President Obama simply can't buy a break. He's trying to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell but he was heckled AGAIN by a gay rights supporter at a California fundraiser last night. Umm, memo to gay rights supporter: President Obama is in YOUR SIDE!! It's not like he's "W" or Bill Clinton. The President is taking flack from the right and from the left on this issue. This just shows the fervent desire and pushy attitude among gay rights supporters. They will NEVER give up the fight. They are not going away. It has served them well but can’t you cut the President a little slack? He’s in a tough political environment so taking on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a heavy lift.
The story is below from The Hill newspaper but the video is below:
President Barack Obama was heckled by a protester Tuesday night while at a fundraising event for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in San Francisco.
The protester was upset with the pace of the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay military service members.
According to a pool report, a man yelled out: “Move faster on ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.’”
“It’s good to see ya,” Obama replied as the crowd started to boo. The man continued to shout remarks that were inaudible to media in the room.
The interruption was the second-time Obama was stopped during remarks for Boxer over the course of about a month.
In late April, Obama appeared at an event for the California senator in Los Angeles, when he was shouted down by a group of gay rights protesters also upset with the administration's handling of the issue. The president referenced the incident on Tuesday.
"I have to say, you know what? I saw this guy down in LA," Obama said. "Two points I want to make...he really should like buy a ticket to, if he wants to demonstrate, buy a ticket to a guy who doesn’t support his point of view."
According to the gay rights group getEQUAL, the man who interrupted the president is Kip Williams -- one of the group's co-founders.
The interruption came just one day after the White House announced it had struck a deal with Congress to support legislation repealing the ban, as long as the implementation takes place after the Pentagon concludes its year-long review of repealing the policy. The plan is not guaranteed to pass Congress.
Obama said of the man: "maybe he didn’t read the newspapers because we are working with Congress as we speak to roll back ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell.'"
GetEQUAL has said the deal is not enough.
"My question still remains, and I've yet to find anyone who signed off on yesterday’s compromise able to give me a direct answer to, 'when exactly will the discharges stop?,'" said Lt. Dan Choi in a statement. Choi, who is affiliated with the group, is an Iraq war veteran who was booted from the Army because he is gay.
But Obama said that the protester was not himself convinced of that sentiment.
“I actually think he does read the newspapers because he wasn’t as - his heart wasn’t in it – he said ‘Do it faster.’ C’mon man...," he added.