OBAMA CAN OVERTURN GAY BAN
Military law experts say that the US president has the legal authority to stop gay personell from being discharged from the military.
Despite this, when asked on Tuesday if the White House would consider halting gay discharges by presidential authority, press secretary Robert Gibbs said it would not stop the firing of gay troops.
Gibbs nevertheless insisted that President Obama still believes that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on openly gay military personell “isn’t working for our national interests” and that he “will work with the Joints Chiefs of Staff, the administration and with Congress” to change the policy.
In recent weeks, the president’s national security team has sent mixed messages on the matter: Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke of what action would occur “if” the policy were repealed, suggesting it may not be; and national security advisor James Jones said this weekend he was not sure if the ban would be lifted.
Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center – a research institute at the University of California – said that the “remarks appear to send a signal to any member of the administration who questions the president’s resolve.”
At the same time, questions have been raised by gay rights experts about why President Obama, who continues to say he wants the ban terminated, would preside over ongoing discharges when he has authority to end them by executive order.
The Palm Center on Monday released a report by a team of scholars and legal experts showing that the president has the statutory authority to halt the discharges immediately.
Richard Socarides, who worked in the Clinton administration as special assistant to the president on LGBT issues, said that the current president should exercise the short-term options he has to end the ban.
“I have long supported and advocated a moratorium on further discharges,” he said today, “and I think it’s well within the president’s discretionary authority to do that immediately.”
Socarides said an executive order halting discharges would be consistent with Obama’s stated belief that the policy should end.
typical, false promises.. as if you could expect anything else… I mean seriously, its not the first time politicians have promised one thing and not followed through with it..
I have never liked a single politician, ever..
and I have and undergrad in Political science..
The point being, im a biased critic, the basis of that
observation being, “im HUMAN”, bias is a natural bi-product, “trust” however is “learned” I never trust, especially presidents, self-serving motives are and always will be in the best interest of the individual..
the people are simply obsticals..
The point being, i take a moment every now and then to leave a comment on certain articles.. that started a long time ago when i realised, authoritive
opinions are apparantly the only ones that matter,
hence years of study, years of travel, and more years
of study.. perhaps my motives are similar to that of a presidential canditate, “aquire the authority to state
an opinion, and have the shit to back it up”
Im all to dissapointed in yet another candidate who
fails to live up to promises..
“childish as this may sound, but if a ban on fags in the army is offensive, wouldnt you do everything you could to change it, immediatly.”
I mean, it is one of the top 10 issues Obama emphasised is devotion to, thereby awarding him his
presidency, “if you win, you have an obligation to fulfill, buti guess, as long as you win, “Fuck the Fags”
you allready have the presidential seat..
this article isn’t about the US presidents ability to stop the “not yet illigal dismissal of equal, devoted individuals who are willing to sacrifice their lives” but how a man who could have made a change long ago,
didnt, because he , like so .many others waits to see
how ,the scale balances, public opinions eventualy
allow for these ppl, to sucome to their own false promises..
I dont really care, this is just another article which caught my brief attention span..
as one of my idols once said, “The best things in life are free”, fuck the US president, and fuck ZUMA, seeing as how i live here, im not to bothered about the prison sentence carried by insulting our “beloved president” fuck him..
now im getting angry, so anyone still reading, you’re either passionate, bored or stupid…