Awaiting Our Fierce Advocate - How Obama Could End DADT

There continues to be rancorous debate within the LGBT community both pro and con with respect to continuing to support Democrats and our supposed "fierce advocate" in the White House. As I am sure readers have figured out, I beyond over our faux friends and am inclined to throw Obama and the Democratic Party under the bus just as they have thrown LGBT Americans over and over again. Indeed, I may yet vote for a third party candidate - who has no chance of winning - just so I won't be voting for either the GOP or the Democrats. Such being the case for myself and I believe many more voters, Christopher Neff, deputy executive director of the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has an op-ed piece in The Advocate that lays out how Obama could end military discharges by either declining to appeal the Log Cabin ruling or issuing an executive stop-loss order to end all discriminatory discharges against gay and lesbian service members. Either approach unfortunately assumes, of course, that (1) Obama gives a damn about LGBT Americans - I don't think he does - and (2) has grown a spine lately - another unlikely event:
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What will Obama do? My bet is NOTHING. Which is insane to me if Obama doesn't want possibly strong retribution from LGBT voters, especially now that a court ruling exists for him to hang his hat on their is documented evidence in that case - and in the Witt case - that DADT is harming military readiness. Obama could likewise threaten some of the senior military to either get on board or get out of the military in the way that Truman dealt with MacArthur. Here are highlights from the op-ed:
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With “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal stalled in Congress and the Pentagon being less than helpful, the best route for repeal has become the courts, and this month’s Log Cabin Republicans v. United States ruling, which declared the policy unconstitutional, offered repeal proponents hope. Yet the Department of Justice is actively opposing this ruling. On Thursday the DOJ filed a request with the U.S. district court that decided the case in question, asking the judge not to halt enforcement of the policy worldwide, and instead to limit any application of the ruling to only the plaintiffs, rendering the ruling all but meaningless. Another district court ruled Friday in favor of Air Force major Margaret Witt, discharged under “don’t ask.” Now we will see if she is reinstated or if this faces an appeal from DOJ as well.
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The obstacles to ending “don’t ask, don’t tell” are formidable, to say the least. But they can be overcome with strong leadership from President Obama. He still has two options to end the policy soon. He can either decline to appeal the Log Cabin ruling or issue an executive stop-loss order to end all discriminatory discharges against gay and lesbian service members.
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Either of these routes will meet with harsh resistance. The antigay right has already made it more than clear that it is vehemently opposed to ending DADT under any circumstances. The Pentagon brass will not take well to Obama overriding their timetable for repeal. But in the end, Obama is the commander in chief, and our Constitution grants him power over the military. If he’s willing to take a strong stand for civilian control of the Pentagon and against discrimination, he can eliminate “don’t ask, don’t tell” once and for all.