California judge says Don't Ask-Don't Tell Unconstitutional

U.S. district judge Virginia Phillips says that the policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving in the
military is unconstitutional.  Saying the ban violated homosexuals first amendment rights and harmed
the effectiveness of the armed services.

While the administration has been attempting to figure out how to lift the ban, it has been a long and drawn-out and complicated  process with most military leadership co-operating.

The judge said that evidence shows it has a "direct and deleterious" effect on the military. She plans to issue an injunction barring enforcement of the policy. The U.S. Department of Justice will most likely appeal the decision.

---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996