1115.org

It strikes me that bowing and scraping before His Presidentiality isn’t the only option available to those trying to fight Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Both in terms of scrapping the policy, and in terms of putting the brakes on people getting discharged from service till the Obama administration eventually gets around to scrapping the policy, why isn’t civil disobedience an excellent strategy?

Take Lt. Dan Choi of the New York Army National Guard, who has managed to become the poster child for the various costs of Obama’s foot-dragging on DADT—the human cost, the moral cost, the military cost. What if a substantial chunk of the New York Army National Guard upped and told their commanding officers (with a straight face, if you’ll pardon the term) that they are gay?

They obviously can’t discharge everyone. They won’t have the resources to investigate each “confession”, either, not if there are enough “confessions”. The only option left is a de facto policy of ignoring all such confessions.

It seems to me that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would get thoroughly trumped by a manufactured blizzard of Tell! Tell! Tell!.

We keep hearing about how scrapping DADT enjoys widespread support among the troops. About how unit members of DADT dischargees typically oppose the discharge. Would it be so hard to organize an effective civil disobedience protest, especially in units where someone has been recently discharged?

(This post is prompted by the belief that Obama only intends to keep on talking the talk; walking the walk is just going to keep sliding away into the future. If gay activists actually want to see anything happen — anything more than invitations to White House events — they have to twist his arm, or kick him in the shins. Or some other body part.)