Obama Continues to Defy First and Fifth Amendments of Constitution with DADT

Judge Virginia Phillips ruled on 9 September 2010 in the case of Log Cabin Republicans v. the United States that the military policy Don't Ask, Don't Tell violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.  The Obama Department of Justice asked for a stay of that judgment until a decision was made by the Appeals Court and it was granted.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case and ruled that it also thought DADT to be unconstitutional.  Once again, the Obama Department of Justice is asking for a stay of the decision.

Though the Obama administration has largely enjoyed and sought the support of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans, it has consistently acted to maintain the DADT policy, until its hand was forced by the ruling by Judge Phillips.  It then backed a legislative repeal, but on a very slow timetable.  Meanwhile, highly competent, dedicated, and effective military personnel have fallen victim to this unconstitutional act which never accomplished, and actually counteracted, its stated purposes.  Judge Phillips' ruling was very convincing in arguing that it was both unconstitutional and harmful to our military effectiveness. 

So why is the Obama Administration fighting the rapid end of DADT?  I believe there are several reasons:

• It is galling to the Democrats that they did not have the guts to end it, but the Log Cabin Republicans effectively opposed it with a lawsuit well-directed at its constitutional weaknesses.
• There are still enough Democrats and Independent voters with biases against gay people that there are significant votes to be lost among them on this issue.  Popular votes on anti-gay measures in Democrat states often result in overwhelming support for the anti-gay and individual rights violating issues.
• Obama and the Democrats do not believe that sovereignty resides in the People.  They believe it resides in the government.  The court rulings say that the People have sovereign rights protected by the 1st and 5th Amendments of the Constitution, which was established and ordained by the sovereign People.  This does not sit well with socialists who believe that government grants the people such privileges as it cares to.  This is why Biden and others have denied natural rights and so many Democrats laugh at the very idea that the Constitution limits the power of government.
• Obama and cohorts realize that they will not get credit for ending DADT if the courts stop it before the legislation awaiting the unified approval of the top military leaders does.  Their standing with gay people is likely to take a beating of some sort because of their long inaction followed by very slow motion action.
• There is the usual vying for power between the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch going on here.  Too often, these branches seem to find enough power to share that they all too readily reach accommodations on sharing the power in order to increase the total power of government by ignoring the limitations of the Constitution.  Sometimes, the friction in vying for power actually works something like it was supposed to with one or more branches acting as a check on the power of the other branches.  While the delays here in correcting a long time injustice are aggravating, our governmental system is not really supposed to work quickly or efficiently.  It has a very limited scope of constitutional power and is supposed to figure out how to protect individual rights after due deliberation.

I surely hope the destructive DADT policy has finally come to an end.  There is only mischief to profit in dragging out its demise. People ought to be able to fight for the security and freedom of their country without having to deny or hide their sexuality.  We are a nation of individualists with many equal, sovereign rights and we most certainly have the right to develop, explore, and enjoy our very individual sexualities.  While private individuals retain their freedom of association and need not associate with gay people, the government itself cannot make such discriminatory associations.  The government is the servant of all the People and must protect all of their rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  For many people, the pursuit of happiness and the exercise of their control over their own lives, necessitates their having the freedom to have sex with people of their own sex.