The repeal of the Clinton era relic “Don’t Ask Don’t tell” has marked the second time that Barack Obama has passed a bill that Bill Clinton couldn’t when he was president. The first was healthcare, of course. The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” repeal is the second.
In spite of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the sad state of the U.S. economy, not to mention the drubbing his party took in the midterms, Obama has adroitly turned negatives into positives. The repeal of DADT [Don’t Ask Don’t Tell] wasn’t really on the radar until after the midterm elections, perhaps because Democrats didn’t want to face a wave of ads branding them as liberal activists for supporting repeal. After the losses of November, there was really nothing else to lose.
But, while one powerful democratic constituency, gays and lesbians, pulled off an upset, the same couldn’t be said for another constituency, Hispanics. Although the nation’s fastest growing minority, they didn’t have the muscle of gays and lesbians who let the administration know they were not happy. Now, for one of five votes, the DREAM Act was lost. It’s quite unlikely that a Republican House will move such a bill forward. That said, Obama has proved himself an adept politician, able to move when seemingly stymied. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
