Why Won't President Obama Stop Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

Image from Stars and Stripes

After watching this evening's edition of The Rachel Maddow Show, I was reminded about Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a decorated airman who is being discharged for being gay. He was on the program again tonight, expressing hope that President Obama might sign an executive order stopping enforcement of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" while Congress mulls the law.

Fehrenbach could easily be the poster-child for this issue, being a prime example of why this law is so stupid. And he is apparently going to be meeting with the President on Monday, along with many other gay rights advocates. But if the story being reported at AmericaBlog holds true, Fehrenbach had better not get his hopes up too high. And Obama had better not think that he's nipped the "pesky gay problem" in the bud, either.

[Excerpt]

Obama won't use executive power to end gay discharges -- despite request from 77 members of Congress

. . .There's no explanation why the President won't use his executive authority to stop gays and lesbians from being kicked out of the military pending the legislative repeal. Apparently, we don't warrant an in-depth explanation as to why the president refuses to intervene. Interestingly, as John reported earlier today, the Obama administration is intervening to stop enforcement of an immigration law, requiring the deportation of foreign-born spouses when their husband or wife dies before they get citizenship, pending the legislative fix some time in the future. . .

Read more at: AmericaBlog