I think that the President is taking a measured approach, hoping not to run the risk of pulling a "Clinton" - pushing too hard and getting Congress' back up, which is how DADT came into effect in the first place. So... Defense chief giving 'don't ask, don't tell' a closer look - CNN.
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Gates said he is looking at ways to make the policy "more humane," including letting people serve who may have been outed due to vengeance or a jilted lover. The remarks appeared in a transcript the Pentagon released Tuesday.

In addition, Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday the chairman "supports the idea of a less draconian way of enforcing the policy."

Instituted in 1993, "don't ask, don't tell" ended the military's practice of asking potential service members if they are gay, but it requires the dismissal of openly gay service members.

Gates told reporters traveling with him, "One of the things we're looking at -- is there flexibility in how we apply this law?"

Do I think that this, and the domestic partner regulations, and holding pro-gay events, are enough? No, but they are moves toward making the issue less controversial, and I agree with numan are moving toward a bolder approach by 2010. We forget, I think, in the heady moments following Iowa, and New Hampshire, and Vermont, that the movement has not always been one way. After all, this thread was started as a result of Prop 8. It is hard to have patience, but it is required to be completely successful. Of course, that is a very difficult message for those whose civil rights are being ignored and even denied by so many.

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich