dont ask dont tell

The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court that put the decision ordering the military to stop enforcing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" on hold is a brief win for the government. But don't assume it means the policy will survive: The stay just means that the judges want time to think.

U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips's order that the government stop enforcing the unconstitutional Don't Ask Don't Tell law has generated much chatter on both sides of the debate. But it's worth looking beyond the noise to the actual reasoning in her ruling.

In Friday's legal news, two more people pleaded guilty in a bid-rigging scheme that involved deals with some 160 U.S. municipalities; California public schools are being sued for charging fees for various school essentials; and Alaska is suing the U.S. government for 'banning' offshore drilling.

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis lost a huge gender discrimination case in May, and faced $250 million in punitive damages, plus possibly hundreds of millions more in compensatory damages. Rather than deal with years of appeals, both sides settled Wednesday for $152 million.

Millions of lesbian and gay Americans have served in the nation's armed forces. Many of them have died doing so, and their service should be honored this Memorial Day holiday with an additional gesture: Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The end of "don't ask, don't tell" is long overdue. Going to war -- or even sitting in an office creating policy for warriors -- while in possession of a damning secret is a liability so huge, it's a stupid policy indeed that sets soldiers up for such a dilemma.