Issues

Federal District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips has succeeded in doing what Congress and the president have failed to do so far: end the blatantly discriminatory and unconstitutional "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
While all branches of government have been involved in the fight to change this outdated law, it is the judiciary that once again has proven itself to be the true guardian of American liberty.
But this victory in the courts may be very short lived, given that President Obama has decided to appeal Judge Phillips' decision that declared "don't ask, don't tell" to be unconstitutional. His Justice Department has decided to seek a stay of her injunction halting enforcement of the law.
This puts the president in a unique positition: Not only has he not used his executive power to either halt further discharges under the law or aggressively lobby the legislative branch for speedy passage of repeal legislation, but he is actively using his authority to work against the actions of another branch that precisely accomplished a policy objective that the president says he supports.
This failure of the president to lobby for repeal this year is inexcusable. He has indeed done some things to help set the stage for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," but the timeline the executive branch desired included a duplicative study stretching out for nearly all of 2010, followed by the hope for legislative action in 2011.