 pm

    That is exactly what I say when asked about what I think of our new president. All I can say is we need to give him a chance. It has only been six months and as he stated although he doesn't care for the current laws he has to set an example and up hold the laws already in place (until they can be changed or repealed) He claims to be a man of integrity and picking and choosing the laws he wants to uphold would not project a very trustworthy individual. If he just went around picking and choosing it would portray him as a man abusing his position and power to benefit his own personal agenda.

    He has to do it the Right way.
    I too am willing to wait and see

  5. Mike on July 19th, 2009 6:03 pm

    No, I don't want to beat Bill and Hillary with a nail-spiked bat. Bill had a Republican Congress – both houses – that he had to deal with. He was pushed into signing DOMA; he didn't have much choice. Also, Bill never made any promises on gay marriage rights.

    Obama, however, made promises. He promised to repeal DOMA. And unlike Clinton's situation, Obama has a friendly Congress – both houses are heavily controlled by his own party – Democrats. Even the Senate is filibuster-proof on the Democrats' side.

    There will never be a better time. Obama is the most liberal President we're likely to have for many decades. And he has a Democratic Congress that he can get to work with him.

    So Obama has NO excuses, other than his own dishonesty and cowardice. If he does not take action, I will vote Republican for the rest of my life. Because at least they'll lower my taxes.

Leave a Reply




We're on YouTube!