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Specter and don’t-ask-don’t-tell

It’s the question I’ve been asking myself recently, after the Obama administration saw the first firing an a gay Arab linguist on its watch recently. For hundreds of years, gays in the military have served our country with honor and distinction, but once they go public with their sexuality, they are compelled to leave the armed forces. This is both a moral issue and a national security issue. Its a moral issue because, rather than treating people as individuals based on the content of the character, we are firing them on the basis of who they love. This is discrimination at its worst, with no rational basis other than to lend support to outdated stereotypes about homosexuals. Its a national security issue because it is taking removing imminently qualified soldiers from important positions regardless of their value as officers of our armed forces. Dan Choi, for example, the Arab linguist recently fired for being gay, is, in addition to fulfilling the critical role of translating enemy communications, is a West Point grad and Iraq War Veteran. In the midst of two wars with Arabic-speaking countries, the United States simply cannot afford to let go of Arab linguists. In fact, since 9/11, 58 gay Arab linguists have been fired simply because of their sexuality. This doesn’t make any sense.

President Obama has been distressingly silent on this important matter. It wasn’t always this way. During the 2008 campaign, then-Senator Obama said explicitly and publicly that “We’re spending large sums of money to kick highly qualified gays or lesbians out of our military,” he observed, “some of whom possess specialties like Arab-language capabilities that we desperately need.” Yet now that people’s careers are actually being terminated, he had refused to take a public stance on the issue. To quote Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post, “Before his inauguration, President Obama called himself a “fierce advocate of equality for gay and lesbian Americans.” Now, with the same-sex marriage issue percolating in state after state and with the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy ripe for repeal, it’s time for Obama to put some of his political capital where his rhetoric is.”

The conventional wisdom is that Obama is putting off a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to avoid repeating the early missteps of the Clinton administration, which early on was bogged down in an effort to change the policy regarding gays in the military. But 2009 is not 1993. The American people have come a long way in understanding that homosexuals are regular people who deserve full membership in our society, and they are sensible enough to recognize the importance of retaining qualified people to fight the two wars currently being waged by our military. This is the kind of change we were promised in the campaign, and its time for President Obama to deliver on that promise on behalf of all the closeted gays and lesbians in our military today, fearful of losing their jobs defending the country they love because of the person they love.

It occurred to me the other day that this is an issue that needs to be forced onto the President’s plate. And who better to force this issue onto the agenda than newly-minted Democrat Arlen Specter? Consider the political logic on this one. Obama wants to overturn this policy, but he’s loathe to do so at this time unless someone can force his hand. Meanwhile, Arlen Specter has gotten a somewhat less than wholehearted welcome from Democrats into his new party. Specter has a mixed record on gay rights in the past, but overall is generally supportive of things like civil union’s and legislation making discrimination in hiring based on sexuality illegal. Here’s his opportunity to shake things up a bit. Specter would immediately co-opt many of the attacks coming from his left flank by making a very public push for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It would fire up progressives and force them to see Specter in a different light. It also makes sense politically, because none other than Joe Sestak was recently on television forcefully calling for a repeal of this policy. Specter would make himself an instant hero to people on the left, and actually help force the president to pass a sensible new policy. It’s a win-win situation. But will Specter do it?

I called Senator Specter’s office recently to make the argument for why we need to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on national security grounds, and then ended my appeal by asking the legislative assistance if Senator Specter supported the repeal. Her response was strange – a kind of whispered “Yes,” with no other comment. He response seemed like a metaphor for how the entire Democratic Establishment is treating this issue: supporting its repeal, but only in quick, whispered hints. Senator Specter would do both himself and the security of our nation a favor by taking a loud public stance on this important civil rights and national security issue.

P.S. Jon Stewart did an incredible piece on this issue the other day. It really drives home the message. Check it out.

May 21, 2009 at 10:51 am

--Adam Schwartzbaum

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