Former Clinton adviser Paul Begala once referred to executive orders by saying, "Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool." Executive orders aren't supposed to make law, but that's the way the Clinton White House views it. A concrete example is the October 7th executive order that carries the inoccuous title, "1999 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States." It didn't get much media attention, but what Clinton did with a stroke of the pen was give homosexuals special protection in the military.
If you thought this was settled years ago, your assumption is correct. Clinton threatened to issue an executive order back in 1993 forcing open homosexuals into the military. But there was such an uproar in Congress and across the nation that Clinton backed down. The compromise, known as "Don't ask, don't tell," passed the Congress. It continued the ban on open homosexuals in the military, and the enforcement procedures implemented by the Department of Defense gave local commanders the authority to investigate suspected homosexuals. If they had openly proclaimed their homosexuality, they were out.
Clinton, who has raised millions of campaign dollars from the homosexuals, has been chipping away at that policy ever since. Recently the Pentagon changed the enforcement procedures, requiring approval of investigations of homosexuals from civilians in the Pentagon. These civilians are political appointees who could, in fact, be homosexuals themselves. They will resist authorizing the investigation and removal of homosexuals. The result is that more homosexuals will remain in the armed services and move up in the ranks.
This is one way that Clinton uses executive power to undermine laws passed by Congress. He simply orders the Pentagon to implement guidelines that contradict the letter and spirit of the law. But Clinton's other weapon is the executive order. He doesn't seem ready to issue an executive order that overturns the law itself. That might provoke controversy. So he issues an executive order that is designed to give homosexuals more rights under the Code of Military Justice. His latest directive adds the term "sexual orientation" to a list of characteristics that can be considered when the military prosecutes people for crimes. In other words, Clinton is recognizing the existence of anti-homosexual "hate crimes" in the military. This is curious because open homosexuals aren't supposed to be in the military in the first place.
Clinton's new executive order on homosexuals also has new guidelines relating to communications between military personnel and psychotherapists. This amounts to protection for homosexuals to talk about their homosexuality to a psychotherapist. It helps prevent investigators from discovering the truth about a soldier's homosexuality.
Congress passed the original law not because there was any desire to punish homosexuals, but because such conduct is extremely damaging to order and discipline in the armed forces. Clinton, a draft-dodger, doesn't care about that. His latest executive order protecting gays in the military was issued just six days after he spoke at the largest homosexual political fundraiser ever. It was expected to bring in about $900,000 for liberal candidates in next year's election. In essence, homosexual rights groups are buying their way into the Armed Services of the United States. They don't have to worry about Congress as long as they have purchased the services of a president who will do their bidding.
(30)
America’s Survival, P.O. Box 146, Owings, MD 20736 www.usasurvival.org |