Jerry Markon reports:
The Obama administration objected Thursday to immediately ending the military’s ban on openly gay service members, saying that an injunction to stop the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy might harm military readiness in a time of war.
In a filing with a federal court in California, the Justice Department said that a judge who struck down the policy as unconstitutional should not enforce that ruling with a military-wide injunction banning the discharge of gay service members.
Read more in the Washington Post.
When Obama had a chance to do the right thing and not aggressively pursue legal strategies that run counter to civil liberties and human rights, he failed to do so. He failed when he pursued the Bush administration’s heavy reliance on “state secrets privilege” to obstruct litigation involving warrantless surveillance, he failed when he walked back on his pledges concerning detainees, and he has failed again with this latest action.
Obama has also failed to fill even ONE seat on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
In the run-up to the 2008 election, PogoWasRight.org cautioned that Obama did not have a good record on privacy issues, even though most were portraying him as a liberal or someone who would restore civil liberties. Sadly, his actions have proved time and time again that those cautions were warranted.
Shame on you, Mr. President. You can roll up your shirt sleeves and go talk to people in their backyards, but there is nothing that speaks as clearly as your utter failure on privacy and civil liberties.