Promises are nice. Proof is better.

Pam Spaulding already has her take up on Obama's big gay speech following our little talk-fest on Sirius OutQ. I honestly need to think a little more about it. Some parts of me get how this speech could impact lives outside of the world of Beltway bandits and passionate activists, but that might just be my desire to believe that Obama means to do what he's always said he would do, present circumstances notwithstanding.

Another part of me -- an appreciably bigger part -- is even angrier than before about the fate of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a policy that at this point is simply and morally indefensible. A promise is only that, a promise. I'd like to have some proof, as would, I imagine, the lesbian and gay soldiers who continue to be discharged despite the professed support of their commander in chief.

Andrew Sullivan and folks at Bilerico have declared the speech a stinker; Andrew calls the speech "much worse than I expected," which actually makes me wonder what on earth he was expecting. It pretty much met every expectation I had, all of which were very, very low. I'm sure someone out there has a glowing review, but I haven't seen it yet, and haven't honestly been looking very hard.

Thinking about my priorities and responding to some Facebook comments, I wrote this a few minutes ago: But anymore I find it really hard to put energy into anything other than DADT repeal -- Americans support repeal, it goes directly to the core of the American narrative of who we are as a people, it ends a glaring injustice. You'd think that would earn a bit more than a "the check's in the mail" promise.

I need some proof, not the kind that can be delivered in a speech but the kind I can see in accomplishments. Don't ask me to support you because our nation's problems affect us all as Americans when you won't take the steps to end the most egregious way in which our own government daily reminds us that we are not, actually, considered fully and equally American.

Comments

[copp3rred]

There are some logistics to work out, truth be told, but yes it is getting tiresome and disappointing. I suspect a lot of work is going on to figure out the logistics, like how to handle housing and crafting policies (it is the govt after all, and we do love our policies), but it's well past time, and people are already making it work. I just see considerable difficulty executing it during a time with active combat operations and considerable ambiguity about our plans in Afghanistan.