Fierce advocate strikes again:
This April, the Bay Area Reporter editorialized on Jennings falling far short as a visible federal government advocate for gay students and youth, and his refusal to speak with the paper regarding his accomplishments, whatever they may be. Who can say if he's been effective at anything when he doesn't conduct any transparent business in his government, or talk regularly to the gay press, in extensive interviews?Keep in mind that even when this White House endorses legislation, it doesn't mean they're going to lift a finger to actually get the legislation passed. In fact, the contrary is usually the case - President Obama believes it's Congress' job to work on legislation. He simply makes general statements about the proposed laws, and then sits back until the day the issue is ripe for possible passage, even though by that time the bill might be a mere shadow of its former self.
Last week in Washington, Metro Weekly's writer Chris Geidner caught up with Jennings at a public speech he made to summer interns. What did he say about being muzzled?''We're all here to serve the president's agenda. If I were president, there might be more progressive things going on than if the president was president, but the fact is I work for him.''Geider questioned him about pushing for two pieces of legislation, endorsed by his former org GLSEN, addressing bullying and gay students languishing in Congress. His reply:
''Do I feel constrained? Absolutely,'' Jennings continued. ''Everybody who takes one of the jobs should feel constrained because we're not here to push our personal agenda; we're here to advance the president's agenda.''''We can't endorse legislation on our own. The Education Department doesn't make the policy, the White House does. The [Domestic Policy Council] sets the policy; we implement it. That's how it works. So, if you want movement on this issue, you call the White House.''Sounds to me like the former gay advocate pushing for change has been muzzled into being an Obama administration insider, one who takes no leadership role in the legislation, or much of anything public that might benefit gay kids.
Putting that aside, it's disturbing that a senior Dept. of Education employee basically just told us that the White House is the problem in trying to get more administration support for gay kids in schools.
Not very fierce.
