DADT Protest at White House

Tuesday afternoon, there was a protest in front of the White House.

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL.

From The Hill:

Six people in military uniforms attached themselves to a fence on the north side of the White House Tuesday to protest the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy against gays in the military.

The display comes one day after President Barack Obama's speech at a fundraiser in California was disrupted by gay rights protesters. Obama was en route back to D.C. at the time of the incident Tuesday.

The six people who handcuffed themselves Tuesday are reportedly veterans and were organized by the group GetEQUAL, which put together the California protest as well.

The Obama administration has received heat from some on the left for taking its time in repealing the law. The Pentagon has commissioned a year-long review of the policy after Obama said he supported repealing the measure.

Video.


Protesters chain themselves to the White House fence. That's not unusual.

What was extremely unusual was the Obama administration's reaction to the protest.

Members of the media were there, documenting the event. But they weren't allowed to do their job. Police pushed reporters back.

DON'T LOOK, DON'T REPORT.

From Ben Smith, Politico:

Police chased reporters away from the White House and closed Lafayette Park today in response to a gay rights protest in which several service members in full uniform handcuffed themselves to the White House gate to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

People who have covered the White House for years tell me that's an extremely unusual thing to do in an area that regularly features protests.

A reporter can be seen in the YouTube video above calling the move "outrageous" and "ridiculous."

From RedState:

The media was pushed back from Lafayette Park to keep them from filming a protest against DADT: true. But it could have been anything. DADT, the GWOT, rampaging deficits, ballooning unemployment, religious fundamentalism masquerading as global warming, the general expansion of the nanny state… it doesn’t matter. The White House didn’t want it filmed, so it didn’t get filmed. And the media got caught up in the implacable bum’s rush away from the scene of the dissent. I really loved the bit about halfway through, when some generic media guy complains on his phone: “It’s one thing if they push the public back, but not to let the media film is just ridiculous.” No, it’s not. It makes perfect sense, considering that the administration neither respects the media on a fundamental level, nor expects the media to ever do anything in response to slights.

Video.
Video, edited by Stephen Gutowski, transcript:

Police Chase Media From Protest In Lafayette Park April 20th, 2010 According to Ben Smith at Politico, this is "extremely unusual" given that the area "regularly features protests." The protest reportedly consisted of six people in military uniform protesting Obama's "inaction" on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. President Obama was recently visibly angered by Don't Ask, Don't Tell hecklers at a fundraiser he attended for Barbara Boxer. The two incidents considered together beg the question... Is it this administration's policy to block the media from covering protests critical of the president?

Good question. More video. This really is priceless. It was yet another humongous error in judgment by the Obama White House. How can they think that using police to prevent the media from filming the protest would keep the public from learning about it? All Obama's Men are no match for the New Media. How idiotic! Now, the Obama administration doesn't just have to deal with the protesters against DADT. Obama needs to explain why the media were whisked away. It would have been nice if the reporters refused to move back. It appears that civil disobedience is in order with this administration. Transparency? What a joke!