Jun 24 2009

In Bob Shrum's weekly column on "The Week", he laments the failure of President Obama to "prove Bob Shrum that a President can accomplish more than one big thing at a time." To illustrate his point in his column entitled, "Obama's Two Pressing Problems", he points to the current status of healthcare and LGBT rights. Shrum says the apparent decision to not bring LGBT rights to the forefront in this session of Congress could cause long term delay in obtaining those very rights.

Shrum, who is considered one of the nation's leading political analysts writes:

Obama consciously decided to put off his campaign promises on gay rights until the battles over health care, and perhaps energy, are concluded. His White House advisors, particularly the veterans of Clinton's beleaguered first year, tend to look at gay rights through a rear-view mirror. However, the rear view is wrong. It's no longer 1993; the country has moved on, with a substantial majority now ready to accept gays in the military.

A version of postponement might have worked—with Obama buying time and maintaining credibility among gays—if he had issued a "stop loss" order ending the discharge of gay service members while allowing the Pentagon to proceed with a longer-term review of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The president could have justified this on grounds of military need. The nation can ill afford to lose another gay service member with skills in Arabic or other esoteric subjects.

The gay community would have viewed such a stop loss order, which is entirely the president's prerogative, as tangible progress, and as reassurance that it could afford to wait on repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the Orwellian statute signed in high election season by Bill Clinton. Among other blatant injustices, DOMA denies basic federal benefits to same-sex couples."

The full column is well worth a read and just click here.