In Case You Were Wondering What Happened to That ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Hearing

There was supposed to be one this week in the Senate Armed Services Committee, but — as I told our editorial meeting with some embarrassment — it wasn’t placed on the panel’s calendar. Here’s why: the Obama administration and the military asked for a delay until President Obama addresses the subject in the State of the Union:

Levin said he does not know what Obama might say, but he expects it will be an announcement of the administration’s intentions. Hearings were supposed to start with military leaders, Levin said, but he might change the order to get hearings underway if senior military officials need more time to prepare. ‘I am willing to switch things up,’ he said. ‘I am committed to starting the hearings in February.’ Having junior officers and noncommissioned officers and petty officers testify could be an important step in getting the policy changed, Levin said, especially because he believes there are ‘generational differences’ in views about the presence of gays and lesbians in the ranks. Younger people are more likely to be accepting of a policy change than older people, Levin said.”

DADT is one of many, many issues where progressives — particularly in the gay community — have been frustrated by the slow approach to change that the administration has either acquiesced to or outright embraced.