Bill Clinton Interrupted At Netroots Nation Annual Convention

Lane Hudson (screaming from the audience): Mr. President, will you call for a repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell right now? Please.

Bill Clinton: ... You want to talk about Don't Ask Don't Tell, I'll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn't deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military, and the media supported them. They raised all kinds of devilment. And all most of you did was to attack me instead of getting me some support in the Congress. Now that's the truth.

Secondly -- it's true! You know, you may have noticed that presidents aren't dictators. They voted -- they were about to vote for the old policy by margins exceeding 80 percent in the House and exceeding 70 percent in the Senate. The gave test votes out there to send me a message that they were going to reverse any attempt I made by executive order to force them to accept gays in the military. And let me remind you that the public opinion now is more strongly in our favor than it was 16 years ago, and I have continued supporting it. That John Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under me, was against Don't Ask -- was against letting gays serve -- is now in favor of it. This is a different world. That's the point I'm trying to make.

Let me also say something that never got sufficient publicity at the time: When General Colin Powell came up with this Don't Ask Don't Tell, it was defined while he was chairman much differently than it was implemented. He said: 'If you will accept this, here's what we'll do. We will not pursue anyone. Any military members out of uniform will be free to march in gay rights parades, go to gay bars, go to political meetings. Whatever mailings they get, whatever they do in their private lives, none of this will be a basis for dismissal.' It all turned out to be a fraud because of the enormous reaction against it among the middle-level officers and down after it was promulgated and Colin was gone. So nobody regrets how this was implemented any more than I do. But the Congress also put that into law by a veto-proof majority, and many of your friends voted for that, believing the explanation about how it would be eliminated. So, I hated what happened. I regret it. But I didn't have, I didn't think at the time, any choice if I wanted any progress to be made at all. Look, I think it's ridiculous. Can you believe they spent -- whatever they spent -- $150,000 to get rid of a valued Arabic speaker recently?

And, you know, the thing that changed me forever on Don't Ask Don't Tell was when I learned that 130 gay service people were allowed to serve and risk their lives in the first Gulf War, and all their commanders knew they were gay; they let them go out there and risk their lives because they needed them, and then as soon as the first Gulf War was over, they kicked them out. That's all I needed to know, that's all anybody needs to know, to know that this policy should be changed.

Now, while we're at it, let me just say one thing about DOMA, since you -- the reason I signed DOMA was -- and I said when I signed it -- that I thought the question of whether gays should marry should be left up to states and to religious organizations, and if any church or other religious body wanted to recognize gay marriage, they ought to. We were attempting at the time, in a very reactionary Congress, to head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states. And if you look at the 11 referenda much later -- in 2004, in the election -- which the Republicans put on the ballot to try to get the base vote for President Bush up, I think it's obvious that something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress from presenting that. The President doesn't even get to veto that. The Congress can refer constitutional amendments to the states. I didn't like signing DOMA and I certainly didn't like the constraints that were put on benefits, and I've done everything I could -- and I am proud to say that the State Department was the first federal department to restore benefits to gay partners in the Obama administration, and I think we are going forward in the right direction now for federal employees. ...

But, actually, all these things illustrate the point I'm trying to make. America has rapidly moved to a different place on a lot of these issues, and so what we have to decide is what we are going to do about it. Right now, the Republicans are sitting around rooting for the president to fail, as nearly as I can see.

PITTSBURGH (AP) | They wish he'd done more in his first eight months, but the liberal bloggers who helped propel Barack Obama to the White House are far from giving up on him.

Gathered in Pittsburgh for the annual Netroots Nation convention, they say they're not disappointed. At least not too disappointed. Yet.

"He's making some strides ... but I think there needs to be more action," says Los Angeles-based blogger Lisa Derrick, who writes daily about politics, entertainment and pop culture on Firedoglake.com under the name La Figa.

Rumblings on the left could spell trouble down the road for the president and for other Democrats. The group MoveOn.org is threatening to run ads against moderate and conservative Democrats who don't toe the line on Mr. Obama's health care overhaul push.

The president himself is giving too much ground on health care, in the eyes of some of the bloggers here. Some also think he ought to be getting out of Iraq faster. And they want him to do away with the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

And they view the health care debate with trepidation, saying Mr. Obama has not provided a clear plan or spoken out strongly enough against hard-line critics who have turned some lawmakers' town-hall meetings into screaming matches. Now, they say, Mr. Obama is on the defensive, weakening his attempt to overhaul the system.

"They're compromising too easy, too soon," said Pittsburgh-based blogger David DeAngelo, who writes on the Web site 2politicaljunkies.

Netroots Nation Agenda for 2009Thu, 08/13/2009 - 9:00am, 301/302

The election of Barack Obama as President has led many to view our country as entering a "post-racial" era. The Sotomayor nomination, the arrest of Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., reaction to Attorney General Eric Holder's "nation of cowards" remarks, the controversy over the New York Post cartoon of a police officer shooting a chimpanzee and many other incidents indicate that Obama's election may only be the beginning—not the end—of a post-racial America. Panelists will discuss and share analyses on the role of race both following President Obama's inauguration, and its impact on progressive thinking and communication.

PANELISTS: Keith Kamisugi, Rinku Sen, Rich Benjamin, Annabel Park

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 9:00am, 311

From the passage of Prop 8 to the election of Barack Obama to the White House, the 2008 election had a profound impact on the fight for full LGBT equality in all 50 states.

This panel will tackle how we win and defend marriage equality state-by-state and how we build momentum for full LGBT equality across America. What are the lessons learned from the Prop 8 loss in California that Maine and other states can learn in their battle for marriage equality? How will we restore marriage equality to California? And how can the netroots help win these battles?

PANELISTS: Pam Spaulding, Monique Hoeflinger, Michael Wilson, Julia Rosen

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 10:30am, 301/302

This session, moderated by AAM Executive Director Scott Paul, offers ideas and elicits participants’ recommendations on how bloggers can help combat Wall Street’s domination over the interests of working Americans.

PANELISTS: Scott Paul, Leo Gerard, Bob Borosage, Donna Edwards, Tula Connell, Marcy Wheeler

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 3:00pm, 315/316

How do you approach unions in your community for help with grassroots events or campaigning? Many feel intimidated in contacting a union and don't understand union hierarchy or what capabilities are available, and many union members have no idea what help bloggers can provide them. In this panel, union members and bloggers will discuss how to create and strengthen the relationship between labor and the Netroots.

PANELISTS: Chris Shannon, Matt Browner Hamlin, Elana Levin, Blaine Rummel, Eddie Vale