It occurs to me that Hillary Clinton has led the president on a couple of things concerning gay civil rights. She instituted the partner benefits mandate at State before he did it for federal employees overall, her It Gets Better video appeared a couple of days before his. I don't know if she's acting as the canary in the coal mine or pushing him a little. (It's entirely possible that there's a little bit of oneupmanship going on.)
She hasn't been real visible on DADT, but then, that's not her purview. Gates is leaving soon -- wouldn't it be interesting to see Clinton as SecDef? I'd bet there would be some action on DADT toute suite.
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I have been writing about this for more than a year:
June 2009
http://departmentofhomegirlsecurity.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/sit-stay-under-the-porch/
June 2010 (Here you see her noy only leading, but leaving Obama in the dust behind her)
http://departmentofhomegirlsecurity.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/hillary-clintons-gay-pride-month-gift-to-the-lgbt-community-new-gender-change-policy-for-passports/
I have NO desire to see her make a "lateral" move (to defense) that would amount to a demotion. If Hillary Clinton had been permitted the delegates she earned and a transparent and honest roll call vote in Denver, she might well have been elected. DADT would have either been repealed by June 2009 or she would have issued an executive order in June 2009 to abolish it.
Putting her at defense accomplishes nothing. And Obama has proven he will not lift a finger. Want it repealed? Encourage her to run in 2012.
Unless there's some major blowout, she won't run in 2012 -- 2016 maybe, and I'd be happy to see that.
The problem is that Obama can be an inspiration, but he's not a leader. Clinton's a leader.
I don't think Defense would be a "demotion" for Clinton -- Defense is much more high-profile than State these days -- and I'd like to see someone there strong enough to stand up to the generals. There's a lot about the Pentagon that bothers me, not just DADT.
As for repeal -- that will happen through the courts. Both Witt and LCR are establishing solid foundations, and there will be more cases until it's gone.
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