Mostly they don't want to be asked

It's business as usual in Congress, where they love gay people to death. Just don't ask them to pass anything.

June 11, 2008

Dems reluctant to take on 'don't ask, don't tell'

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 3:56 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats say the nation should be ashamed of its ban on gays serving openly in the military. It discourages qualified people from joining the ranks at a time when the armed forces are stretched by two wars, they say, and is degrading to those willing to serve their country.

So what have the Democrats done about it? Nothing, really.

Since taking control of Congress in January 2007, Democrats have not convened hearings on the matter or taken up legislation that would let gays serve openly, although most party members favor repealing the prohibition. Instead, Democrats have focused their efforts on bringing troops home from Iraq and other issues that have broad appeal among voters, such as lowering gas prices.

In a recent interview with The Advocate, a gay newsmagazine, Democrat Barack Obama stopped short of promising to lead the way for change, saying only that he can ''reasonably see'' a repeal of the current ban if elected president.

Indeed, the gays-in-the-military issue has slid from being a top campaign pledge of President Clinton's to a footnote on the Democratic agenda even as some of its staunchest opponents soften their rhetoric and acknowledge that the nation's attitudes are changing.

''Politics is often driven by risk aversion and fear and that's big,'' said Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow at The Michael D. Palm Center in Santa Barbara, Calif., who supports eliminating the ban. ''There are people who don't want to be out front on this.''

The reluctance is in large part a result of Clinton's painful experience. As one of his first acts as president, Clinton sought to make good on his 1992 campaign pledge to open the military to gays. His effort to change the law eventually gave way to the current ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy -- but not before debate on the issue divided his party, awakened a fierce social conservative movement and helped GOP critics cast Clinton as a social liberal who was woefully out of touch with the military...