President Obama this morning signed into law the bill repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
"I am just overwhelmed," Obama said as he took the stage among chants of "Yes we can!" and whoops from the audience. "This is a very good day."
"No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military, regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay," he said. "No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie."
"In the coming days, we will begin the process laid out by this law," Obama said, adding that repeal will not go into effect immediately. "It is very important that servicemembers remember that."
He spoke directly to gay soldiers, and said he hoped those discharged under DADT will re-enlist once it is fully repealed.
"There will never be a full accounting of the heroism demonstrated by gay Americans in service to this country," he said. "As the first generation to serve openly in our armed services, you will stand for all those who came before you, and you will serve as role models for all those who will come after you."
In my opinion this will go a long wait in helping the President get his mojo back.
This is a great day for the military, a great day for our country, and a great day for those who have had to live their life in the shadows, afraid that if anybody learned their secret they would be forced to leave the career, and life that they loved.
This was a herculean task so I chose one of my favorite pictures of our President, that playfully shows him as the hero that I am sure those in the gay community see him as this morning.
I hope that is the President Obama that we all get to see much more of in the near future. Because after January 4, 2011, his job gets just that much more difficult.
I feel he has done the best he could do, and I admire and appreciate him so, so much.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly a great day.
I LOVE my President Obama more everyday !
ReplyDeleteIn Teabagger America, the President scored a human and civil rights victory. Does everyone understand just how amazing this is?!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman for moving this along and getting others on board. They both spend lots of political capital to make this happen.
No more DADT and two new women on the court....go BO!!!
Quyana, thank you Mr. President for doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteAs a straight Alaska Native Mama Grizzly, I personally have nothing to gain by this act - but I believe in the founding principles of this country, that our gay citizens also too have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
That includes serving in the military to secure all of the above, even for those desiring to tell them to sit down and shut up about who they are.
To loosely paraphrase Michelle Obama, today I get to be proud of my country and my president, and even the lameass congress.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly a great day in history!!
ReplyDeleteOh, the Bitter Twitter Quitter is not going to be happy...on the wrong side of history again.
ReplyDeleteThank you, President Obama for your strong leadership. I am proud and thankful every day that you are our President! In fact, I think I'm going to the WH website to tell him just that.
OMG, where did you get that picture? Who is the artist?
ReplyDeleteHe never lost his Mojo, his supporters did. If he had, he never would have accomplished this. This country is so fortunate to have this man at the helm.
ReplyDeleteThank you President Obama! I am now waiting for Scarah's FB rant about this
ReplyDeletehttp://sarahpalinhasaserpentsheart.blogspot.com/
The day this bill passed, I had a smile on my face all day. Yes we can move forward in this great country by making things better for those who are treated unfairly. When I think of the fact that we have a good start to health care reform and three woman on the supreme court, it is hard for me to be disappointed with my president for long. I know we are moving in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Mr. President.
ReplyDeleteI'd sure love to be a fly on the wall in my neighbors' house today. He is ex-military; both are 'we have nothing against gays BUT....' Christians. And I'm sure my ex-boss is apoplectic.
I know that some people advocated repealing DADT by Executive Order immediately after the President took office, but I never thought that the wise choice. The President is up against so much outright defiance and prejudice that I don't think he can afford to be as "in your face" with Congress as some would like him to be.
Hopefully, we won't be hearing any more from Mrs. Lindsey Graham. If our gay soldiers were as sissy-ish as Graham, the repeal Of DADT would have never happened.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to have this man as OUR President!
ReplyDeleteThis and the START treaty! Big wins for a president who's supposedly out the door. I wished he could get a deal for the Dream Act, but, well...let's hope Latino voters have a long memory. And net neutrality. And the food safety act!!!
ReplyDeleteJust imagine Sarah Palin as president. Her priority would be kids can eat anything in school, get rid of the A's, B's and C's grading system that way her kids have a chance of being valedictorian.
ReplyDeleteNo Sarah, you are not presidential material. The right man won the election and the right family lives in the White House.
I was very disappointed and depressed after the election; couldn't even watch Maddow, Olbermann, Stewart or Colbert (I stuck with your blog though, Gryphen.) This DADT repeal gave me hope again, and my spirits are no longer dragging on the ground. Thank God for President Obama.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe he ever lost his Mojo. I believe he is one of the few adults in the room.
ReplyDeleteAmericans are easily swayed and influenced by the the cacophony of the MSM, and the politics of the status quo, its institutions and its power brokers. We are basically poorly informed, emotionally reactive and insistant on simple solutions for complex and far reaching problems. We also tend to shirk the the opportunities and responsibilities we have as citizens to stay engaged in the political process beyond the casting of our votes. We are a nation of arm chair quarterbacks, despite the fact that none of this is a game.
President Obama is not the messiah.
He has no magic wands. He is exceptionally smart, honest, and approaches his responsibilities with determination and integrity. And by example, he shows us everyday how a diverse and complicated citizenry can respect our differences and at the same time celebrate our common purpose. We are really fortunate for his leadership, he deserves our active support, and at the very least, our respect (Sarah Palin can you hear me?)
I applaud our President, and am happy for all members of the LGBT community with todays signing.
Yet the work goes on, lets all do our part to make life continually better for all Americans, in all the ways that we can.
Good job, Sir!
ReplyDeletePersonally I was indifferent to most gay rights issues until I looked at the people who were most adamantly opposed to them. That's when I realized that whatever THOSE awful people were against I damn well better be for.
I hope our president doesnt permit this 'period of adjustment' to drag on too long. Cuz, it's a bit incongruous to have the leanest, meanest, rootin' tootinest bad-ass fighting force in the universe but claiming they're squeamish about inadvertently catching The Gay by sharing a foxhole or barracks shower with a 'omo. Of course, that's mostly the 'omophobic jelly belly politicians and brass who claim that, but still...
Servicemen and women consistently poll in favor of this change. Hopefully this change will be implemented swiftly so everyone can move on to the many remaining challenges facing our country.
Oh, one more thing: Support the troops. BRING THEM HOME! That is all. Dismissed!
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was pretty darn angry and Obama, and then he goes and makes me love him again.
ReplyDeleteI know when I get pissed at him, it's not always just his fault. We have an unprecedeted repulican party hell-bent on destroying the "black man".
There is one thing I would really like to see and that is Obama get ticked off at the right people, the repub's who block his every move, no matter how petty, stupid and/or dangerous it is.
God Bless America!
Anon @ 8:53
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Excellent post.
The President just said that DOMA is next on the chopping block!!
ReplyDeletethey wont' let him but woo hoo to say it anyway
We can look at these last few acts (good or not as in the tax cut bill and net neutrality sucks) as the last few the President will probably be able to do.
ReplyDeleteAfter this it will be abundantly clear just to what extent the GOP will be blocking everything the President tries to do. So is will be a stark comparison between his first two years and his last two years.
So when 2012 comes, the public can decide who they want in charge: the obstructionist same old same old protect the rich Republicans, or the Democrats who while they never grew a pair or a backbone, did get something done, even if it was watered down and compromised due to the feet dragging, filibustering GOP.
Who loves ya baby? Well, we know who doesn't so why do we keep voting for these bozos? (Well, not me. *I'm* not voting for them)
I am extremely unhappy with the FCC caving to big Corporations on net neutrality. Very unhappy.There was no need for it. None. It was an out and out sell-out, plain and simple.
Does this mean Todd can come out of the closet?
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Sarah, Yippeee, Track can re-enlist without having to lie about his sexuality.
ReplyDeleteI proudly voted for him, have said a prayer for him and his family every night and have stuck by him throughout this first two years when some of my friends (who also voted for him) were beginning to say negative things about him.
ReplyDeleteHe is smart, steady, hardworking, respectful and can multi-task better than anyone I've ever seen.
I am very, very proud he is the President of the United States in spite of the assholes (Republicans mainly) that have continually blocked him every chance they get.
And, thank you Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
According to Rachel Maddow, he's accomplished roughly 85% of what he said he'd do in just 2 years. I cannot for the life of me remember any other president who did HALF as much with the same shit Obama has had to deal with. He did it without the full support of both houses and his own supporters stabbing him in the back because he wasn't fast enough for their tiny agendas. The man deserves every accolade he gets.
ReplyDeleteBEST Christmas present EVER! I am not gay nor do I ever want to serve in the military-Thank you for the people that do and won't be discriminated for being gay anymore.
ReplyDeleteDADT: The stupidest and most fuctarded law ever to be put in place...so embarrassing.
Thank you President Obama! Please keep busting skulls for another 5 years! Screw the party of "Hell NO"!!!
Great job, Mr. President!
ReplyDeleteI'm proud to be an American today.
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! Obama 2012!!
ReplyDeleteI worked and voted for Obama in 2008 and will be pleased and proud to do the same in 2012, BUT, BUT, BUT, please take down that picture of him bursting out of a suit as Superman.
ReplyDeleteIt just gives his enemies and opponents an excuse to call us Obama-supporters "Obama-bots".
Barack Obama is NOT Superman. He's an ordinary guy, very smart and well-spoken, with a wonderful wife and family, and we're damn lucky to have him as our president in these perilous times. But let's not try to make him something he's not, because that will also disappoint his supporters when he doesn't do something we feel he should.
You people were never in the milatary! You never had to work with someone 24/7 365 days out of year.If you were you woudn't be praising (HIm).I hope the U.S.M.C survives this!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous image! While I know he's not Superman as righties seem to think lefties believe, Barack Obama is the best president of recent times. His presence in the White House almost makes up for the horrible 30 years that began with Reagan.
ReplyDeleteFabulous image. Thank you Gryphen.
Yes, I was. And I'm straight and I worked with both gays ans lesbians. And even in the USMC, I guarantee you, probably one out of every 8 or 10 marines you know are gay or lesbian. Not only will the military survive, but it will be able to fully uphold honor and honesty.
ReplyDeleteA shameful and unnecessary rule that has cost the military many good men and women has been overturned. Late, but finally.
Get over your homophobia, already.
toxic said...
You people were never in the milatary! You never had to work with someone 24/7 365 days out of year.If you were you woudn't be praising (HIm).I hope the U.S.M.C survives this!
Someone asked Mr.Obama his position on two men or women together.His response was he would think about it.So you tell me who is homophobic.
ReplyDelete@5:09-link, pls.?
ReplyDeleteGood for the President. It's December 2010 and he came dangerously close to dragging this into yet another year, and exposing his failure to end DADT. Truth be told, Obama didn't suggest during his campaign that he would put DADT on the back burner, or that he would suddenly want consensus from everyone and their mother before we could repeal the law. It was not a minor point in his campaign, he went after it and made it a major, yes major campaign promise. But early on we saw what he was doing, showing little enthusiasm for repeal, defending it in the Justice Dept, not pushing congress to act, and certainly not considering an executive order to stay the dismissals, which he could have done until he got around to repeal. He was silent on Prop 8, DOMA is strong, and LBGT folks were understandably feeling screwed over. He lost a lot of support. And that's unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteI feel this kind of strategy, to first appeal to the opposition, before you appeal to your base, was the wrong one and still is the wrong one today. It was his approach on healthcare as well. The Republicans do not make this kind of mistake when they govern.
While I think there is little danger of Obama not winning re-election in 2012, I think as a party we got tremendously weaker, and the result is some bad losses in the governorship, and congress. Repubs are free to redistrict to their hearts content and this will be a problem down the road. When Scott Brown was elected everyone went, whoaaa what is happening? Our party was weakened, that is what was happening, and the bluedogs and repubs were wined and dined while the progressive wing of our party were called retards. We're paying for that now.
I think this law will help Obama recover somewhat, and perhaps be a small first step in the right direction, but he has a long way to go.