The Valerie Jarrett LIE About Obama’s DOJ And “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Jarrett: “The justice department has no choice but to defend the laws that are on the books.”

I’m sorry, but that is a lie in this case.

Yesterday morning I wrote of Valerie Jarrett, “some now might say in the White House’s multi-faceted “good cop, bad cop” relationship with the gay and lesbian community [Jarrett] is definitely the “bad cop.” Jarrett, you’ll remember, last week professed the being gay was a “lifestyle choice,” which she had to walk back quickly. And yesterday morning, Jarrett lied on CNN, claiming the White House is required to defend “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Well, Jarrett reiterated that same lie yesterday afternoon again on CNN, after Dan Choi courageously took Jarrett and the president to task for their stubborn inaction and wrongful actions.

And Jarrett, one of the top three senior advisors to the president, while on CNN, couldn’t even commit that the White House would pick up a phone, send even an email to key Senators asking for them to vote for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Shameful.

Like Obama, Jarrett throws all the blame and responsibility back on Congress, without even recognizing her power to take action, to push Congress.

Shameful.

Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog yesterday wrote, “Does the Obama administration understand how badly they’ve handled this issue?”

“Jarrett stated that DOJ “has no choice but to defend the laws that are on the books.” That’s just not true. She should know better by now, especially since the Obama DOJ has refused to enforce a number of laws. Even Ted Olson says they don’t have to appeal. But she keeps saying it.

“Then, when Wolf Blitzer asked her why the President doesn’t say the law is unconstitutional, she claims he’s done just that. That question HAS NOT been answered. It’s simply not true.”

Sudbay follows up today with this:

“Last night, in response to the Jarrett interview, Mike Signorile posted his interview from Wedensday with Diane Mazur. She was quoted in the Newsweek article, which stated, “‘Most experts in constitutional and military law say he has other options.” Jarrett was flat out wrong. Other options means he did have choices. Here’s Mike’s synopsis. Listen to the audio:

One of those respected constitutional military legal experts who’s been quoted in the press in recent days is Diane Mazur, a former Air Force officer who is a law professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. In an interview on the show on Wednesday, Mazur told me that President Obama is on much more solid ground in not appealing this decision than even Bill Clinton was when he decided that the ban on people with HIV in the military was unconstitutional and refused to defend it. In Mazur’s legal analysis, not appealing is neither risky nor out of the ordinary. As Ted Olson said, it’s actually “appropriate.” We also talked about how the president could end the discharges now and the options he has had all along. Listen in to the audio clip, and also watch Dan Choi and Valerie Jarrett on CNN.

“This is maddening. And, the White House has made such a mess of the DADT issue.”

This unwillingness to see how one’s personal power and ability affects issues and outcomes reminds me, sadly, of how this week Maggie Gallagher washed her hands of the anti-gay bullied teen suicides. “Don’t blame me for gay teen suicides,” Gallagher cries. Gallagher, as I wrote yesterday, “whom many (yours, truly, included,) indeed do blame for gay teen suicides, asks, “Do I have blood on my hands?”

Of course you do, Maggie, you can’t deny it, as hard as you may try, just as Jarrett and the White House cannot deny their responsibility or ability to push this bill into passage, as hard as they may try.

Shameful.