Obama nominates openly gay man to lead Army

[Gaybutton]

Obama nominates openly gay man to lead Army

By Kristen Holmes, CNN White House Producer

September 18, 2015

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Eric K. Fanning to be secretary of the Army, which could make him the first openly gay secretary of a U.S. military branch.

The U.S. Senate must confirm Fanning before he can lead the Army.

"Eric brings many years of proven experience and exceptional leadership to this new role," the President said in a statement. "I am grateful for his commitment to our men and women in uniform, and I am confident he will help lead America's Soldiers with distinction."

This historic move is one of many steps the Obama administration has taken to advance the rights of the LGBT community in the armed forces. In 2010, the President signed a law ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, and earlier this year, the President moved to allow those who identify as transgender to openly serve as well.

Fanning has served as acting under secretary of the Army since June, and before that, served as chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. Fanning also served as under secretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy.

In a statement, Carter called Fanning an "excellent choice" to lead the Army.

"Eric served as my first chief of staff at the Pentagon, and it has been a privilege over the course of my career to work alongside him and watch him develop into one of our country's most knowledgeable, dedicated, and experienced public servants," Carter said. "I know he will strengthen our Army, build on its best traditions, and prepare our ground forces to confront a new generation of challenges."

The American Military Partner Association, a support group for the families of LGBT service members, also praised Obama's decision.

"We are thrilled to see Eric Fanning nominated to lead the world's greatest Army," AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack said in a statement. "History continues to be written and equality marches forward with the nomination of an openly gay man to serve in this significantly important role. Fanning's expertise and knowledge within the defense community together with his sensitivity to issues faced by LGBT service members and their families is why we urge the Senate to move quickly to confirm his appointment."

http://us.cnn.com/2015/09/18/politics/e ... index.html

[lvdkeyes]

Let's see what the Republican led senate will do with this one.

[x-man]

Let's see what the Republican led senate will do with this one.

The ironic tone of your "question" is well-placed. We KNOW what they will do/did--and so did Obama when he made the selection. I wish him well, but I think we should look a little closer at this situation, rather than merely clap our flippers and bark like seals at a sea-world performance because a gay is nominated to oversee the US Army.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, guys, but what the hell difference is it really going to make either to the US Army or to the world? I suggest NONE. The whole brouhaha over this issue reminds me of the excessive ecstasy following the American adoption of same-sex marriage--forced upon them virtually at gunpoint by a very tardy Supreme Court. Of course I am glad when anyone in my community gets a political position. But let's get real. Any significant change in US federal social positions will be taken by the President--with at least one eye on the voters. He will TELL the Sec. of the Army what to do--not ASK him. The President is the Commander in Chief, not the Sec. of the Army, who is several steps away from any real power. So if you all are eagerly awaiting Pride Week at the Pentagon, don't hold your breath.

Then consider also that we are to laud the man who, we hope, will put an LGBT-friendly face on the military power whose mandate is to inflict on the world the political agenda of the country that has done more to screw up the world at least since the Viet Nam War starting in the 1960"s (far earlier if you count their adventures in Latin America and Canada) than any other. When they lost in VN, many of us sighed with relief, thinking "At last they have quite obviously lost a war, and have learned their lesson." But no, they continued, climaxing now in the situation in the Middle East, which they engineered, and which is bringing a hell of a lot of misery and despair to lots of people--including to a lot of LGBTs. ISIS' favourite trick--besides destroying as much as they can of the history of the beginnings of human civilization and chopping people's heads off on YouTube--is to throw gays off the tops of tall buildings to the applause of the onlookers below. (Gays seeking refugee status to Canada from there get an automatic Yes.)

Frankly, this promotion you are all celebrating seems to me more like one of ours going over to the Dark Side.

[Jun]

Then consider also that we are to laud the man who, we hope, will put an LGBT-friendly face on the military power whose mandate is to inflict on the world the political agenda of the country that has done more to screw up the world at least since the Viet Nam War starting in the 1960"s (far earlier if you count their adventures in Latin America and Canada) than any other. When they lost in VN, many of us sighed with relief, thinking "At last they have quite obviously lost a war, and have learned their lesson."

Whilst mistakes have been made, to date, the period when the US has been the number 1 military power on the planet has gone very well. The US has shown admirable restraint and morality, compared with what went previously.

Taking a quick look at history, we see the majority of the nations that have been economically and militarily top of the pile have gone on empire building sprees.
For example: Romans, Mongols, Ottomans, Napolenic French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russians, Chinese, Germans & the British (who assembled the largest recorded empire in history, just ahead of the Mongols).

Whilst the Americans have been top of the pile, they have spent vast sums on the military, made a few mistakes here & there, but not gone empire building. Supporting democracy is generally a good thing, although history is showing this to be a wasted effort in the middle east.

However, all this is very good compared with what went before & most likely compared with what will happen when the US is no longer the number 1 military power.
A change which is quite likely to happen within the next century.

I'm a British citizen.

[Rogie]

However, all this is very good compared with what went before & most likely compared with what will happen when the US is no longer the number 1 military power. A change which is quite likely to happen within the next century.

I'm largely in agreement with Jun's comments.

Actually, when one reads the sort of thing I have quoted below (and assuming it was ever thus), one has to wonder how the US has managed to stay 'top of the pile' for so long.

WASHINGTON — The US Senate's confirmation process of Eric Fanning as Army secretary remained in limbo Monday amid a legal dispute between the Obama administration and Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain.

At issue was whether a federal law that governs how the executive branch fills government vacancies would allow Fanning to serve as acting Army secretary while his nomination was pending. Fanning agreed to step down Monday after McCain pledged in a letter to the Pentagon to halt his confirmation over the issue.

“I wasn’t going to have a hearing while they were in violation of the law; That’s sort of fundamental to the way I do business,” McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters Monday. “You don’t put people in jobs until they are confirmed by the Senate. That’s pretty straightforward.”

No date has been set for McCain’s committee to hold a confirmation hearing for Fanning — a prerequisite before the full Senate votes on his nomination. McCain said the committee staff is reviewing the calendar for a suitable date.

“I’ll be glad to schedule his hearing and we’ll see what happens,” McCain said.

Army Undersecretary Patrick Murphy will serve as acting secretary in the interim. Fanning will serve as a special assistant to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

There have been vacancies for months in the Army's top two civilian positions, secretary and undersecretary, amid personnel shuffling at the Pentagon during the waning months of President Obama's final term.

The job of Army undersecretary had been open since Brad Carson became the acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness in April. Fanning was first tapped to serve as acting undersecretary of the Army in June, and was nominated to the secretary post in mid-September. Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat who served in the House from 2007 to 2011, was nominated to become Army undersecretary in early August.

McCain, a frequent critic of the administration, said Obama’s appointment of Fanning as acting secretary, while Fanning was the nominee, breached the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 — a charge denied by the Pentagon.

“Mr. Fanning's designation as acting secretary of the Army was consistent with longstanding executive branch interpretation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Sowers said in a statement. "Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, however, expressed some concerns about that interpretation of the Act. As a show of comity to address these concerns, Fanning has agreed to step out of his acting role to focus on achieving confirmation in the near future.”

A prohibition may not be explicit in the law. According to the SASC’s ranking Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, there is a federal appeals court decision which, as a legal precedent, says the same person cannot be nominated for a position while acting in that position. Fanning's decision, Reed said, was to comply with the court decision.

Fanning served in many senior executive positions in each of the three military departments. Before he was nominated for secretary in September, he served as Carter’s chief of staff. He became acting secretary Nov. 1, replacing Secretary John McHugh, whose retirement was effective on the previous day.

Fanning, if confirmed, would be the first openly gay secretary of a military branch.

The office of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said he placed a hold on Fanning's nomination in early November to protest President Obama's ongoing campaign to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer detainees to the United States.

For months McCain had delayed confirmations for some key civilian Defense Department nominees — Fanning among them — to protest Democratic rule changes in the confirmation process and Obama's threat to veto the 2016 defense policy bill. Congressional leaders have since reached a budget deal and Obama signed the disputed bill into law.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /78661642/

[firecat69]

XMan guess you better tell us what country you come from so we can better understand some of your comments. Unlike European countries and China and Japan etc etc etc the USA has never tired to subjugate a country to its will. In fact without the USA all of Europe would have been over-run by Hitler . South Korea would have been taken over by the Communists etc etc etc.

Has USA made mistakes of course they have when one country is looked at to save the World etc mistakes will be made. But they have never looked to build an Empire and without the USA and its military and economic power I shutter to think what a much bigger mess the world would be in. Oh and lets not forget the Soviet Union was disassembled largely because of the USA .

As far as LGBT rights in the USA , there is no argument that can be made that under Obama , LGBT rights have exploded to the positive . Certainly he is not responsible for all the gains but it is because of him that an environment existed where those gains could be made.

I applaud his nomination and if it is confirmed it will be great and if not more and more people will understand that the entire Republican party are nothing but obstructionists.

[Gaybutton]

XMan guess you better tell us what country you come from

Look underneath the screen name on the far right side of the post. It says "Location: Toronto, Canada."