Injunction Against DADT

From NYT:

A federal judge issued a worldwide injunction Tuesday stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' landmark ruling was widely cheered by gay rights organizations that credited her with getting accomplished what President Obama and Washington politics could not.

The "fierce advocate's" Justice Department will appeal. Count on it. I found this bit instructive:

Legal experts say government attorneys are not likely to let the ruling stand since Obama has made it clear he wants Congress to repeal the policy.

"The president has taken a very consistent position here, and that is: 'Look, I will not use my discretion in any way that will step on Congress' ability to be the sole decider about this policy here,' " said Diane H. Mazur, legal co-director of the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara that supports a repeal.

If you're sitting there thinking "WTF?" you're not alone. Obama's on safe ground here -- he wants Congress to do it, because legislative action is best (snort), but he knows Congress is not going to do it. Congress was never going to do it, and the "compromise" language that Winnie Stachelberg agreed to (and no one has ever managed to explain why she was in the mix) was designed to make sure that repeal never happens.

I'm going to make a prediction: the "survey" from the Pentagon is going to show that repeal of DADT will cause major disruption and angst (unlike any other country that has changed its policy -- I guess because we're special), and both Mullen and Gates will refuse to sign off. (That's if the bill manages to pass in the lame duck session, which is a long shot.) And the moral vacuum that is the Obama White House will meekly go along.

Make no mistake on this: the Pentagon has never acted in good faith on DADT, and I don't see it starting now.