On the heels of the news that the Obama administration continues to hound Dan Choi, and other DADT dischargees, to pay DOD thousands of dollars because they were discharged under DADT, today we learn that the US Marshal is visiting the homes of the protesters who locked themselves to the White House fence in the past few months. Ostensibly the visits are to inform the protesters of their upcoming court case in March, but I’m told by Robin McGehee of GetEqual that previous court notices were mailed to them – they’ve never had the US Marshal show up at their homes.

It smacks of intimidation.

These cases shouldn’t even exist. They should be, and should have been, dismissed. If the President is going to brag at the State of the Union about how all troops, gay and straight, are now one, thanks to him, then he needs to start acting like it. This is his administration. He has the power to make these court cases against the protesters go away (he has the power to stop defending DADT and DOMA in court as well), and he has the power to stop the Defense Department from trying to force servicemembers discharged under DADT to pays thousands, and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars, because they were discharged under DADT.

This is the reason so many of us are constantly perturbed with this White House. It doesn’t seem that anyone there fully understands that they’re in charge, that they have actual power. We constantly hear how powerless they are, how the president isn’t king and isn’t God. No, he’s not – but he is the president of the United States, which is no small shakes. It’s not entirely clear they fully get that fact. If the administration’s representatives continue to harass our troops and our civil rights organizers, then it is the White House’s fault, because they are not doing nearly enough to stop it.

They have the power to stop it. So stop it.