Reply #84: If it weren't for the people who the poster attacks

[ruggerson]

the vote in the House may not have happened and the legislation would have been pushed back to 2013, or doomed if the Republicans take controlf of one house of congress.

From post 38:

Congress has had to force Obama's hand a few times. In April, when Gates sent a public letter to Congress, demanding no vote this year, Obama was privately acquiescing to Sec'y Gate's timetable, which would have doomed any vote until at least 2013 and if Repubs take over one house, could have killed it.

"In another statement, Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, called Gates’ letter “a significant cause for concern” for those supporting gay service members and said points in Gates’ letter are “patently offensive and false.”

“If the White House and the Department of Defense had been more engaged with us and had communicated with us better about the alternatives available, Secretary Gates would surely not feel that legislative action this year would disrespect the opinions of the troops or negatively impact them and their families,” Nicholson said.

In a statement responding to the letter, Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, said President Obama’s commitment to repealing the ban on service “is unequivocal,” but suggested the White House is on board with holding off on ending the law.

“That’s why we’ve said that the implementation of any congressional repeal will be delayed until the DOD study of how best to implement that repeal is completed,” he said.

In a statement, Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, repudiated the White House statement and said Obama “appears to have reversed himself” from his State of the Union announcement on planning to work for repeal this year.

“We have the votes in the House and we’re close to having the votes in the Senate Armed Services Committee — the president, however is not helping us to get the votes we need,” he said.

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/04/30/gates-letter-... /

Pro-repeal members of Congress (and LGBT bloggers and advocates) went ballistic after receiving the letter from Gates asking them not to act. They went to the WH and forced their hand and the compromise that was reached was that a vote would be taken this year with the proviso that it would only take effect after this survey and when the Defense Dept agreed that it was ready. I give Obama points for being in favor of repeal. I give him kudos for ultimately agreeing to this compromise which saved the current legislation. I don't give him points for being a very effective or consistently strong advocate for actually getting it done. The LGBT grassroots and bloggers who have unrelentingly kept the pressure on the President have been a vital ingredient in ensuring that this process has gotten as far as it has.