Obama To Make DADT Announcement At State Of The Union Address?

The Marine Corps Times is reporting that the White House has delayed the announcement of congressional hearings about the repeal of DADT because President Obama may reveal his intentions on the issue during Wednesday's State Of The Union address.

The Senate Armed Services Committee expects to have a series of hearings, one focusing on the views of military leaders, another on the views of outside witnesses and possibly panels of junior officers and noncommissioned officers, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee chairman. Levin said Monday that an announcement of the hearings has been delayed at the request of senior Defense Department officials until after President Obama’s speech. 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.”

Earlier today many progressive blogs were critical of the lack of announced dates for the DADT hearings. Can we hope that this is the reason?