Feel the Hopey Changeyness!

Pentagon prepares to relax enforcement of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Ooh, relax enforcement. How sexy! How progressive! How totally not good enough.

The Pentagon is scheduled to announce Thursday that it will relax enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" rules that prevent gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military, a decision that officials described as a temporary measure until Congress can take permanent action.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to announce that the military will no longer investigate the sexual orientation of service members based on anonymous complaints, will restrict testimony from third parties and will require high-ranking officers to review all cases, sources familiar with the changes said.

Good on the Pentagon for doing what they can. But, it's like, how fucking hard is it to get this shit done already? Infuriatingly, this is yet another example of where Obama won't be a fucking leader. If the Democratic president told Democratically-led Congress to get it done now, they'd get it done now. But he's all, "Um whut? Well, hey, it's up to Congress! Don't look at me!"

And the thing that's really irksome is that this is the perfect time to do it, when everyone's paying attention to healthcare. Instead, let's drag it out and then claim we can't do it six months from now because it's TOO CLOSE TO ELECTIONS! And everyone knows that getting reelected is way more important than PRINCIPLES!

[Cue someone patronizingly explaining to me How Politics Works, without a trace of irony that Obama was elected on the explicit promise to change How Politics Works. It would be hilarious, if it weren't so goddamn tragic.]