Gibbs Dodges Obama '96 Question

Outgoing White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today once again dodged Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson's questions about the president's 1996 position on same-sex marriage. One gets the sense that Gibbs is so ready to be through with this job.

Tweet Of The Day - Robert Gibbs

As we saw last year in Iran, the roles of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube cannot be underestimated in these things.

Robert Gibbs Nearly Ends Press Conference Over Obama's Position On Marriage

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today nearly cut his press conference short after Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson pressed him about the president's 1996 support of same-sex marriage, a position Obama later reversed. Gibbs resumed taking questions after other reporters complained. Johnson has been relentless on LGBT issues with Gibbs for the last couple of weeks.

Robert Gibbs Dodges ENDA Question

The same reporter who earlier this week grilled White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about DOMA today returned with similar questions about ENDA. With a similarly waffle-filled result.

Robert Gibbs: Legislative Overturn Of DOMA Unlikely To Happen

Today White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that a legislative overturn of DOMA is "inordinately challenging given the current make-up of Congress." No kidding. Gibbs dodged a reporter's question on whether the president regrets not moving on DOMA when the Democrats controlled the House and instead referenced the "monumental achievement" of the repeal of DADT.

Robert Gibbs To Resign

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced today that he will resign, effective next month, to begin working on President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.

A veteran of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Gibbs would bring an experienced hand to Obama's bid for a new term. His departure is among several looming staff changes as Obama regroups for the second half of his four-year term and prepares to ask Americans for a second term in 2012. White House senior adviser David Axelrod is to return to Chicago and help set up the re-election campaign after the president's State of the Union address, tentatively scheduled for January 25. Obama is also in discussions on whether to retain Pete Rouse as White House chief of staff or bring in J.P. Morgan Chase executive William Daley for the job. Daley was U.S. commerce secretary for President Bill Clinton.

Robert Gibbs Grilled By Reporters On DADT

Some of the questions are from the Washington Blade's Chris Johnson and the Advocate's Kerry Eleveld.

Robert Gibbs: Obama Meets Today With Joint Chiefs Over DADT Study

The study is set to be released tomorrow. Wonk Room has the transcript:

GIBBS: I believe the President has seen part of [the report]…I think the President strongly believed that this was an issue that can and should be solved legislatively, encourage the Senate to act legislatively on the Defense Authorization bill and particularly on changing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That’s our position now and I don’t believe the release of the report will do anything but strengthen that case.

DOJ Will Appeal DADT Reinstatement Of USAF Major Margaret Witt

The Department of Justice has filed a brief announcing their intent to appeal the reinstatement of Major Margaret Witt, whose DADT-related discharge was overturned by a federal court in September. Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:

With today's filing, DOJ stated in a docketing statement required to be filed with the Notice of Appeal that the principal issue to be raised on appeal is: "Whether plaintiff's discharge pursuant to 10 U.S.C 654 and its implementing regulations was constitutional and whether plaintiff should have been ordered reinstated to the military, subject to meeting applicable requirements respecting qualifications for continued service."

Geidner adds that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs took note of today's action by the DOJ and cautioned, "This filing in no way diminishes the President’s -- and his Administration’s -- firm commitment to achieving a legislative repeal of DADT this year. Indeed, it clearly shows why Congress must act to end this misguided policy."

Robert Gibbs Warns Congress: Don't Leave Repeal Of DADT To The Courts

Igor Volsky has the details at Wonk Room:

This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs listed repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as a priority for the lame duck session after the Thanksgiving recess and reiterated the now oft-repeated warning that if Congress fails to lift the ban, the matter could be decided by the courts. “Do this legislatively, which provides an avenue with which to implement the policy. A court doing this is not likely to provide the Pentagon and others with a pathway for doing this,” Gibbs explained. He also said he expects Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) to hold hearings on the Pentagon’s Working Group study of the policy — whose release has now been bumped up to November 30 — on December 1, but would not say if President Obama personally asked Gates to expedite its release.

Enormous Consequences

The Palm Center has launched Enormous Consequences, a website created in reaction to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' recent statement about the overturn of DADT.

Above is a clock with the running total of hours during which gays have been allowed to serve openly, as well as a chart with the number of reported consequences of the new policy. The Palm Center has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for documentation on all negative consequences that result from the new policy.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: This President Will End DADT

Advocate Reporter Kerry Eleveld Grills Robert Gibbs On DADT

AmericaBlog's Joe Sudbay directs us to this clip of Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld questioning White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about the president's plans regarding DADT. Gibbs responds that the president will be "actively involved" in DADT's overturn during the coming lame duck session of Congress.

Rep. Alan Grayson Rips Robert Gibbs

"He knows Fox's talking points and little else."

Rep. Alan Grayson Calls On President Obama To Fire Robert Gibbs

HomoQuotable - David Mixner

"First of all, lets be extremely clear. Public Option was not a fringe issue. The desire for human rights and freedom for the American LGBT community is clearly rooted in the Constitution of the United States. Wanting our young not to die in useless foreign wars doesn't appear to me to be radical. Not wanting 14% of America's children to go to bed hungry at night seems like a reasonable expectation. And yes, waking up in the morning and knowing you have the dignity of a job is essential for the soul of America.

"These issues are not fringe, not left and not unreasonable. President Obama promised us if we believed again he would take us there. Maybe it is time in the White House and in the Obama administration to seriously examine their behavior, let some people go and try and start anew." - Former Clinton White House adviser David Mixner, responding to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' denouncement of the "professional left" to The Hill.

Gibbs says of America's progressives: "These people ought to be drug tested. They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality. They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."

Robert Gibbs: White House Will Wait Until Pentagon Completes DADT Repeal Study

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the White House remains committed to repealing DADT, but will not push for action until the Pentagon completes its repeal implementation study, which is expected to be concluded in December. Reporter Kerry Eleveld: "So that rules out legislative action this year?" Gibbs: "The House and the Senate are obviously different branches of government. The president has a process and proposal I think that he believes is the best way forward to seeing, again, the commitment he has made for many years to changing that law."

This clip opens with Gibbs and Eleveld discussing the unprecedented action taken by the police and Secret Service during GetEQUAL's protest yesterday, when they pushed back reporters attempting to cover the action. Lafayette Park, a frequent site of protests on many issues, was closed entirely to everybody during the arrests. Reporters are usually allowed to remain.

Gibbs: Even Obama Would Find Recent DOJ-DADT Brief To Be Odd

Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld grills press secretary Robert Gibbs about the DOJ's most recent brief in defense on DADT, which cited a 1993 quote from Colin Powell.

Top Iraq GI Supports DADT Repeal, White House Won't Commit To Timetable

Recently we've seen been nonstop support for the repeal of DADT from the upper echelons of the armed services.

The top commanding general in Iraq says he thinks everyone - gay and straight - should be allowed to serve in the military "as long as we are still able to fight our wars." The comment by Gen. Raymond Odierno (Oh-dee-AIR-no) is among the first to come from a senior military leader currently leading troops in battle since the Pentagon announced earlier this month that it will study the issue. Odierno helped lead a troop buildup in Iraq that reduced violence and has paved the way for a planned reduction of U.S. forces.

Yet today White House spokeswaffle Robert Gibbs refused to commit to a 2010 repeal attempt.

Eggs, Milk, Hope, Change

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs got a laugh when he let reporters see the notes on his hand today.

Gibbs' move was a jab at Sarah Palin, who was shown to have written notes on her hand at a speech at the Tea Party convention Saturday after making an implicit criticism of the president for using a TelePrompTer. Gibbs quipped that he had made the notes in case he and his family are snowed in by the storm approaching Washington. He said the words written on his hands included "eggs" and "milk" and that he had written "bread" but crossed it out. A close up of the palm also revealed the words "hope" and "change," which Gibbs said he included "just in case I forgot that."