Obama Yielded to Gates on DADT Repeal

ROBERT GATES 20100520 X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

An in-depth look at the rocky relationship between President Barack Obama and the military shows that he, lacking experience in uniform and saddled by two foreign wars and domestic priorities, deferred to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in setting a “slow pace” to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The New York Times examined what it called the “steep learning curve” faced by Obama in his first term as commander in chief. During the bumpy times, the president has yielded to Gates, an experienced holdover from the Bush administration.

“Mr. Obama has relied on Mr. Gates as his ambassador to the military and deferred to him repeatedly,” reported the Times. “When Mr. Gates wanted to force out Gen. David D. McKiernan in May 2009 as commander in Afghanistan in favor of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, Mr. Obama signed off. Likewise, cognizant of Bill Clinton’s ill-fated effort to end the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers, Mr. Obama let Mr. Gates set a slow pace in overturning the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, even though it has disappointed gay rights advocates.”

Read the full article here.

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Reader Comments

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Name: Will
Date posted: 8/31/2010 6:16:21 AM
Hometown: Perry GA

Comment:
Mmmmmmmm, the elected (i.e. hired) position of President and Vice President are TEMPORARY jobs, 4 years, right? Well, guess what, failutre to keep one's 'promise' is grounds for a NO VOTE.
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Name: Terry
Date posted: 8/30/2010 7:51:11 PM
Hometown: Pasadena

Comment:
It is very possible that Justice Kagen will have to recuse herself from hearing the DADT appeal since she was a part of the prep for Log Cabin Republicans VS United States of America.
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Name: Bill
Date posted: 8/30/2010 6:16:47 PM
Hometown: Albuquerque

Comment:
Obama is content to let the courts decide the issue if Congress and The Pentagon will not move repeal of DADT forward. He is not about to raise the stakes between now and Nov 2010, facing as he does significant opposition. While I am not happy with this situation, I only hope that his Supreme Court picks will vote to advance our civil rights. This is probably the only realistic pathway to LGBT equality; if equal rights for minorities were left to a vote of the people, Blacks would still be picking cotton on the old plantation and Chinese would continue to face exclusion (after, of course, finishing the building of one-half of our transcontinental railroad)!
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Name: Joe
Date posted: 8/30/2010 6:04:53 PM
Hometown: Fort Worth

Comment:
Daniel S - I wholeheartedly agree w/ your comments. It doesn't matter if Obama had won or Hillary - the result would be the same. The Dems aren't truly interested in fighting for our rights.
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Name: Joseph
Date posted: 8/30/2010 6:01:06 PM
Hometown: Bryan, Texas

Comment:
I voted for Obama but never again. He is a disgrace and a coward! At least with the Republicans we know we are thrown under the bus. He will continue this way until he is up for re-election. He must not get our vote. There must be someone else among the democrats that can be out standard banner. This man does not give a damn about GLBT civil rights.
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Name: mike
Date posted: 8/30/2010 4:27:47 PM
Hometown: cincinnati

Comment:
Obama likes the status quo. He gives gays an occasional mention. This is all he is good for. All politicians know that all religions have anti-gay constituents. They don't want to risk alienating any faction of the homophobic majority. Gays might as well forget equal rights. Gays are not important to America. Most tolerate and patronize them. I am not sure that it will make any difference whether one votes democat or republican in the coming election. Gays have to become out of control with chaos.
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Name: TJ
Date posted: 8/30/2010 2:48:33 PM
Hometown: Virginia Beach

Comment:
...not suprised...not surprised at all...i can't stand the Republican party but, the one thing i will give them credit for is that when they're stubborn about an issue (especially anything associated with the LGBT community)...MY GOD!...they stick to it to the death...Democrats are such dreamers (as evident by Obama)...they always tell you about their dreams and aspirations for our country and its people...but, can NEVER back that s**t up and go into retreat mode when a Republican tells them "NO"...THANKS FOR NOTHING, OBAMA!...we took a chance on you...nice to know you don't think we're owed the same opportunity...
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Name: Daniel S
Date posted: 8/30/2010 1:43:48 PM
Hometown: New Hope, PA

Comment:
It was noted almost as soon as Obama started making appointments that his Administration was loaded with Clinton people. Not surprisingly, they seem to be warning him away from LGBT issues. Clinton was more than willing to stab us in the back for political expediency (with DADT and DOMA). So it's unsurprising that Obama's Administration has a similar love/hate relationship with us, given all his Clinton appointees (including one actual Clinton!). But I do think Obama is very concerned about being perceived as being too far to the Left, as he has studiously sought to appear Moderate and even court the Right. This is why he has waffled so much on the wars. Obama isn't willing to stand firmly on principle. He's trying to maintain broad appeal and failing.
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Name: Joseph
Date posted: 8/30/2010 1:41:12 PM
Hometown: Montgomery, AL

Comment:
@Thomas Janowski: "Kuttner instead finds hope in Obama becoming a great partisan politician who offers great legislative ideas and won't compromise good legislation in the name of being bipartisan. I think everyone needs to write to Obama and suggest his veery to the left." Oh really? I guess I need to smoke a little of whatever that guy was doing when he wrote THAT comment. Obama has done almost nothing BUT "compromise good legislation in the name of being bipartisan." Why did Obama gut health care of the public option? He hoped that he could get GOP votes if he got rid of it. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. He's left a trail of "compromise" in his wake as President and, really, Obama didn't propose a single bit of legislation while he was a Senator. And really? "Write to Obama and suggest his veery [sic] to the left." You really believe that's all it will take? Got news for you bud. It ain't gonna happen. Some of us knew what Obama was from the start.
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Name: Sandy Rhodes
Date posted: 8/30/2010 1:31:08 PM
Hometown: Pebble Beach

Comment:
Robert Gates can only vote for Obama once. How many votes do WE represent, Obama? That's how many you're gonna lose.

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