Marc Ambinder has done a most excellent job of refuting the so-called "conspiracy" against Gay Rights Activists. In his latest, Marc Ambinder is refuting that somehow Jim Messina is against the Gay Rights activists in regards to DADT and any gay rights issue and that he's stalling them.
The evidence amounts to basically nothing
DADT Repeal in Late 2010/Early 2011
Here's what Marc Ambinder has found out. He started by blasting the conspiracy theories pushed by gay activists, including Lt. Dan Choi, who seem to think that Gibbs and the WH pushed the protesters back in regards to DADT. This is false.
Many gay rights activists aren't buying it. Last night, Lt. Dan Choi, the army linguist who's going to be kicked out of the military because he is gay, Tweeted that "Press Sec'y Gibbs was in park; park closed. Rookie cop? We got names. Stay tuned. Gibbs muzzle press. http://su.pr/...
I can report to you today that Gibbs was indeed in the park. He was on his way to a pre-scheduled lunch. He even took a piece of anti-DADT literature from a demonstrator. He went on his way.
The idea that Robert Gibbs could call the Park Police Superintendent or command post and demand that the media be moved is absurd. Even if the Secret Service were in charge of the scene, a Gibbs request like that would immediately result in the notification of the director, who'd be on the phone to Rahm Emanuel in an instant wondering why a civilian was ordering his officers around.
This thought is prevalent around the blogosphere, the thought that Gibbs and the WH are working against DADT repeal. They aren't. The bill will be signed into law either in late 2010 or early 2011.
That's not an answer that soldiers dismissed under Don't Ask, Don't Tell like to hear, and they've got every right to be angry. But it's a strategy that will repeal of DADT in a way such that no subsequent president could reverse the ban by executive order. It will be permanent. The Pentagon is expected to present the findings of its internal study in September, and the Senate will vote on a repeal either in the rump session of Congress late in 2010 or early in 2011. That's the track. It's getting done.
Most of the anger seems to be directed at Jim Messina and the WH. This too is misplaced.
Is Messina the secret enemy of gays? Far from it. Messina was the staff member who convinced the military to start the process to end the gay ban, the staff member who orchestrated the compelling testimony of Gates and Mullen, the staff member who worked with the Pentagon to relax the rules until the ban is ended, the staff member who coordinated the drafting of the executive order preventing hospitals from banning gays from visiting their partners, the staff member who made sure that the HIV immigration ban was rescinded. And so on. (Look for another change to federal rules coming soon.)
Now does Obama consider Gay Rights priority number one? No, Marc Ambinder admits that. Does he favor gay rights? Absolutely. But Mr. Ambinder seems to find that there is no conspiracy against the activists.
UPDATE: I should have noted that I expected the anger. There's a difference in whether you should be skeptical in the tactics, but there is no apparent wavering in the WH commitments to DADT repeal.