White House saying gay ban will be lifted next spring?

I don't believe it for a minute, and I suspect more than a few people in Obamaland are going to freak when they hear about this. But that's what Joe Solmonese, the head of the Human Rights Campaign, seems to be claiming in a new interview. That Obama has a secret plan to lift the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military, and that the ban is going to be lifted next spring.

They [the Obama administration] see the overturning of don't ask, don't tell along that spectrum as something that will likely happen next spring.

Sure. Right before the congressional elections. Lets all mark our calendars now.

It's apparently such a secret plan that the lead gay group working on repealing the ban, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, doesn't seem to even be aware of it - at least that's the sense I got from SLDN's recent op ed they wrote for our other blog, AMERICAblog gay. SLDN sure doesn't give off a "the ban is going to be lifted in 8 months!" kind of vibe. And if anyone would know, it's them.

Aside from the ban, HRC's Solmonese lists the gay issues Obama is being helpful on:

[T]his administration has worked side by side with us to get the hate crimes bill on his desk. They are laying groundwork on everything from expanding the federal government's nondiscrimination policy to cover transgender employees to ending the ban on HIV-positive people coming into the country.

They're helping on hate crimes? That's news. And it flat out contradicts everything we've heard from people actually working on the hate crimes bill. Then there's including transgender people in the federal government non-discrimination policy. That's great. It wasn't one of our Obama's promises to the community, and it wasn't one of the community's top priorities (i.e., ENDA, DADT and DOMA), but it's still a positive thing. And finally, he mentions lifting the ban on HIV-positive travelers. There's been a lot of foot-dragging on that too in the past eight months. And, it still isn't one of the top three promises - passing ENDA, and repealing DADT and DOMA.

I am not knocking the importance of the hate crimes bill, the transgender language and the travel ban. I am knocking the notion that acting on those issues, while ignoring ENDA, DADT and DOMA, is acceptable "progress." It most certainly is not.

Then we learn that the Obama administration is busy educating the military and Congress about DADT:

The administration is building a case in the military leadership and Congress and the rank-and-file members of the military.

Really? They're building a case with the military leadership and the rank-and-file members of the military? Exactly how are they doing that? We've seen no indication that any case is being made to anyone. In fact, military leaders and spokesmen have repeatedly said that nothing at all has been happening on Don't Ask Don't Tell, or have outright appeared to distance themselves from the president on this issue. Then there is the administration's decision to change their promise to "repeal" Don't Ask Don't Tell to a promise to "change" it in a sensible manner. No one ever talked about changing the rule banning blacks from white swimming pools, and drinking fountains, in a sensible manner. And no one in the Obama administration talked about it with reference to DADT, that is until after they were elected.

With all of that, we're now to believe that suddenly there's a massive education campaign taking place? A campaign that includes educating members of Congress? Really? Do tell us more, because I simply don't believe it. If such a campaign were taking place, someone other than the head of HRC would be aware of it.

Look, I like Joe Solmonese, and I've been an ardent defender of HRC, but this next paragraph is pretty indefensible:

SOLMONESE: I don't see [the Obama administration] dragging their feet. But where the LGBT community is feeling frustration is that the road map and timetable have not been made as clear to them. Sometimes there is simply the need for reassurance from the president. I've seen a great deal less frustration since the president spoke on June 29 [the Stonewall anniversary] and recommitted to [our] issues. And the president signed the memo expanding the nondiscrimination policy for federal employees and calling on Congress to give him a bill extending healthcare benefits to domestic partners. It's probably as frustrating to him and his administration that things are not moving as quickly as we would like.

People are feeling better since the cocktail party? I'm sure the 300 "good gays" who were invited to the party, and not blacklisted, are feeling just peachy after getting a chance to sip champagne at the big house, but what indications are there that the gay community at large is now somehow more satisfied with the Obama administration's action on its gay rights promises? I just don't see it.

And the notion that Obama is probably just as frustrated as us with the lack of action is preposterous. The president of the United States is not the Queen of England, waving his hand at parades - an important figurehead, to be sure, but now just a shadow of things past without any real power. He's the leader of the free world. Reiterating White House talking points about how powerless President Obama is to influence legislation is not helpful to our cause, nor does it build confidence in this president at a time when his influence seems to be waning on other issues as well.

Finally, Joe says that he has, or is aware of, a very clear road map as to how Obama is going to achieve all of his top promises to our community:

But I also have a very clear road map and a plan of how this is going to get done.

Again, that's great. But Joe is the only person I've heard of who is aware of any plan or roadmap for how Obama, when Obama, even if Obama is going to act on any of his promises on ENDA, DOMA or DADT. At some point, these kind of "trust me" assertions simply do not ring true, and yes, do sound like an effort to carry water, curry favor, with an administration that isn't acting in the best interests of our community. The time for cocktail diplomacy is over.