Saturday, May 1, 2010

Who gives the orders around here?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote a letter to Congress saying you had better not repeal the ban on gays in the military until we're done with our study! Wasn't the study about how to repeal the ban, not whether it should be repealed? And wasn't Gates the guy who just overturned a ban on women serving in submarines by essentially giving his subordinates an order to get it done? Doesn't the DoD take orders from Congress and the Prez., not give them? Surely Congress can write a bill (and probably has) that says the ban will be lifted after the study is done and will use the study's guidelines for a smooth implementation.

Some wonder if Gates, a Bush holdover, is using the study to push a possible repeal into the next Congress where more GOP members will make it harder or perhaps impossible. Which could push repeal into 2013. Some wonder also if the Obama team is thoroughly spooked by what happened to Clinton when the ban was enacted, not paying attention to how much support there is for its repeal, even among conservatives.

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