Though I don't know what the final chapter will say regarding "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," this current chapter is riveting. The federal judge who declared that the 17 year old policy was unconstitutional has now issued an injunction against the policy's enforcement. The Obama administration has 60 days to file an appeal. That timing could easily fall into the time that the Department of Defense's review of the policy is due. It will be quite interesting to see how that will play out. If the DoD review is negative, will that send a signal to the administration to file that appeal? If the DoD review is positive, will that signal to the administration simply to let the ruling stand, thus eliminating DADT in that fashion? I must give credit to the Log Cabin Republicans for setting this snowball in motion. I definitely disagree with them on the majority of policy issues, but in this instance, I support them 100%.
I am more than confident that we will be hearing about activist judges and legislating from the bench, but I think that because the people behind the suit are Republicans (including the affected service members), that call might not be as strong. Of course, all of this could go down badly. But today, I am cheering for all of those GLBT service members currently serving our nation, and their straight allies currently serving. Savior this victory tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment