At the White House briefing today, Kerry Eleveld asked Robert Gibbs about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Via twitter,
Gibbs says talks in WH and Pentagon are still happening on #DADT but he doesn't have a timeline for any decisions.(UPDATE @ 3:42 PM) Kerry just posted the transcript here.
This appears to confirm what the New York Times, AMERICAblog and Kerry Eleveld already reported: There currently is no strategy in place to repeal DADT.
Why is this important? By statute, the President's budget is due to Congress by the first Monday in February. That's two weeks from Monday. Yet, there's no timeline for any decisions? That means there's no strategy or plan to get this done. Remember, it was Barack Obama who said:
“Now, if there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town.”Nothing gets done.
The best place to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell is in the Defense Authorization. We need the repeal language to be part of the bill itself. That message has to come from the President. Then, if some member of Congress wants to remove the repeal language, they have to overcome a filibuster in the Senate or find a majority in the House. If the language isn't included, the burden is on our side to break the filibuster in the Senate. With those who purport to be our allies in power, we should have the easier path here. But, that requires Presidential leadership. Haven't seen that yet.
I'm waiting to hear how the apologists (lobbyists and job seekers among others) to explain to us that Congress passes legislation -- as if we don't know. But, on the repeal of DADT, the ball is in Obama's court. And, time is running out.
