Obama to discuss rule on gays in military during the State of the Union

...According to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

clipped from www.reuters.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is expected to talk about the "Don't ask, don't tell" rule that bars openly gay Americans from serving in the military during his State of the Union address this week, a senior lawmaker said on Monday. During his 2008 campaign for the presidency, Obama vowed to end the rule discriminating against gays and he renewed that pledge in a speech last year. "We were told by the Pentagon that they expected the president to say something in the State of the Union on it," said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to the speech Obama will deliver on Wednesday evening to a joint session of the U.S. Congress. But Levin added: "I have no idea" what Obama will say. In his speech at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Obama will lay out the challenges and set the tone for his administration in 2010.