Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also worked in President George W. Bush's administration, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon would spend the next 11 months "thoroughly, objectively and methodically" examining the implications of repealing the 1993 law. The Defense Department would present a transition plan to Nike Shox ShoesCongress by the end of the year - after the midterm elections in November. Should Congress accept the plan, it could take another year to take effect. In the next 45 days, the Pentagon will review how to enforce the existing law in what Gates described as "a more human and fair manner." That could mean raising the threshold for what it takes to separate an openly gay service member from the military. But Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified Tuesday that they personally backed President Obama's call to end the ban. "The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change," Gates told the panel, "but how we best prepare for it." Lt. Dan Choi, who faces discharge for publicly air shoxannouncing that he's gay, praised the military brass for backing an end to the policy. "When somebody makes a decision to join the military, they don't join the military because they're gay or they're straight or to be more straight or to be more gay," Choi said in an interview on CBS TV. "They do it because they believe in the values of our country, that it's worth protecting, and that's the reason why I joined." While public opinion polls have shown growing support for allowing gays to serve openly, the political repercussions began before Gates' testimony Tuesday. The conservative Family Research Council, whose president, Tony Perkins, visited the White House 14 times during the first five years of the Bush administration, began circulating a petition - titled "Prevent the Sexualization of our Armed Forces" - over the weekend to keep the ban. Allowing gays to serve openly, it said, would pose anNike Basketball Shoes "unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion." Perkins told The Chronicle Tuesday that if the health care reform debate was "an ammonia capsule" to energizing social conservatives, "this is like a slap upside the head." He said the message to social conservatives from the Senate hearing is: "This is further evidence that this administration is not listening to your values." Social conservatives - linked by networks connecting national conservative groups like Perkins' to conservative evangelical Christian congregations nationwide - were the foot soldiers of the Bush administration. In 2004, they supported ballot measures in 11 states that banned same-sex marriage and also voted for Bush. If the Obama administration's embrace of larger Nike Air Force Shoesgovernment inspired fiscal conservatives to mobilize through the Tea Party movement, Tuesday's move "will jump-start the socially conservative networks," said Mike Franc, who analyzes Congress for the conservative Heritage Foundation. Politically, it could pose problems for Democrats already in tough re-election battles, such as Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Blue Dog Democrats representing conservative districts. "Will this mobilize Hispanic social conservatives like Prop. 8 (California's ban on same-sex marriage) did? No," said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the Sacramento-based president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. "But it is more proof to independents that this air forceadministration has taken a hard left," Rodriguez said. "Could it help Republicans in 2010? Yes." On Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Gates he was "disappointed" in his testimony. McCain, who could be facing two conservative challengers in his Senate GOP primary, said it seemed that Gates had come to a conclusion before talking to service members. Chip Hanlon, president of the Red County political blog, predicted that the repeal move "wouldn't be a top-10 issue for either side. I don't know when it will happen, but gays will probably be allowed to one day openly serve in the military. It's much less polarizing than it used to be." air jordan Nike Air Max Shoes Air Max Nike Shox Shoes air shox