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Title: Nancy Pelosi, Democrats to repeal 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' View count: 1397 Rating: 2.4666667 (15 ratings) Description: "The 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is at the top of my priority list, and I'm going to work with the House Armed Services Committee to ensure that it gets a fair hearing," Meehan said today. "It's time to end this outdated and discriminatory policy." Bob Witeck, a former aide to a Republican Senator and political strategist in Washington, views the changed Congressional landscape in the context of the race for the White House. "The overriding consequence of elections 2006 is to prepare for election day 2008," he said. In an effort to overcome perceived weaknesses on national security, he said, Democrats' focus will be Iraq. "That means it is not likely that 'don't ask, don't tell' will get a frontal assault before the 2008 elections, unless we can tie loyal, openly gay service members to meeting American national security priorities." According to a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, she, "is committed to reintroducing the legislation [for repeal] and supports it," He added that, right now, "it's hard to say where things are going." Ike Skelton, the new Democratic HASC Chairman, supports the current gay ban, but has signalled that he could be open to re-visiting the matter in the new Congress, according to HASC spokeswoman, Loren Dealy. Some of the new Democrats on defence and national security committees are seen to be among the Party's most conservative, including Skelton, John Murtha, Jim Webb and others with close ties to the military. Other Democratic candidates who won House seats in November, however, also have experience in the military, and some have taken positions against the current gay policy. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights lobbying organisation, touted the support for repeal of Joe Sestak, a former Vice Admiral who served on President Clinton's National Security Council, and who won his bid for a seat in the house in Pennsylvania. Patrick Murphy, an Iraq War veteran who taught constitutional law at West Point, and won a seat in a neighbouring district, has expressed concerns about the effects of "don't ask, don't tell" on national security and military values. Aaron Belkin, Director of think-tank the Palm Centre, said that on the one hand, significant barriers in Congress remain. On the other hand, Belkin noted that repealing the gay ban is not just the priority of a liberal or Democratic agenda, but is now supported by majorities of Republicans, conservatives and regular church-goers. "More and more people have seen the evidence about 'don't ask, don't tell,' and believe that the policy is not helping the military." http://www.palmcenter.org/press/dadt/in_print/congress_may_revisit_gays_in_the_military Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer. "You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshipped for about six years... She opposes gay marriage and spousal rights for gay couples. Focus on the Family, a national Christian fundamentalist organization, is conducting the "Love Won Out" Conference in Anchorage, about 30 miles from Wasilla. There is no way that a person who is indifferent to the question of whether homosexuality is a choice or genetic can support a conference of crackpots, psychological renegades and far-right Christianists seeking to "cure" gay people. Palin is on record seeking to strip gay couples of all rights in their relationships, although she was forced by constitutional mandate to grant equal benefits to gay couples who are employees of the state government in Alaska. She supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples: Ultimately, she said, she supports denying those [health and retirement] benefits through a constitutional amendment, if that's what the public wants. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-lies-of-s-7.html#more Tags: lgbt, gay, lesbian, nancy, pelosi, military, don't, ask, tell, barack, obama, christian, conservative, republican, sarah, palin, wasilla, assembly, of, god, church, john, mccain, Author: AntiConformist911 |
