Yesterday, Barack Obama invited some friends over to the White House. There were folks like Rea Carey from National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Wilson Cruz, from Hollywood. And Air Force Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, who is in the middle of being kicked out of the military ’cause he gets it on with dudes. (Like Fehrenbach, the National Guard’s First Lt. Dan Choi is also being kicked out — in fact, Choi is facing his review panel today.)
So how did Obama’s words for the gays yesterday sit with the very folks that are affected by the still-on-the-books, still-not-repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy?
Not so well, since Obama, as expected, offered nothing to save those soldiers whose “clocks are ticking,” but Fehrenbach says “it did give me a new sense of hope.” Not giving him such hope? The Air Force demanding Fehrenbach not wear his uniform to the White House, because they dubbed yesterday’s gathering as a “political” event.
Meeting with your commander-in-chief is a political event? Well, the argument could go both ways, but the Air Force’s call does lend weight to the argument that Obama’s White House get together was, in fact, no more than a greasing of Gay Inc.’s wheels. And that, friends, certainly is political.
How about we take this to the next level?
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J. Clarence
I would like to think that there is more to it than that; however, the Air Force stance on it is really strange. It was clear that this was an 11th hour attempt to pull a rabbit out of his hat again with the gay community, or else it could have happened earlier, and he could have provided more specifics rather than just rhetoric.
I don’t like the fact that your boss can stair you in your face and say he disagrees with why you are being fired, but his hands are tied, when in fact they are not.
I wonder if he will do anything to change the status of their discharge after DADT gets repealed.
John K.
@J. Clarence: He better re-instate them, with their seniority and pensions and all benefits as if they were never discharged, or he does not get my vote in the next election, and neither do the dems. I’m tired of listening to him make speeches.
haji727
@J. Clarence: I am not sure if you are military or ever been. But I say this and in no way am I saying the policy is right. Each and every soldier knows about the policy, they won’t ask and you don’t tell. If you violate the policy, you stand a great chance of being kicked out, not because of being gay, but for violating the policy. They didn’t ask, but you told. Too many people want to be a hero and test the system that is in place and wind up being one of the many that couldn’t keep their mouth closed and kicked out of the service. Again, the policy is wrong but it is the law of the military. A person can’t violate it and expect nothing to happen just because it is wrong.
You can’t get kicked out for having gay material, movies, magazines. You can’t be kicked out for going to a gay bar. But you can get kicked out if you are caught displaying affection to the same gender, because that falls in the line of telling.
I was in the military for 20 years and I kept my private life to myself and the one I was with. While everybody is bitching and complaining that things isn’t happening fast enough, it just can’t happen over night. So they need to be patient.
As for the people that got kicked out and lost their retirements or whatever benefits. I seriously doubt if they can go back and be re-instated because they violate the current policy. Plain and simple. I hope this helps you understand a little more.
John K.
OBAMA IS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF! WHY IS HE ANSWERING TO THE “SENIOR LEADERSHIP”??? THEY ANSWER TO HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
ducdebrabant
I view this as the Air Force thumbing its nose at the President, and signalling its disapproval of DADT repeal. Obama is going to have some of the same problems with the Pentagon that Colin Powell (whose rank insubordination to Bill Clinton helped earn him a post in the Bush administration) caused the last President over gays in the military. Obama probably didn’t know about the uniform flap in advance, but somebody should really ask Robert Gibbs about this.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
@haji727:
You’ve helped me understand thay you’re a “participatory fag” with a certifiably psychotic ability to justify it by talking in circles: “If you violate the policy, you stand a great chance of being kicked out, not because of being gay, but for violating the policy.”
Why not say, “Blacks weren’t lynched for being black they were lynched for looking at white women”?
If you actually gave a damn about your fellow gay servicemember…which you obviously don’t after having snuck through yourself…you’d know that after 18 years of “playing by the rules” Fehrenbach was outed to his commander. As you say you had a partner then he’s no more guilty of anything than you.
And, yes, Private Kapo, it COULD change overnight if Obama had the balls to use his Congressionally mandated powers to freeze discharges until repeal can be actualized.
“Too many people want to be a hero” by outing themselves to fight the ban??? How dare you, you pathetic cowardly asshat! Those “heroes” sacrificed their military careers not for themselves but for people like you. What a waste.
James Davis
Some thoughts.
1) This was a political event since there was no actual government business being done
2) Obama needs to get it in gear and make it government business by actually issuing an executive order to stop enforcing DADT. (this is within his power)
J. Clarence
@haji727: While I agree trying to be a hero and test the policy of the military is a principled but stupid thing to do if they want a career in the military, it doesn’t change the fact that the policy is wrong and they should applauded for doing the principled thing.
And they are getting discharged because they are gay, because being gay is against policy.
haji727
@Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com: What an ugly thing to say? Your statement with the name calling really speaks a lot about you. To call another gay person such a name is really sad. Secondly, you don’t know anything about me or my military career. To say I don’t care or didn’t care about my fellow solders is totally baseless. My record speaks for itself. Finally, this is a discussion of the topic. If you don’t like what a person’s opinion is then oh well. Get over it. I didn’t comment on anything you had to say. It was about the topic.
You are one of those individuals that would have been better off if you had been a stain on the sheets and washed out with bleach after your dad lost his load. So there you have it. Just like you, I am entitled to my opinion.