In his first State of the Union address last week, President Obama promised action on working toward a repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ openly gay service military ban. The distinction that was drawn between action toward a repeal and an actual repeal itself seemed prophetic leading into Tuesday’s “historic” Senate Armed Services Committee hearing where some of the military’s top brass said that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) had to go, announcing a year long investigation into how to lift the ban– so no actual repeal in 2010, but the groundwork for it.

Here’s the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, announcing his opinion on DADT:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates detailed that the military would initially be taking steps to ease enforcement of the ban, with a 45-day review of military procedures expected to recommend, among other things, that third-party testimony in DADT discharges no longer be used.

In Gates’ view, making the repeal process as easy for the military as possible was paramount, and therefore a year long study would also be undertaken by the Pentagon’s top legal teams to find the best and most efficient way of facilitating the repeal:

“A guiding principle of our efforts will be to minimize disruption and polarization within the ranks, with special attention paid to those serving on the front lines.”

According to some reports however, not all at the Pentagon think that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ should be repealed, at least not in the near future. They cite military readiness as a top concern.

This decision was never going to be popular with certain members of the Senate, either. Especially “disappointed” was Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) who, only last week, defended the policy as being “successful” despite its large monetary impact and the detrimental effect it has on lesbian and gay service personnel. But John McCain doesn’t care about that. Nor does he have any respect for what Admiral Mike Mullen and his colleagues think.

At least that’s how it appears. The good folks over at AmericaBlog have dug up an interesting interview from 2006 in which McCain said that he would defer to the military leaders and their judgment should they ever say it was a time for a repeal of the ban. You can find out more by going here. It seems, however, that McCain was only willing to be so deferential under the condition that their position agreed with his own. Oh dear.

Here’s what he had to say to the Senate hearing in response to Admiral Mullen and the Defense Secretary’s position (emphasis mine):

I’m deeply disappointed in your statement, Secretary Gates… It would be far more appropriate, I say with great respect, to determine whether repealing this law is appropriate and what effects it would have on the readiness and effectiveness of the military before deciding on whether we should repeal the law or not and fortunately it is an act of Congress and it requires the agreement of Congress in order to repeal it. And so your statement, obvious as one that is clearly biased, without the view of Congress being taken into consideration… Again you are embarking on saying it’s not whether the military prepares to make the change but how we best prepare for it, without ever hearing from members of Congress, without hearing from the members of the Joint Chiefs and, of course, without taking into considerations all the ramifications of this law. Well, I’m happy to say we still have a Congress of the United States that would have to pass a law to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, despite your efforts to repeal it, in many respects, by fiat.

Notice how Senator McCain seems to feel personally slighted by this, and how quick he is to fall back on the Senate as his stronghold and political stomping ground. He refers to Congress, but, for a long time now there has been solid support for a repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the House. The votes are there for as long as the Democratic majority remains, it would seem.

There are, of course, those who support McCain’s objections, especially in the Senate. At the hearing, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) took the time to remind Admiral Mullen that Congress would be the deciding factor in the repeal, while Senator Chambliss (R-Georgia) invoked a version of the slippery-slope argument, arguing that if ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was done away with, what would be next? Rules about “fraternization” and “body art” may have to be ditched too, he commented.

Funny, isn’t it, how, after a while, all the arguments against gay and lesbian people start to sound the same, no matter the specific subject?

In fact, it appears that this may become a party issue. A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll reveals that, of 2003 self-identifying Republicans that were surveyed nationwide between January 20 and January 31 this year, 55 percent were against the repeal, with only 26 percent supporting an end of DADT and the rest saying that they were undecided. The poll, which asked questions about a range of gay rights issues, also revealed that 73 percent of the Republicans surveyed felt openly gay men and women should not be allowed to teach in public schools. You can read more here.

As to the Senate hearing itself, I think the team at the Palm Center (a leading think-tank on gay and lesbian inclusion in the military) got it right when they said this was a “game-changer” speech by Admiral Mullen and Defense Secretary Gates. I also share the Palm Center’s frustration, however, over the announcement of yet another study which, again, puts this repeal firmly in the realm of words but, as yet, little action. As they point out:

“It is important to be clear that the government’s data from all sides on gays in the military is overwhelming and already conclusive. There have been twenty studies on gays in the U.S. military and RAND is currently updating its 1993 report. We would have hoped that the volumes of very recent data could be used to address implementation questions, but we understand that the Working Group has been announced.”

And let’s not forget that the military can do all the studies they like, but McCain and his like minded friends will still be waiting in Congress. As McCain’s display on Tuesday shows, no amount of evidence favoring gay and lesbian inclusion in the military will change his mind. It’s up to Congress to act now, to pass legislation for the repeal so as to move as quickly as possible following the Pentagon’s review.

The question is, do Democratic legislators have the will to push the DADT repeal through Congress, or will they cower before McCain as he and his allies pit themselves against the administration’s slow but grinding plan to create change? For the moment, the Democratic legislators have the majority. Let’s hope they use it.

Resources:

• More on McCain “flip-flopping” on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ from MSNBC (video).
• Watch the full Senate Armed Services hearing here.

Care 2 Action:

• Support the Military Readiness Enhancement Act and end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.”