Topic >> Don’t Tell

Discharged Arab linguist Dan Choi protests DADT outside Obama fundraiser

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Dan ChoiHundreds of people protested DADT outside the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills yesterday evening where President Barack Obama was holding a Democratic fundraiser. Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point grad and Arab linguist who was recently discharged for coming out on the Rachel Maddow Show, spoke to the crowd:

Obama failed to acknowledge the protesters, except as a throw away line at the fundraiser as reported in the NY Times:

A gaggle of sign-waving [DADT] protesters milled around outside The Beverly Hilton, the sprawling hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. They must have caught the president’s eye when he arrived at the hotel from an earlier stop in Las Vegas because he relayed one of their messages to the crowd.

“One of them said, “Obama keep your promise,’ ” the president said. “I thought that’s fair. I don’t know which promise he was talking about.”

This morning Choi also appeared on MSNBC with David Shuster discussing his discharge.


Air Force fighter pilot casualty of DADT after 18 years of heroic service

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Air Force pilot casualty of DADTAs momentum continues to build for the Obama administration to make good on a promise to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Rachel Maddow interviews yet another casualty of the policy. After 18 years of loyal and heroic service, Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has been notified that his services are nolonger required, two years short of his retirement, and just two weeks shy of being re-deployed. Watch.

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Other DADT news making headlines today include a statement by the Pentagon that there is currently no plan to end the discriminatory policy, and that the administration will have to defend DADT in court.