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Kerry Eleveld with the Advocate reports, and John Aravosis confirms, that 20-25 LGBT donors and organizational leaders called an emergency meeting in private on Wednesday to discuss Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal and the shaky ground on which it appears to be. There was no consenus at this meeting on what to do. This comes as the leaked Pentagon "now is not the time" memo came to light.
There are two major points John makes, which is (a) there is no plan (b) it is stunning that people at this meeting could not decide whether to come out full-on with pressure for a repeal or wait to see what the Administration does first.
I agree with both of these, and want to add (c), which is, where is the pushback? First the Administration asks for a study. Then Obama's National Security Adviser says Obama won't lift the ban until Iraq and Afghanistan are done. Then Harry Reid actually has to ask the Administration, in a letter, for its views. Then the Pentagon leaks a memo on Wednesday outlining that it will advise the President that "now is not the time". Then the New York Times reports yesterday that the military is actually considering whether it would be necessary to separate shower facilities or ban public displays of affection. Today, Kerry Eleveld asks Robert Gibbs today whether the Administration will push for repeal in 2010, and Gibbs demurs.
And in response to all this, LGBT donors and organizational leaders get together and- wait for it- wring their hands over whether to push the Administration or not. I have no doubt that there are people in the White House reading Kerry's piece and laughing at us right now.
Here's John:
Both the meeting and the Times article confirm that the White House has not even decided if it will push for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, let alone what exactly it will push for for, if anything (as noted in the Times article, the Pentagon is even considering whether a "separate but equal" policy should be adopted). The hope is that the White House will come to a decision and announce what, if anything, it is going to do about moving forward on the repeal of DADT sometime in the next month or two. But the groups have no idea what the White House is going to decide, or when it will decide, and therefore cannot and will not endorse an all-out campaign to support the repeal of DADT until the White House makes up its mind.
WTF? When the White House makes up its mind?! You push before, not after the White House makes up its mind! Where is the pressure? Where is the pushback? I talked about this on Monday- Where are the op-eds, the interviews, the threats, the members of Congress threatening to not accept anything less than full repeal, the public demands for a meeting with the President, the flooding of the White House with calls from angry gays?
Congressional Progressive Caucus gets this. When the Secretary of HHS talked last year about a public option not being critical, they immediately pushed back, along with allies in the netroots, and forced her to walk the statement back. Labor unions get this. They met with the President this week over the excise tax. Members of Congress are threatening to vote against the bill unless the tax is changed. I was even e-mailed an ask to join a phonebank on the issue. On our side, SLDN is the only one doing this. This "wait and see what the President does" argument is insane. You pressure people before, not after, the fact.
In November, I asked Rea Carey about this issue. Here's what she said:
Q: On Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the administration has suggested there will be movement, but possibly less than a full repeal. Is NGLTF willing to support segregation of troops, or a pilot program?
Rea: Absolutely not. We need a full repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Period.
Simple, direct, to the point. Every single LGBT donor, prominent advocate, organizational leader should be doing this, right now, in every single outlet they can find. Also, why does there have to be "consensus" on this? Why aren't more groups individually doing what SLDN is doing and putting calls through to the White House switchboard? I have not heard or read a single word in response to the Pentagon memo, NYTimes story, or the Gibbs statement. Why that is is beyond me. Instead, what I see is people afraid of the White House.
This isn't leadership.
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