Today Don't Ask Don't Tell CAN Be Enforced, Rules Court
Okay, yesterday the Pentagon said it would go along with a court ruling, and no longer enforce Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and accept openly gay recruits. Today, maybe not.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an Obama administration to put a stay on a judge's ruling ending DADT until an appeal could be heard. The Pentagon said this morning they expect to have new guidelines issued by the end of the day.
NPR's Rachel Martin is on Morning Edition today talking about the ruling. She points out the irony that the Obama administration, and the highest levels at the Pentagon, wants to end DADT. But they stress it needs to be an orderly process. Martin says that DOD is one of the largest bureaucracies in the world, and any change takes time, saying that the military has to re-write sexual harassment rules, change partner benefits (and if someone who is gay is married in one state that allows it, are they married in the eyes of the military?), they have to do sensitivity training. They would like, says Martin, for congress to repeal the law, after an internal review is done in early December.