Email #44, President Obama; Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell

Email #44

December 19, 2010

Dear President Obama,

Today I express my gratitude to you and all the fighters who voted for and supported the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. There is gratitude all across the land. And there is also sense of amazement.

We are amazed that so many law makers could be opposed to a civil rights measure because of bigotry. And they escaped censure by hiding behind viewpoints such as: we need to repeal, but not now; this is not the time; not when two wars are going on; and all of the statements of General Amos. It is BIGOTRY that is behind the votes of the 31 Senators who voted against the repeal. We all need to remember the names of these 31 Senators and express our outrage at the ballot boxes.

There are many brave, hard-working citizens who deserve our gratitude and I shall be writing to you about them in the days to come.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #44

 

Email #43, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #43

December 17, 2010

Dear President Obama,

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FIRE GENERAL AMOS!!!

THE US SENATE IS SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON DADT TOMORROW

Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland let the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the House of Representatives, for the SECOND Time, the first being last June.

The leaders of the repeal in the US Senate seem to be Senators Lieberman and Snow, and a vote is expected over the weekend. Senator Reid is said to be ready to schedule the vote.

Four US Republican Senators have indicated their support of the repeal of DADT:Senators Scott Brown, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Olympia Snow. It is hoped that they will stand up for the repeal.

Senator Lieberman is quoted in the Washington Post as saying:

“I am confident that we have more than 60 votes to end this law that discriminates against military service members based solely on their sexual orientation. Repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will affirm the Senate’s commitment to the civil rights of all Americans and also make our military even stronger.”

The fact that the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of the USA is being held down the wire of strategies seems appalling. Listening to the gay-haters in the US Congress speak about how harmful we could be in the service of this country is frankly unforgivable.

FIRE GENERAL AMOS

General Amos, the Commandant of the US Marines, deserves to be fired immediately. He clearly will not work with you or Secretary Gates to implement this policy, should it be passed. He has demonstrated his ability to go his own way and directly oppose both you and other superior officers.

General Amos said, “I don’t want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda (hospital) with no legs.” He may not know that the first casualty of the War in Iraq was a US Marine, a GAY MARINE, who lost his leg. This General needs to GO!

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #43

 

 

 

 

Email #42, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #42

December 8, 2010

Dear President Obama,

Yesterday you were in the news making the case for your tax proposals.

Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell has been pushed to the back burner.

The headline in the NY Times states:

Gates Skeptical of Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t tell’.

Secretary Gates was aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.  He said, “I have to say I’m not optimistic that they’re going to get this done.”

After all this:

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to repeal DADT

The Pentagon Study recommends the repeal.

After all this, it is only BIGOTRY that is holding this up and your own lack of leadership. Please be bold and end this BIGOTRY.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #42

Email #41, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #41

December 6, 2010

 

Dear President Obama,

Senator Joseph Lieberman is calling for the Senate to stay in session until the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

From the PostPartisan:

On Monday, Lieberman tweeted a blog post from Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart, saying that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should keep the chamber in session this year until it passes a bill ending “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46011.html#ixzz17M7K7ppi

Joe Lieberman agrees: keep Senate in session to repeal don’t ask don’t tell

We are all wondering what force is going to prevail: the force of civil liberty or prejudice; the force of decency or meanness; the force of justice or contempt.

Over the weekend you received advice from two different sources: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Columnist Frank Rich.

Mayor Bloomberg has urged you to find some new advisors, especially those who can give you sound business advice; and to take a stand and keep it, unlike your about face on the Mosque in downtown Manhattan.

Frank Rich in his Sunday Opinion has characterized you as suffering from political Stockholm Syndrome. You seem to be caving in to the Republicans on one issue after another; and they are simply out to GET you, to bring you down.

Please wake up and ASSERT yourself. This advice is coming from me, from Frank Rich and from Mayor Bloomberg, your friends.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #41

 

Email #40, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #40

December 2, 2010

Dear President Obama,

Today I sent an email to former President Bill Clinton and I would like to enclose a copy for you. He is, after all, the originator of DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL. And I think he ought to show some remorse for what he did and to express his support for the repeal.

Last night I listened to an interview by Rachel Maddow with Clifford Leopold Alexander, Jr., the first African-American Secretary of the Army. He has been an outspoken opponent of DADT and speaks eloquently about the violation of the civil liberties of gay and lesbians in the military.

He puts forward the message that those who are opposed to the repeal are doing so because they are gay-haters, plain and simple. He likens it to the decision of President Harry Truman to allow Black soldiers to serve together with whites. At the time 4 out of 5 white service members were opposed to this. And these white opponents used the same rhetoric to explain their hidden racism: unit cohesion, separate housing, separate toilets, battlefield readiness, etc. It is all RACISM.

President Truman was not deterred.

On July 31, 1948, the Chicago Defender, one of the most powerful black owned and edited newspapers in the country, published the headline “President Truman Wipes Out Segregation In Armed Forces.” Executive Order No. 9981 issued by President Truman provided for “equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” This was the first time that a president used an executive order to implement civil rights principles and was a major victory for civil rights advocates in the quest for full citizenship. Despite these orders, full integration of African Americans in the armed services was carried out slowly. It was not until the end of the Korean conflict that full integration of the armed forces had been achieved.

Please, Mr. President, get your administration out on the street; please put yourself on record, on the nightly news, in the papers.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #40

Dear President Clinton,

On December 21, 1993 your administration issued Defense Directive 1304.26 which has come to be called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Since that time, the lives of so many gay and lesbians have been negatively impacted. They have been hounded, persecuted, spied on, and discharged. There have been 13, 389 gays and lesbians have been discharged. It is estimated that $363, 000, 000 has been lost due to training and other expenses.

Since your name is on the policy, I would have expected you to step forward to make amends to all the soldiers who have suffered from your actions. I urge you now, at this crucial time, to put a public face on your beliefs about the DADT policy. it will eventually, without repeal, prove to be unconstitutional as well as an embarrassing violation of civil liberties and human rights.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #39, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #39

December 1, 2010

Dear President Obama,

The headlines speak for themselves:

DADT Repeal Fully Endorsed In Pentagon Study

I would like to point out to you that there is a direct relationship to the hidden racism against you and the hidden hatred of gays and lesbians in the campaign to keep DADT.

Why do so many Republicans hate you? They will do anything to bring you down. Why do they hate gays and lesbians and they will do anything to prevent advancing the civil rights of GLBT people, all Citizens of the USA.

And they get away with it with code words and policies, such as, the men in the military will have problems showering with gay people. They get away with it by turning a blind eye to the Birthers who claim you were not born in the USA; and they encourage the large number of people who actually think you are a Muslim. This is all part of the plan to beat you down. They can not stand the fact that the Citizens of the USA elected a Black Man to be President. And you, when you side with them, in the case of gay marriage, do your own self a disservice.

The Republicans are threatening to bring the Senate to a halt unless you toe the line, their line. And they will stand in opposition to the repeal of DADT and pretend to be caring lawmakers for the Citizens of this Country. They are racists and homophobes, and should be called just that.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #39

Email #38, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #38

November 30, 2010

Dear President Obama,

The study is published. The headlines are appearing.

DADT Study: Pentagon Report Says Gays Could Serve In Military With No Harm

And the players are lining up.

I hope you are aware that John McCain and Lindsey Graham were busy over the weekend on the political talk show circuit to line up the opposition to the repeal of DADT.

I also hope you are aware that this is NOT about DADT; it is about YOU. They hate you; they are only in this to bring you down. John McCain is still living out the election that he lost to you. He has walked away from his esteemed post as patriot to take up the sad stance of a bitter looser. No matter what conditions he proposes, he changes them when they are met. He is a slippery liar and the only way to stop him is to beat him. This will not end with DADT, Mr. Obama; these Republican senators will stand up one or two at a time to block you, in DADT and then in START, and on it will go, until 2012. They do not have the good of the the Citizens in mind; they are only interested in taking you down.

Senator McCain also said that the repeal of DADT was just the political promise of a naive presidential contender. This is not a matter of politics; it is a matter of Civil Rights.

Gay talk shows are urging listeners to contact their congress members. It would seem that there are no Republican members with any guts to do what is right here. John McCain stated on TV that there is no groundswell from the members of the US Military to repeal DADT. As if, when Blacks were admitted as equal members in the military, there was a groundswell of support. It was just the opposite. It happened, against the wishes of the average soldier, because the policy was unjust and illegal. Let your White House start talking the Citizens. Lots of public talking.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #38

 

Email #37, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #37

November 29, 2010

Dear President Obama,

ONE MORE DAY

One more day to the release of the Pentagon report on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

In my almost daily emails to you I have been stressing the urgency of this issue as it affects the Civil Rights of Gay and Lesbian people who want to serve in the US Military. Not only is it a civil rights issue, but it is also an economic one. A lot of money has been wasted on training of gays

and lesbians, only to have them discharged.

In the documented history of the violation of civil liberties in the military, many US Citizens have been victimized and persecuted. The military has been dominated by white males; deep rifts were exposed in the last 50 years, rifts around the service of Blacks, Jews, and Women. But the military became reliant on the service of these Americans.

According to an article in AP by Anne Flaherty, in a study from July, 1947 “4 out of 5 enlisted men told the Army that they would oppose blacks serving in their units even if whites and blacks didn’t share housing or food facilities.” She also states that the same study revealed deep resentment toward Jews, with servicemen believing that Jews had profited from the war and with them not believing that Jews had suffered in the Holocaust under Hitler.

“Negro outfits should be maintained separately. To do otherwise is to invite trouble and many complications. The equal rights plan should not be forced on the Army as an example to civilians,” said one Army master sergeant from North Carolina to the Pentagon in 1947.

Please support the conventional wisdom that the repeal of DADT will not meet any problems that common sense can not solve.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email # 37

Email #36, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #36

President Obama

November 28, 2010

Dear President Obama,

2 MORE DAYS

Two more days until the Pentagon report is released on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

As we wait for this report and the debate that will follow, this may be a good day to look back on some of the injustices waged on gay and lesbian service members. Each discharge has a face and represents a life negatively impacted by the US Government and, by extension, the Commander-in-Chief of the US Military.

Please view Jo Ann Santangelo’s “Proud to Serve” an exhibit now presented at the Forward Thinking Museum.

http://www.forwardthinkingmuse um.com/jr_wing_proud_to_serve. php

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #36

Email #35, President Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Email #35

November 27, 2010

Dear President Obama,

3 MORE DAYS.

Three more days to wait for the release of the Pentagon Report on Gay and Lesbians in the Military. It is easy to get distracted by important issues of a national interest such as the START Treaty; it’s also easy to get distracted with entertainment such as shopping and football.

Issues of Civil Rights, however, require a constant vigilance. We can’t go to sleep. Vigilance asks that we stay awake until the wrongs are made right.

A new Quinnipac poll finds that 58% of respondents favor a repeal of DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL. Jon Stewart brought up that it took John McCain about 5 minutes to pick his VP running mate and now he needs another year to study the Pentagon Report. He is not our friend, nor your, nor is he any longer a patriot.

For the first time the survey reports that military families support the repeal. 55% with a family member in the military favor a repeal, while 38% are in opposition. It is sad to note that 53% of Republicans are in favor of keeping DADT.

Please help us as we have helped you.

Yours,

Harry Faddis

Email #35