Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:00 pm
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly was on The Tonight Show last night where revealed that he seems to have changed his position on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. When asked about it by Jay Leno, Bill-O said, “Just sign an executive order. I don’t know why it’s taking so long.” Good Lord, even O’Reilly is further to the left than Obama on this one.
Here is the video and transcript from Think Progress:
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Transcript:
LENO: I don’t know if you heard the thing I was mentioning, it actually made me angry. That kid, the West Point kid [Dan Choi], what’s your take on that?
O’REILLY: Well I don’t get it. President Obama has the power to stop this Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell business. Just sign an executive order. I don’t know why it’s taking so long.
LENO: And to me, doesn’t it cost like $300,000 to send a kid to West Point? He speaks Arabic…Anybody that’s willing to take a bullet for me is OK in my book.
O’REILLY: Yeah, but $300,000 to the government – that’s like $0.30, you know what I mean? So, they don’t care about cost. But, look, it’s just not fair, we should stop this nonsense.
For some odd reason the Obama administration has already rejected the idea of using an executive order to repeal DADT. In June 2009, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated Obama’s preference for repealing DADT through legislation, “I mean, I think there could be differences on strategy. I think our belief is that the only and best way to do this is through a durable, comprehensive legislative process.”
Watch the video of Gibbs:
The White House reluctance is extremely bizarre because not only did Obama campaign on repealing DADT in 2008, but the American public is overwhelmingly in favor of getting rid of it. May CNN poll revealed that 78% of the American people favor repealing DADT. Pardon me, if I express a fair degree of skepticism about O’Reilly’s leftward turn on DADT.
Bill-O is most consistent in his inconsistency, so no one should be surprised if later this week, he is on his Fox News show telling us why DADT should be the law of the land. Repealing DADT would be an easy popular victory for Barack Obama. Plus, if even O’Reilly can see that this is a good idea, at least for one day, what is taking the President so long? DADT was a flawed half baked compromise from the get go. Obama has said as much. It is time for this president to do the right thing and end this silly policy.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
