In addition to some of his usual silliness about abortion, Ross Douthat's op-ed today defends Barack Obama's strategy of essentially ignoring gay and lesbian rights ... from the imagined perspective of a supporter of gay and lesbian rights. The problem here, however, is that gay and lesbian rights comprises a lot of different issues, and we shouldn't conflate the political effects of acting on different issues.
With respect to same-sex marriage, one can see the merits of Obama's kicking the can down the road strategy at the federal level. Even a major presidential push wouldn't produce the necessary votes in Congress for a federal recognition of same-sex marriages, and federal litigation would -- given the current configuration of the federal courts -- accomplish nothing but create a Bowers-like bad precedent. Working from the state level up makes sense (although it would be nice to have a president leading rather than following).
Don't Ask, Don't Tell is another matter. As Matthew Yglesias compellingly notes, the policy is not only an ongoing, disgraceful injustice that places irrational bigotry ahead of national security -- it's one that Obama could almost certainly get changed with some investment of political capital. And, moreover, Matt is also right that the logic of excessive political caution here will mean never changing the policy -- changing the status quo will never be the most convenient option, and waiting for an election year certainly isn't going to make change more appealing.
I'm not even convinced that ending DADT would be bad politics, even in the short term: Frankly, if Republicans want to take a "culture war" stand on excluding qualified military personnel during wartime because of their sexual orientation, I'd be happy to take that fight. But even if there's some minor political cost, it's a cost that has to be paid. It's an indefensible policy, Obama knows this, and he could get it changed. It's time to do so.
--Scott Lemieux
