Delegating On DODT?
Maybe I’m misreading this…
Here’s how repeal would happen under the plan: The House and Senate would vote this week to include repeal as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. But repeal would not go into effect until (1) a Pentagon study on the impact of repeal is finished on December 1st, and (2) President Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen approve moving forward based on its findings.
…But doesn’t that give Gates and Joint Chiefs a veto on the president? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 1:22 pm and is filed under The Political Mindscape. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.






May 25th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Not misreading it but falling for the spin.
The Obama administration is very sensitive to criticism regarding overruling the military commanders. At the same time, Obama needs to balance the desire of his Progressive base (who wants repeal and is his only hope for avoiding a bloodbath come November) and independents (who he also needs and are mostly against repeal).
This solution allows him to claim victory with the base AND claim that he will listen to his military leaders when speaking to independents. Of course, the military leaders will toe the line or be replaced. If Gates or Mullin do need to be replaced, it will conveniently not be until after the November elections.