Saturday, December 18, 2010

DADT CLOTURE VOTE PASSED 63-33

Well, it happened. 
The last hurdle that blocked the repeal of DADT has been passed. After two votes in the House and two in the Senate, seventeen years of hiding while serving, and traitorous lobbying from unembarrassed hate groups, the Congress is set to repeal this ill advised compromise signed by President Clinton. 

I haven't the words to describe my disgust for McCain and the other 32 Senators who chose their darkest nature to oppose the repeal vote. I can see McCain railing against letting non-whites serve in the military all those years ago, claiming lives & limbs would be lost if we did so. No difference.
 
Does anyone feel there havent been enough discussions on this issue? Raise your hands....I thought so.
Republican lawmakers who will stop at nothing to stop this vote for Equality to Serve, actually claim they haven't talked about this enough. I'm sorry if you dropped your coffee cup when you read that.

With only the START treaty and First Responders Coverage on the horizon, the two years of Democratic dominance in both houses has been quite successful, with hundreds of significant changes to detrimental maneuvers during past administrations. There are websites devoted to the two year time-line of what the Democrats have fixed since taking control of DC. Reid and Pelosi have done phenomenally well considering the obstacles. 



With the vote to repeal DADT poised to succeed this Monday, we allow the Military to implement the changes according to their ability rather than through a court order. That would be an overnight change that our commanders really wanted to avoid. Will we see the rapid enlistment of new recruits? Will we see a drop in re-enlistment? Those two answers are hard to answer and might cancel each other out to show no change over all.
 
All I can say is this day has made an estimated 66,000 currently serving gay & lesbian service personnel breathe a little easier.

Update: Repeal vote passed with 65-31 rendering the discriminatory policy dead the minute President Obama signs it. Ding-Dong the wicked witch is dead!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Followed your link on Twitter. Thank you for the interesting commentary every day. More than that, thank you for the progressive views you have chosen to publish. Not an easy task for elected officials in these dark times.

What the Senate did today has given everyone who believes in Equality a shot in the arm. The military is our best asset and having people treated as equals in that capacity makes thinking people proud and differentiates us from the Taliban.

Anonymous said...

The better people will be celebrating tonight! Congratulations everyone.

Anonymous said...

"Don't ask don't tell" has been repealed. Thank you to the members of Congress who had the courage to finally pass this legislation and welcome to the 21st century.

Anonymous said...

I hope this makes a positive difference for all involved. NS

Anonymous said...

If the thought of having their gay and lesbian brethren serve alongside them keeps some folks from joining the military – then perhaps the military is better off without them.

Today’s battles are no longer won by thuggish brain-dead simpletons wielding a rifle….they’re won by careful mastery of technology, strategy and the ability to think on one’s feet.

Anyone who is not professional enough to overcome the despicable biases and bigotry they most likely learned from their rural bible-thumping ‘Christian’ upbringing may as well stay behind on the farm, and let the adults go forth and serve their country…

Carl