GetEQUAL strikes again with protest at White House's Common Purpose meeting

UPDATE @ 11:01 PM Here's the video of the group going after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, the man who claimed only a few months ago that DADT would be repealed this year.  How's that plan going, Jim?



UPDATE @ 8:14 PM via email from GetEQUAL. It was quite a protest:

David Smith, Vice President of Policy and Strategy for the Human Rights Campaign, Winnie Stachelberg, Sr. VP for External Affairs for CAP; Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, were greeted tonight by the protestors and asked to stand with the LGBT community and not attend the meeting. All three of them chose instead to cross the protest line and enter into the hotel. Smith refused saying, “I’m running late”.

Also, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina was greeted tonight by protestors who chanted to him “Obama, What’s Your Plan?” and “Keep Your Promise!

Here's a photo of Justin Elzie, Rob Smith and Scott Wooledge at the protest:

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On Tuesday nights here in DC, there's usually a gathering of White House staffers, often led by Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, with leaders of progressive organizations. The meeting is called "Common Purpose," but is better known as the "veal pen" -- a term coined by Jane Hamsher. Basically, the White House gives the groups their marching orders -- and most of the groups have done as instructed. We can see how well that's worked.

Among those attending the meeting tonight are CAP's Winnie Stachelberg and HRC's V.P. David Smith. Rea Carey from the Task Force is there, too. (UPDATE: Just learned Messina was there.)

Tonight, the Common Purpose attendees were met by representatives from GetEQUAL, including seven of the DADT protesters who were arrested yesterday for handcuffing themselves to the White House fence. They decided to directly address the progressive leaders, because as the sign notes, "There's no common purpose without equality."

From GetEQUAL's press release:

This evening, seven of the original 13 LGBT veterans and advocates who were arrested yesterday at the White House fence, stood outside of the Capitol Hilton (1001 16th Street NW) to protest the White House’s “Common Purpose” meeting, a mostly secret, low-profile gathering of White House officials and institutional, progressive organizations aimed at controlling the agenda and messaging around those issues, which includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. The invite-only meeting, first launched back in 2009 by White House Chief of Staff Rahmn Emanuel, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and others, has been previously criticized by liberal, progressive bloggers and advocates for its attempt to shut-down any resistance to the White House’s strategy by instilling fear of retribution amongst the organizations invited.

Here's the quote from GetEQUAL's Heather Cronk via Politico:

"The White House's Common Purpose meeting is the primary way that progressive ideas and values supported by a majority of Americans are being upended and compromised," said Cronk in an email to POLITICO. "We are calling on the progressive groups attending these meetings to shake free the yoke of White House staff who are refusing to push forward the progressive ideals that President Obama campaigned on."

Here are the messages the will greet the Common Purpose attendees tonight. I'll post more about the protest when I get more details:




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Sen. Levin admits he may remove DADT from Defense Authorization

The Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, carries significant sway over what happens to the Defense Authorization bill. About 10 days ago, we heard rumblings that Levin was negotiating with McCain about removing the DADT language from the Defense Authorization bill. Today, Levin acknowledged it. So this wasn't background noise after all:

The measure to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military may have to be dropped from the defense authorization bill in order to get the bill passed this year, said Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-MI).

"I'm trying to get the bill through Congress. I'm the committee chairman for a 900 page bill. ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is two pages of 900 pages. My focus is different from the media focus. I'm just trying to get a bill passed," Levin told reporters at the Capitol building on Tuesday.

While no final decisions have been made, Levin said one option was to separate the language on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" from the rest of the bill, and then making two separate efforts to pass the both pieces of legislation.

"I'm trying to get both done. And if I can't get both done, I want to get one of them done," Levin said.

The one he really wants to get done is the Defense Authorization bill. This is not good. Not good at all. As Senator Udall told Kerry Eleveld:

I do think the best way to move this forward is in the NDAA and I do worry that if we don’t formalize the repeal process in statute now that we may not have this opportunity for a number of years in the future.

Removing the DADT language from the legislation is almost certain to kill it. There's just not enough time left for the Senate to act. And, it probably didn't help that there was an article in today's Washington Post titled, "'Don't ask, don't tell' splitting gay rights groups." Thanks for nothing, Palm Center.

Promises have been made, repeatedly. Promises have not been kept. On October 27th, the President said "there is a strategy" on DADT:

SUDBAY: Is there a strategy for the lame-duck session to --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

SUDBAY: -- and you’re going to be involved?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

SUDBAY: Will Secretary Gates be involved?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m not going to tip my hand now. But there is a strategy.

I thought Obama understood that I meant I was asking if there is a strategy to pass the DADT language. Because, we haven't seen anything close to that emerging. Time is running out. Earlier today, Atrios tweeted:

DADT has been one of those 'shut up and trust us' issues. so outcome will be revealing

It sure will be. Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Mark Udall: 'best move forward' for DADT is in Def. Bill -- and he hasn't spoken to White House

Kerry Eleveld interviewed Senator Mark Udall, who actually has been a fierce advocate for us on Capitol Hill. Udall sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has been one of the leaders on DADT repeal. The interview is worth a read. But, several questions stuck out for me. This one:

There is this talk of potentially stripping the repeal measure from the bill and passing the NDAA without it. In your opinion, is there any scenario under which you could get “don’t ask, don’t tell” through if it’s not attached to the Defense bill?

I don’t think there is, but I always believe hope springs eternal. I do think the best way to move this forward is in the NDAA and I do worry that if we don’t formalize the repeal process in statute now that we may not have this opportunity for a number of years in the future. If you listen to Sec. [Robert] Gates and Adm. [Mike] Mullen, they want the repeal in law, they want the Congress to have the final say. This is the most appropriate way to repeal an outdated policy that undercuts our national security.

That should help shut down the inane, counter-productive strategy concocted by the Palm Center, which no one can makes sense of.

And these two:

Do you get the sense that the White House is actively involved here? Have you spoken with them, and do you get the sense that they are having conversations with other senators?

I believe that a number of senators who are on the fence would benefit greatly from hearing directly from the president, the Secretary of Defense, and the from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs on the importance of passing the Defense bill and, included in that, the repeal provision.

That would be helpful. I don’t know whether they are doing that, but I’ve been weighing in on a series of letters and comments and outreach efforts to the White House, to other senators, and to the general public. So that would be helpful.

But you haven’t spoken with the White House directly?

I have not specifically spoken to the White House.

Still waiting for that promised White House strategy. Not seeing it. Read the rest of this post...

The Daily Show to John McCain (and Cindy): 'It Gets Worse'

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Protesters speaking out on the White House fence

You'll hear from Dan Choi, Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Miriam Ben-Shalom (who was arrested on the White House fence in 1993), Robin McGehee, U.S. Army Veteran and Repeal Advocate Rob Smith, Cpl. Evelyn Thomas (who got arrested in April) and Father Geoff Farrow. During Father Geoff's remarks, the police moved in and pushed back the crowd.

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Inspirational Arianna on DADT 'and the larger fight for equality'

Just caught this article over at Huffington Post and was inspired.

Protesters chaining themselves to the White House gate today, objecting to what they called the "silent homophobia of those who purport to be our friends and do nothing," capped a tumultuous few days in the fight to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- and the larger fight for equality.

There was the one step forward represented by the leak of a Pentagon study showing that 70 percent of active-duty and reserve troops surveyed thought lifting DADT wouldn't have a negative impact on America's armed forced. Followed by the two steps back of the Supreme Court's order on Friday allowing the ban on openly gay soldiers to remain in effect while the Obama administration fights a federal appeals court ruling that the policy is unconstitutional, and John McCain -- who has said in the past that he'd be open to repealing DADT -- making it clear that, in fact, he wouldn't. Not now. Not yet.

On a day where we saw some of our brave civil rights advocates chain themselves to the White House fence to protest passive or "silent homophobia," and then get hauled away, a little inspiration is most definitely in order.

Arianna reminds us the LGBT civil rights journey will be the typical one step forward and two steps back political kabuki, but eventually we will win recognition of our rights because our community will not give up engaging the battle and continue chipping away at the notion we somehow do not deserve equality.

Of course, just because it's inevitable doesn't mean that it won't take a fight to make it happen. It will. It's the same old fight to make sure that America stays on the path leading to a more perfect union.

No matter the reversals, the betrayals by our supposed friends and persistent challenges from our enemies our cause is right and just and our victory is inevitable. The only question that remains is how long will the fight for recognition of our equal rights take, and who will choose to engage so that they will be on the right side of history and celebrate our victory with us. Read the rest of this post...