MaddowBlog Maddow Blog
.@NBCNews: Joint Chiefs, Defense Sec say ready for #DADT repeal. Then Obama certifies, then 60-day waiting period #maddow
Sr Defense sources tell @NBCNews: Pentagon announce 2moro that Defense Sec & Joint Chiefs have certified military ready for #DADT repeal
and a retweet
BreakingNews Breaking News
Pentagon to announce Friday that defense secretary, joint chiefs have certified that military is ready to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell - NBC
That's all I have for the moment. More to come.
The DADT repeal law, signed in December of 2010, specifies that it will not go into effect until 60 dayd after the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sign a letter of certification saying that the military is ready and capable of handling repeal.
Tomorrow could be that day (or sometime later, if the President does not sign immediately). If the President also signed the certification tomorrow, that would mean Don't Ask, Don't Tell would finally be put to rest on September 21st, 2011. If he were to sign it Monday, then September 24, 2011.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had given the DoJ ten days to reply to their order to stop discharging and investigating service members, in Log Cabin Republicans. Tomorrow would be that tenth day. In light of these events, the DoJ may now ask the Ninth Circuit to render the case moot. This would have one detrimental effect: the ruling declaring DADT unconstitutional by Judge Phillips last year would, for all practical purposes, go away ('be vacated'). Which would mean that, in 2013, President Bachmann by executive order or the new Republican House and Senate by legislation, could reinstate DADT.
Wall Street Journal
Top defense officials plan to certify Friday that the Pentagon is ready to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military, officials said, a landmark moment after almost two decades of controversy.
http://online.wsj.com/...
New Civil Rights Movement. Effect on DOMA?
With the repeal in place, many senior military officials have said privately they are personally in favor of extending equal rights to same sex couples. Advocates are counting on those officers to make the case to Congress that current law should be changed.
“Commanders, once they realize this inequity exists are going to be uncomfortable with troops under their command not receiving the same basic benefits,” said Aubrey Sarvis, an Army veteran and executive director Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which advocates for gay members of the military. “There must be equal treatment for equal risk, equal treatment for equal sacrifice.”
Senior military officers say the training has gone smoothly and they expect few cases of harassment. But they also note that because of military culture they are unsure about how many service members will come out publicly.
MSNBC
Senior defense officials tell NBC News that the Pentagon will announce tomorrow that both Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and all of the Joint Chiefs have certified that the military is ready to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."
Each member of the Joint Chiefs had to submit a recommendation to Secretary Panetta, indicating that they are far enough in their training to repeal DADT, and that it will not have an impact on military readiness.
The next step is for President Obama to certify the repeal, which then begins a 60-day waiting period to implement the repeal -- before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is officially a thing of the past.
Update, in related news:
Just to be an asshole...
LGBTProgress Boehner says no House vote on DOMA repeal