Griper Blade: Obama Shying Away From a Fight He's Sure to Win

Yesterday, the Supreme Court turned down a challenge to the military's ban on gays serving openly. In declining to hear a suit brought by former Army Captain James E. Pietrangelo II, the court let stand a lower court's decision. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) will stand. "Pietrangelo appealed to the Supreme Court on his own, while most of the other plaintiffs asked the court to not to review the case, preferring to allow the administration to deal with the issue," the Washington Post reports.

For now. The Obama administration has promised to do away with the ban, but that seems to be one the backburner -- so far back, in fact, that the Supreme Court's decision was a win for the administration. "When Barack Obama sought the presidency, he pledged to reverse the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy preventing gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military," according to a piece at TIME. "Yet on Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a gay Ohio soldier's challenge to the law -- with the legal backing of none other than the Obama Administration."

The administration sees legislative action as the only lasting solution. It's hard to see why a court decision wouldn't have the sort of legs a law would -- I give you Roe v. Wade -- but this is the argument. The administration has a plan to end DADT, we're assured, so don't get so antsy.

And the administration, already fighting for economic recovery, is concentrated on health care reform. It's widely believed that the White House thinks they have no political capital to spare -- it's now or never for health care reform.

But how much political capital would it take to end DADT? Turns out the answer is "not much."... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]