Worldwide Injunction Issued Against DADT Discharges

A federal judge in California has displayed the backbone and respect for the equal protection clause and First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that has been woefully lacking on the part of our lying, faux fierce advocate in the White House. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips also place the law and the Constitution above the shameless pandering to religious extremists and theocrats that is the hallmark of today's Republican Party. It is now put up or shut up time for Obama - if he directs his Justice Department to appeal this ruling even his defenders will be on noticed that they have been played for suckers. Unfortunately, I fear that Obama will give the directive to appeal since I now personally doubt that he has ever meant ANYTHING that he has said on the issue of gay rights and equality. It was all about votes and money and he said whatever he thought it would take to get what he wanted. Here are highlights from the New York Times:

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' landmark ruling was widely cheered by gay rights organizations that credited her with getting accomplished what President Obama and Washington politics could not.

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"This order from Judge Phillips is another historic and courageous step in the right direction, a step that Congress has been noticeably slow in taking," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United and the sole named veteran plaintiff in the case along with the Log Cabin Republicans.

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U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal. Legal experts say the department is under no legal obligation to do so and could let Phillips' ruling stand.

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She [judge Phillips] said the policy violates due process rights, freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment. Furthermore, there is no adequate remedy at law to prevent the continued violation of servicemembers' rights or to compensate them for violation of their rights," Phillips said. She said Department of Justice attorneys did not address these issues in their objection to her expected injunction.

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Before issuing her order, Phillips had asked for input from Department of Justice attorneys and the Log Cabin Republicans, the gay rights group that filed the lawsuit in 2004 to stop the ban's enforcement. The Log Cabin Republicans asked her for an immediate injunction so the policy can no longer be used against any U.S. military personnel anywhere in the world.

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Government attorneys objected, saying such an abrupt change might harm military operations in a time of war. They had asked Phillips to limit her ruling to the members of the Log Cabin Republicans, a 19,000-member group that includes current and former military service members.

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Phillips disagreed, saying the law doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services by hurting recruiting during wartime and requiring the discharge of service members with critical skills and training.

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Legal experts say the Obama administration could choose to not appeal her ruling to end the ban — but Department of Justice attorneys are not likely to stay mum since Obama has made it clear he wants Congress to repeal the policy.

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By saying that he wants Congress to repeal DADT, Obama is tantamount to saying that he wants the policy to drag on form many more years to come now that the GOP is likely to retake controll of the House of Representatives and maybe even Congress. The statement by Obama should be regarded as nothing more than a polite "fuck you" to LGBT Americans.