Thursday, October 14, 2010

Obama DoJ asks judge to set aside DADT moratorium -- and the Professional Left is again supposed to eat it

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As the administration continues to wage war against the Professional Left -- except for when they're begging for our money and our votes -- Conservadems fighting to save their splotchy hides continue to distance themselves as fast as their stumpy legs will carry them and as far as their spidery arms will reach. (Don't forget to click on the cartoon to enlarge it.)

by Ken

Well, it took the Obama DoJ awhile to figure out what the hell it was doing-- after all, they've had plenty of time since Judge Phillips originally ruled that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell is unconstitutional to prepare for the eventuality of the order she issued yesterday barring further enforcement of the policy, an eventuality she made clear she was giving serious consideration -- but in the end they did what we knew all along they would do.
Justice Department says 'don't ask, don't tell' ruling will harm troops

The government asks a judge to set aside her decision, though the injunction will be honored until further legal action is taken. President Obama signals that he would prefer Congress to repeal the law.

By Richard A. Serrano, Tribune Washington Bureau
October 14, 2010|5:25 p.m.

Reporting from Washington — The Justice Department asked a federal judge Thursday to set aside her decision stopping the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays and lesbians in the military until it can appeal the ruling, saying the decision would "irreparably harm our military and the national security of the United States."

Government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Riverside that if she did not lift her order by Monday, they would ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt it. If the appeals court in San Francisco fails to act, the government probably will ask the Supreme Court to intervene to prevent an abrupt change to the military, which says it is not yet prepared to handle the transition.

The confrontation comes at a politically awkward moment for President Obama. He opposes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, but now — just weeks before the midterm election — risks alienating his liberal base by seeking to halt the judge's order. . .

Of course it will be explained that the federal government is obligated to defend a challenged statute as long as there's a reasonable constitutional defense to be made. But the administration will have to forgive those of us who don't believe arguing that immediate suspension of DADT "will have adverse effects on both military readiness and the department's ability to effect a smooth and lasting transition to a policy that accommodates the presence of openly gay and lesbian service members," as Undersecretary of Defense Clifford Stanley argued in his submission to the court, isn't going well above and beyond the realm of that obligation.

After all, this is the president who always claims that he unequivocally supports DADT repeal but "this is not a situation where I can, by the stroke of a pen, end this policy." I think the irony is too blatant to require underlining.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that the Pentagon is honoring Judge Phillips' injunction. (Score one for the rule of law.) Tribune reporter Richard Serrano notes that Col. Davd Lapan said today, "The department will abide by the terms in the court's ruling, effective as of the time and date of the ruling," and it was being reported today that the JAGs of all the military services, responsible for military prosecutions, have been instructed accordingly.
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6 Comments:

At 6:32 PM, Anonymous me said...

Absolutely no one is surprised by this.

I'm so disgusted by that guy that I almost hope he loses in 2012, or gets impeached first.

Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with - Palin/O'Donnell 2012!

Bachmann as SoS, Inhofe Sec of Interior, McCain in Treasury... Bill O'Reilly as WH spokesman! We could even send Bolton back to the UN, but Coulter would be even better. And there are just oodles of amazing candidates for scotus.

Thanks for nothing, Obama.

 
At 7:10 PM, Blogger lawguy said...

I drifted over from Pandagon where about a third of the commentators are explaining how brilliant Obama is being here.

I used to think that liberals were smart. No more.

 
At 7:13 PM, Anonymous LCR-GA said...

There is one slightly more hopeful but equally angry response:

Join the Log Cabin Republicans and join the fight for a truly conservative/cautious GOP: Not batshit insane theocrats/racists!

 
At 8:54 PM, Anonymous me said...

@LCR: You are republican. That is batshit crazy enough for me. No thanks, I don't want what you're selling.

PS. You belong to the Jewish Nazi group too?

 
At 9:17 PM, Anonymous me said...

After watching Rachel Maddow's video on this development, it occurred to me that perhaps gay service members - and there does seem to be an organization of them, a semi-union - should all come out at the same time, en masse, and dare Obama to fire them.

That would make news. It would also show whether they have the numbers they claim they have. And if they do, for the military to lose that many people at once would show how much dadt is actually hurting the military.

Showing Obama to be the putz that he is would be only a side benefit. It wouldn't hurt him much though, since it would affect the majority of both parties in the same manner.

 
At 12:25 PM, Anonymous me said...

"We will vigorously enforce the CSA against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law," Holder wrote.

What else is there to say?

I very deeply and sincerely regret voting for Obama. I never liked him anyway - he was my next-to-last preference after Hillary - but he seemed less bad than McCain.

I no longer give a shit. Obama is NOT less bad than McCain. Or Palin. They all suck and they all can eat shit and die.

And for the record, I haven't toked in decades and don't intend to either.

 

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