Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Under "Pressure" from White House and Others U.S. Rep. Hastings Withdraws 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Amendment

UPDATED: If you are as outraged as I am by President Obama's lack of action - and, pardon my French - lies to LGBT Americans, go to the White House website and voice your displeasure: http://www.whitehouse.gov/. Tell him that the LGBT ATM is being turned off until he fulfills his campaign promises.
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Stories like this one make me livid. Perhaps in part because I do not like facing the fact that I allowed myself to be played as a sucker. Also, because I have a very low regard for liars - even in politicians. It seems Obama not only played me - and countless LGBT friends - as suckers as he lied about his support for LGBT equality under the civil laws during his campaign last year. The Miami Herald is reporting that Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) withdrew his amendment to H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010, due to pressure from some of his Congressional colleagues and from the White House. Apparently, Obama and other Congressional Democrats want us to be good little "house faggots" and mindlessly send in our monetary contributions, work at the grass roots level on campaigns, and happily and without question accept whatever crumbs are thrown our way. Sorry, but being a good house faggot is not my style and I and others will definitely not be quiet. I am increasingly concerned that the Democrat attitude of throwing gays under the bus may haunt them in Virginia's elections this coming November. Here are some highlights:
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Today, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) made the following statement on the withdrawal of his amendment to H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010. The Hastings amendment would have prohibited the use of funds to carry out the provisions in Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell regarding investigating and separating soldiers who admit they are homosexual or bisexual.
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Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment. I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell at this time. We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are.
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“I realize that this issue is considered controversial. But, it shouldn’t be. The vast majority of Americans not only support the inclusion of gay service members in the military, but also the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. As many as 75 percent of Americans support openly gay service members in the military.
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We cannot afford to lose any more of our soldiers to the vagaries of outdated bigotry. Every day, we lose approximately two service members to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Our country is engaged in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military has spent over $95.1 million on retraining soldiers because of this law. What is the holdup, then? . . . If we know we are going to repeal this law eventually, then why not take action right now?”
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The hold up? I hate to say it, but I am believing more and more that Obama is an anti-gay bigot just like his bloated Christianist bud, Rick Warren. We truly need to turn off the LGBT ATM machine and stop funding organizations like HRC that refuse to play hardball with Obama and the reigning Democrats.

2 comments:

Larry said...

I broke away to write the White house on this. Hope the rest of you do too, immediately. Makes a difference. www.whitehouse.gov

Michael-in-Norfolk said...

Larry, I too have written the White House and encourage others to do so as well.