Latest News
11-13-08
By Duncan Osborne
Gay City News
As Rahm Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal, the Clinton White House lost its way in its first two years by failing to "do what you got elected to do."
Clinton's handling of issues, such as "gays in the military" and others that were "not what we campaigned on," led to voters putting Republicans in charge in the Senate and House in 1994, just two years after Bill Clinton took office, Emanuel told the Journal in a November 8 interview.
The lesson is "Do what you talked about on the campaign," said Emanuel, who is Barack Obama's chief of staff and the president-elect's first White House hire. "If you got elected, that's what people expect. Don't go off on tangents where part of your party is demanding an ideological litmus test."
Clinton first promised to end the ban on service by openly gay and lesbian soldiers in 1991, according to "All Too Human: A Political Education," the 1999 book by George Stephanopoulos, who was Clinton's press secretary during his first term. The candidate reiterated that promise throughout 1992, according to gay and mainstream press reports from that year. Less than two weeks after the election, a debate was forced on Clinton by opponents of ending the ban on gays in the military.
Senator Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat, Senator Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican, and retired military officers acting as proxies for active duty personnel appeared on talk shows and in press reports opposing any policy change.
That debate continued through Clinton's inauguration on January 20, 1993. Five days later, in a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military's governing body, Clinton backed what is now known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell after it was proposed by Colin Powell, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Stephanopoulos wrote in his book.
"Their mishandling of this was what caused the problem," said Tim McFeeley, who was the executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay lobbying group, from 1989 until 1995. "They dragged it out."
The November 8 Journal article does not appear to have been widely read in the gay and lesbian community, and there has been little reaction to Emanuel's comments. Not all gay groups that were shown the article by Gay City News would comment on the record, but they were universally unconcerned.
"I think that what Rahm Emanuel was referencing was the way the Clinton administration handled Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 1993 became a distraction," said John Marble, spokesman for the National Stonewall Democrats, a gay political group. "I don't think the Obama administration will handle this in the same way."
Gay groups pointed out that the Obama transition team, which includes Nunn informally advising on Pentagon matters, adopted personnel policies that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The transition team has also been receptive to hearing from gay organizations on policies and possible appointees.
"To have a positive, progressive ideology being bandied about out there is definitely a welcome sign," said Brad Luna, an HRC spokesman. "There's no doubt we have a more welcoming administration in place to help us."
A coalition of 11 gay groups, led by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, are running the Presidential Appointments Project, a "talent bank" for queer people who want to work in the Obama administration.
"We've had a really pleasant and productive relationship with the transition team," Marble said.
Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republicans group, said he had no doubt that a President Obama would have openly gay or lesbian appointees in his administration, that he would sign executive orders that may benefit the community, and that he would engage in symbolic acts that might speak to the community.
"What our community should be focused on is being vigilant to not accept just that," Sammon said. "We need to make sure that he delivers on the promises he made and that he outlined during the campaign."
Emanuel's comments may say more about him than any Obama policy shift. In published reports and comments from those who worked with Emanuel in the Clinton White House, he is described as passionate by some and too blunt by others.
Certainly, the 12,000 Americans who lost their military jobs under Don't Ask, Don't Tell because they were gay or lesbian would likely take exception to having their experience described as an "ideological litmus test."
Rick Garcia, the director of public policy at Equality Illinois, the statewide gay group, and a neighbor of Emanuel's in the Chicago Congressional district he represents, said that bluntness was typical of the new chief of staff's style.
"This is part of his and Senator Obama's brilliance," Garcia said. "They excite people, but they also want to give people a huge dose of reality."
The Obama administration is facing two wars and a wrecked economy with staggering job losses.
"My question is where and when does Don't Ask, Don't Tell fit in and how do we get to it," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a legal group that aids gay and lesbian military personnel. "I think it's fair to say that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not among the top five things they are talking about up on Capitol Hill and in the White House."
As Obama did in his November 4 victory speech, Emanuel may also be attempting to tamp down the wild expectations for a changed nation that some supporters have.
"From the president's point of view, I think he got a very good guy," Garcia said. "From the gay community's point of view, this is an administration that we are going to have to look at very, very closely."
©GayCityNews 2008
“Lesson” of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
By Duncan Osborne
Gay City News
As Rahm Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal, the Clinton White House lost its way in its first two years by failing to "do what you got elected to do."
Clinton's handling of issues, such as "gays in the military" and others that were "not what we campaigned on," led to voters putting Republicans in charge in the Senate and House in 1994, just two years after Bill Clinton took office, Emanuel told the Journal in a November 8 interview.
The lesson is "Do what you talked about on the campaign," said Emanuel, who is Barack Obama's chief of staff and the president-elect's first White House hire. "If you got elected, that's what people expect. Don't go off on tangents where part of your party is demanding an ideological litmus test."
Clinton first promised to end the ban on service by openly gay and lesbian soldiers in 1991, according to "All Too Human: A Political Education," the 1999 book by George Stephanopoulos, who was Clinton's press secretary during his first term. The candidate reiterated that promise throughout 1992, according to gay and mainstream press reports from that year. Less than two weeks after the election, a debate was forced on Clinton by opponents of ending the ban on gays in the military.
Senator Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat, Senator Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican, and retired military officers acting as proxies for active duty personnel appeared on talk shows and in press reports opposing any policy change.
That debate continued through Clinton's inauguration on January 20, 1993. Five days later, in a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military's governing body, Clinton backed what is now known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell after it was proposed by Colin Powell, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Stephanopoulos wrote in his book.
"Their mishandling of this was what caused the problem," said Tim McFeeley, who was the executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay lobbying group, from 1989 until 1995. "They dragged it out."
The November 8 Journal article does not appear to have been widely read in the gay and lesbian community, and there has been little reaction to Emanuel's comments. Not all gay groups that were shown the article by Gay City News would comment on the record, but they were universally unconcerned.
"I think that what Rahm Emanuel was referencing was the way the Clinton administration handled Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 1993 became a distraction," said John Marble, spokesman for the National Stonewall Democrats, a gay political group. "I don't think the Obama administration will handle this in the same way."
Gay groups pointed out that the Obama transition team, which includes Nunn informally advising on Pentagon matters, adopted personnel policies that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The transition team has also been receptive to hearing from gay organizations on policies and possible appointees.
"To have a positive, progressive ideology being bandied about out there is definitely a welcome sign," said Brad Luna, an HRC spokesman. "There's no doubt we have a more welcoming administration in place to help us."
A coalition of 11 gay groups, led by the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, are running the Presidential Appointments Project, a "talent bank" for queer people who want to work in the Obama administration.
"We've had a really pleasant and productive relationship with the transition team," Marble said.
Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republicans group, said he had no doubt that a President Obama would have openly gay or lesbian appointees in his administration, that he would sign executive orders that may benefit the community, and that he would engage in symbolic acts that might speak to the community.
"What our community should be focused on is being vigilant to not accept just that," Sammon said. "We need to make sure that he delivers on the promises he made and that he outlined during the campaign."
Emanuel's comments may say more about him than any Obama policy shift. In published reports and comments from those who worked with Emanuel in the Clinton White House, he is described as passionate by some and too blunt by others.
Certainly, the 12,000 Americans who lost their military jobs under Don't Ask, Don't Tell because they were gay or lesbian would likely take exception to having their experience described as an "ideological litmus test."
Rick Garcia, the director of public policy at Equality Illinois, the statewide gay group, and a neighbor of Emanuel's in the Chicago Congressional district he represents, said that bluntness was typical of the new chief of staff's style.
"This is part of his and Senator Obama's brilliance," Garcia said. "They excite people, but they also want to give people a huge dose of reality."
The Obama administration is facing two wars and a wrecked economy with staggering job losses.
"My question is where and when does Don't Ask, Don't Tell fit in and how do we get to it," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a legal group that aids gay and lesbian military personnel. "I think it's fair to say that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not among the top five things they are talking about up on Capitol Hill and in the White House."
As Obama did in his November 4 victory speech, Emanuel may also be attempting to tamp down the wild expectations for a changed nation that some supporters have.
"From the president's point of view, I think he got a very good guy," Garcia said. "From the gay community's point of view, this is an administration that we are going to have to look at very, very closely."
©GayCityNews 2008
