In 2004, after 13 years of service in both the US army, and the National Guard, Captain Pietrangelo II was discharged under the Clinton Administration's "Don't ask Don't Tell" policy. Pietrangelo has since been fighting a legal battle which ended yesterday with the Supreme Court refusing to hear his case.
The Obama Administration argued that the Boston appeals court's was correct in refusing to hear Pietrangelo's case and that "'don't ask, don't tell' is rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion." This basically amounts to an endorsement of the policy by the Obama Assministration.
Captain Pietrangelo had this to say about President Obama after the court made its decision:
"He's a coward, a bigot and a pathological liar...This is a guy who spent more time picking out his dog, Bo, and playing with him on the White House lawn than he has working for equality for gay people"
More importantly, the Bush...oops...I mean Obama Administration has stated it will not take any measures to stop the discharge of openly gay personnel, nor has the administration made any attempt to put a hold on the sort of investigations that lead to dismissal.
What's striking about this issue is the release of a new Gallup Poll revealing that 58% of conservatives, 58% of Republicans, and 60% of weekly churchgoers all agree that it's time to repeal DADT. That's right, even those groups most reluctant for social change are willing to let DATA drop, and yet President Obama hasn't made a move. (Time, AP)
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