The lip service President is nothing more than Bush Light.

Bully for the protesters! Obama got what he deserved. He could easily have ended "Don't Ask Don't Tell" through an Executive Order, the way Harry Truman ended racial segregation in the armed forces back in the day.

Instead, Obama, always adverse to being associated with a controversial stand, pawned it off on Congress, which may very well worry it to death.

All I can say to the gays and LGBT community is "keep pushing, you are doing the right thing."

Obama says that both he and Senator Boxer want to abolish don't ask don't tell. So why doesn't he do it? Who's tieing his hands? Harry Truman desegregated the military by an executive order only six paragraphs in length. Why can't Obama do the same? He's either a liar or a coward. Or both.

Just as Harry S. Truman desegrated the troop barracks in WWII by Executive Order, an immediate order, Obama could do the same. Obama has more holes in his waffles than anyone else, through which his resolve about matters he has stated he is resolved about trickles away into the syrup that he offers to others to keep their votes.

"Don't Ask/Don't Tell." is a truly stupid, denigrating, snide and snickering-under-the-covers kind of law. How absolutely immature ... still.

/cm

You may want immediate action, but the President is trying to follow the process of government. Haven't you heard enough about non-bi-partisanship? I agree, we haven't seen much (any) cooperation, but it is still the way government has worked for centuries and should work. Now some are fighting hard for a dictatorship of the right. A seemingly dictatorial stance from the President will do more harm than good in the long run. He is trying his best and it will happen. Keep it up and you'll see the theocracy dictatorship take over because nobody has the patience for the method of considered moderation.

Obamageddon will get help in Congress after the next election. The Republicans will take control of both Houses.

On the left, the only ones who ever heckled Obama(and rightfully so) is the LGBT community. I don't know about you, but if I'm building a military(If I have to have one at all), I want them on my side. Integrity, guts and the willingness to show it.

Hey Obama, how come you didn't say when the overturn of DADT was going to happen, huh? Seems to me that an Executive Order would have made it happen overnight.

Obama is all mouth and no substance.

Obama will simply throw the gay community a bone by appointing Elena Kagan, a lesbian to the Supreme court. But because she wants to put a bullet through the head of our civil liberties, no left-wing libertarian, gay or straight, should want Kagan on the Supreme Court. Not only does she want to turn our country into an authoritarian police state, she also wants to keep our country in a never-ending battle against the Muslim World.

In fact, Kagan is such an enemy to our civil liberties and such a friend to our warmongering neocons that she's a fascist wet dream come true. Even though most right-wing fascists tend to be staunch opponents of reproductive rights, most of them are willing to overlook the fact that Kagan is pro-choice and thus won't object to her be appointed to the Supreme Court. Kagan will also be a wet dream come true for Obama in that she'll support him in his endeavor to keep all of his presidential powers that he unconstitutionally acquired from Bush intact, enabling him to get away with being just as big of a fascist as Bush was.

politician retorts with:

1) "Tyranny of should"... as a defense.

2) Lectures the protesters on who, what, and where protest "should" take place.***

3) Professes unity not as a tool to diffuse scenario, but to "shut up and shutdown" the protester (refer to #2 as justification).

4) Final straw tactic, employ "reverse personal attack" implying if protesters are as important as he, then take the podium. Ergo "do you want to come up here..?". Since he is more important, and professes agreement, they "should" stop "hollering".

*** Note, Obama appears to be condoning the disruptive tactics of protester when he deems it is warranted (hence, tyranny of should). Interestingly, the decision to protest is up to activists who believe actions are warranted, not the targeted audience.

and one trivial point, the praise at the beginning of clip for helping him get elected is confusing, seeing how CA went for Hillary Clinton in the Primary, and Boxer, up to the June 6, 2008, stayed effectively neutral by stating her super-delegate vote would go with the CA Primary winner.

I've said it before, I'll say it again:

During the 2008 campaign, Obama warned an audience against falling for the old "okey-doke": "See, I was trying to explain to someone the 'okey-doke.' Y’all know the okey-doke? It’s when someone’s trying to bamboozle you, when they’re trying to hoodwink you."

I can't think of anyone more adept at using the okey-doke than Obama; I'm an irony-lover, but this is so powerfully ironic-- not to say "hypocritical"-- that it makes my teeth hurt.

I guess the President has more important things on his plate. Who, in their right mind, would want to be in the military anyhow? Oh, it's the principal of the thing, right?

Too bad it was only gays that were protesting!

I don't know what to think here.

I can understand the protesters wanting Obama to be more aggressive. But look at you've got a lot of people in congress and in the military who are opposing the repealing of DADT.

Of course I believe gays should serve openly in the military. But the U.S. military is an institution of domination, hierarchy and repression. If gays can serve openly in the military it will continue to be such an institution. So is serving openly in the military any real kind of freedom? Besides once gays can serve openly in the military will this end homophobia in the military? Will there be a de facto don't ask don't tell?

In short I support those who support repealing DADT. But lets look at the bigger picture. Does gaining access to repressive institutions breed meaningful freedom. I think we've got bigger fish to fry if we want a more tolerant society.