MoJo Dowd writes a sensible, serious column?

Yes, and the lunar eclipse tomorrow will be a blue moon.

Seriously she writes about wondering whether DADT repeal will have any significance for the possibility of a gay president.

I called Barney Frank, assuming the gay pioneer would be optimistic. He wasn’t. “It’s one thing to have a gay person in the abstract,” he said. “It’s another to see that person as part of a living, breathing couple. How would a gay presidential candidate have a celebratory kiss with his partner after winning the New Hampshire primary? The sight of two women kissing has not been as distressful to people as the sight of two men kissing.”

She gets other insights, too, from other people.

You know, if she'd write something like this once every three months, even, people wouldn't call her out so much on all her crap.

But, she doesn't.

DADT - gays ALREADY legal in military

At least out West, in the area of purview of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, they are copacetic.

The Ninth Circuit ruled in 2008 that blanket policies against gays in the military are illegal; the court said the military has a case-by-case burden of proof as to whether a gay or lesbian soldier disrupts unit cohesion.

So, if you're a gay or lesbian servicemember in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, you're OK. My recommendation? Come out now, and push.

Of course, some military brass, like the homophobic, Jesus will kill Muslims Lt. Gen. William Boykin, might say, "Well, we will just transfer you to a posting outside those nine states."

That said, back to the story. How did we get here?

The judges in the case of Air Force Maj. Margaret Witt said the legal landscape changed when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 struck down a Texas ban on sodomy as an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy. (I'm sure Nino Scalia is having a case of apoplexy right now.) The 9th Circuit said that the landmark decision opened the door for the courts to take a fresh look at the constitutional rights of gay Americans.

And, from that, one Congressman sees a way forward on DADT:

Rep. (Vic) Snyder suggested that the Defense Department cure the problem by making the venue for all "don't ask" dismissals fall within the 9th Circuit, so that all service members would have the same rights.

Go, go, go!

Bigger issue, though.

This was adjudicated in 2008. In the middle of a presidential election, in which the veep candidates were "quizzed" on gay marriage issues in their debate. SEVERAL questions abound.
1. If McCain is so against DADT now, where was he then, when this ruling came out? You know the answer; he wasn't yet such an anti-Obama panderer.
2. If not McCain himself, why didn't some of his campaign staff leak this, and try to nail Obama down? Maybe they thought it wasn't a winning issue with independents, which means that Obama's current dilatory (polite for "foot-dragging") work on DADT is all the more said.
3. And related, if Obama really cares that much about repealing DADT, or working past/around it, why didn't he, or somebody on his staff, get Vic Snyder's bright idea?

Don't expect quick action on don't ask, don't tell

The Pentagon plans a yearlong internal review in order not to have abrupt changes. That alone pushes it past 2010 elections.

Defense Secretary Gates worries about abrupt changes, too. He'll caution Obama enough that it will get pushed past the 2012 election.

Gay – get an Army boot; skinhead – get an Army pass

Whether top Army brass will do anything about it or not, Stars and Stripes reveals just how deep and numerous skinheads, neo-Nazis, etc. are, inside U.S. armed forces. Private-sector journalists have already reported on how military recruiters turn blind eyes to things like swastika tattoos as part of meeting recruiting goals, and how, at the same time, the violently inclined among these groups want the military training.

In short, the U.S. military, and Department of Defense civilians who aren’t acting either, are supporting the development of home-grown terrorism.

EVERYBODY favors killing DADT except The One

Conservatives, weekly churchgoers, even: A majority of both groups is now OK with gays in the military.

So, when will Just.Another.Politician.™ realize he’s actuallybehind the curve, and not in the dead center of public opinion on this issue? Maybe we ought to up the ante and ask if Obama has some degree of anti-gay bias?

Mullen reads from Gates playbook on DADT repeal

Hmm, sounds like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen cracked the hymnbook of his civilian boss, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. That’s because because Mullen said, like Gates several weeks ago, that President Barack Obama has too much on his hands to get rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell .

Well, hell. Obama could get involved in wars all the time as a dodge, per Mullen’s reasoning.

Or, he could do like toady press secretary Robert Gibbs said last week, and do what Obama does on any matter requiring leadership — punt to Congress.

Team Obama continues to OPPOSE DADT

The Obama Administration has let lapse the time to appeal to the Supreme Court a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from last year that gay and lesbian discharges from the military must be justified on a case-by-case basis.

That said, the WSJ notes this means the case returns to district court, where Team Obama plans continue to defend Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

So, actually, this is, in a sense, BAD news. The Obama Administration could have let the appeal time lapse AND chosen not to specifically fight Maj. Margaret Witt’s lawsuit over her discharge. But, noooo…

So, don’t let Obamiacs or Mainstream Liberal Blogs spin this story. And, ignore the WSJ headline.

And, assume this decision comes all the way from the top.

Half of GOP voters OK with avowed gays in military

So, with poll results like this:

The survey of 2,000 self-described Republican voters, titled “The Elephant Looks in the Mirror 10 Years Later,” showed that ... 49 percent favored allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

why aren’t Democrats at least telling the Religious Right, in no uncertain terms, to STFU?

One civil liberties silver lining in Iraq tragedy

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” for gays in the military may now be “don’t care, don’t matter.”

According to Frank Rich's Aug. 14 New York Times column:

Jake Tapper of ABC News reports that the armed forces are so eager for bodies they will flout "don't ask, don't tell" and hang on to gay soldiers who tell, even if they tell the press.

We can only hope that this remains the case even as the war winds down. If not, surely some gay soldier is going to find the right lawyer.