BREAKING NEWS! Senate Votes to Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell Bill 63 - 33!

Forums: Politics, Finally, Dadt, News, U S Military 2010
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Read this tweet minutes ago!

Quote:

nprnews NPR News
RT @NewsHour: BREAKING: The Senate vote to invoke cloture on #DADT repeal has passed, 63 ay , 33 no

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Type: Discussion • Score: 24 • Views: 11,273 • Replies: 178

[+8] - snood - 12/18/2010Wow! this is huge! I hardly believe it - I guess the fence hangers finally saw the inevitability (or, more likely, the political expediency). John McCain is below despicable. After all this, I...
[+6] - edgarblythe - 12/22/2010[quote="georgeob1"] [quote="Ceili"] I asked my stepson about this, he's in the Canadian navy. He laughed. We've never had this policy and it's never been an issue. [/quote]...
[+5] - djjd62 - 12/18/2010i can't help them with their prejudices, only they can address that issue
[+5] - realjohnboy - 12/18/2010I am happy that this was the outcome, though I appreciate that there are those who have concerns about whether it can be implemented. It has been more than 40 years since I served in VN. And it...
[+5] - engineer - 12/18/2010[quote="Finn dAbuzz"] If sexual tension is detrimental to our ability to wage war on the front lines, why wouldn't a better solution be to eliminate the source of tension rather than...
[+5] - maxdancona - 12/21/2010 [quote="Finn"] And the serving combat soldiers and marines, are they all souless politicians or fundamentalist Christians, or are they all just brainless bigots? [/quote] Of...
[+5] - sozobe - 12/22/2010[quote="Barack Obama"]We are not a nation that says, â��Donâ��t ask, donâ��t tell.â�� We are a nation that says, â��Out of many, we are one.â�� We are...
[+4] - JPB - 12/18/2010[quote]...on Saturday, a GOP filibuster of the legislation was broken by a wider-than-anticipated margin, with six Republicans joining 57 Democrats to push forward a bill to end the ban on gays and...
[+4] - realjohnboy - 12/18/2010Ok. The confusion comes because there were 2 votes. The 1st was a test vote earlier on Saturday which carried 63-33. The 2nd vote was this afternoon on final passage. That was the one that was...
[+4] - ossobuco - 12/18/2010To Mc Cain: Many of those people who lost limbs or lives were quietly homosexual, or bi. Shut the **** up.

Horray!

In other news, John McCain is now officially the most pathetic person in America. Did you see his speech? He called today "The saddest day..." and pointed out that there are wounded soldiers "missing limbs" as if that has anything to do with it.

But, no matter. Today's vote is historic.

3 Replies

@maxdancona,

I am quite happy that some good news can still come out of the Senate these days!

I missed the McCain speech. I will try to look for it. Sure they will have it on NPR.

More documented proof that this groundbreaking political event just happened!

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" Clears Vital Hurdle
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

December 18, 2010
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/18/132164172/-dont-ask-dont-tell-clears-vital-hurdle

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@tsarstepan,

@benschwartzy retweeted by scharpling
Glad to see #DADT repealed for the US Military. Hoping it can be repealed next in the Republican Party.

1 Reply

Hooray! A great day for us all.

If only the DREAM act had been there with it.

Filibuster reform, now!

Cycloptichorn

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@maxdancona,

mcain should just be happy the votes aren't by a show of hands

all those in favour raise your hands
all those opposed raise your hands
senator mcain, are you abstaining? Twisted Evil

1 Reply

Quote:

...on Saturday, a GOP filibuster of the legislation was broken by a wider-than-anticipated margin, with six Republicans joining 57 Democrats to push forward a bill to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. military.

Backers of the repeal pulled off a last-minute legislative maneuver to separate the repeal from a larger Defense Authorization bill, which contained other controversial items that drew GOP criticism. That standalone bill passed the House last week and won the approval of GOP holdouts in the Senate who had objected to Democrats’ handling of debate over the defense funding measure.

Ultimately, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, George Voinovich of Ohio, and Mark Kirk of Illinois voted for repeal.

One Democrat who opposes repeal of the ban, newly-elected Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, did not vote on Saturday.

Thirty-three Republicans opposed the motion to move forward on the bill.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a leading opponent of repeal, warned shortly before the vote that “elites” would celebrate the end of “DADT” without understanding its consequences for the armed forces. How They Voted

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Wow! this is huge! I hardly believe it - I guess the fence hangers finally saw the inevitability (or, more likely, the political expediency). John McCain is below despicable.

After all this, I predict the actual impact on active duty will be a big yawn.

4 Replies

@snood,

snood wrote:

After all this, I predict the actual impact on active duty will be a big yawn.

I agree. Congratulations to the Senate for establishing an American military that doesn't discriminate against gay soldiers.

1 Reply

@snood,

Repealing DADT to many in the GOP is like destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

[/nerd]

I'm interested in the Republicans who moved forward so the vote can be cast. What does this signify ultimately for the GOP platform. Given who they are and many of them being newer* members, would it be safer to say that fewer and fewer Republicans are going to make fighting against LGBT equal rights an issue?

*Not of the Gingrich archetype or generation

John McCain, you should have not made this your Alamo. Your legacy will forever be tarnished, and perhaps even defined by this.

A
R
T

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@Thomas,

I predict there will be isolated incidents which will garner big media coverage.

1 Reply

I'm waiting before the final vote... which should be soon, eh?

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@edgarblythe,

Good point. Fox News is going to be looking for a specific case that it can inflate and fill the 24 hour news cycle.

A
R
T

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"Allow me to introduce Seafood Sam! He's straight, but he's on leave. Don't Ask. Don't tell. Just get him to the hotel!"

from the movie "Pecker" by John Waters

A
R
T

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I may be mistaken but wasn't this vote simply to end debate?

Not saying the final vote won't end up just the way the thread headline suggests, but not everyone who votes for cloture then votes in favor of the bill being filibustered.

I don't oppose the repeal, but I also don't see it as a watershed moment. I don't believe that removing Don't Ask Don't Tell is going to open the floodgates to other gay rights goals.

I think you're being too hard on McCain.

The Army and Marine Chiefs of Staff have stated that they believe a repeal will be detrimental to the ability of fighting forces. The Army and Marines hold the great majority of current combat positions.

I think it's wrong to assume that they are simply homophobes trying to come up with any plausible reason to fight the repeal.

Military polls have shown that servicemen in combat zones see the repeal differently from those who are in strictly support or stateside roles.

Whether or not this is a reason to maintain the policy is subject to fair debate, but to demonize McCain or anyone else who opposes the repeal as bigoted miscreants is foolish and unfair.

Yes, if it is repealed there will be incidents. There will be idiotic straights and gays who use this issue to push confrontations they probably would have been involved in anyway. I don't think there will be many, but at least early on when there are, they will be newsworthy.

If there are incidents they will probably be reported only by FOX. Some of us will assume this is so because FOX wants to cause a furor over the matter, and some of us will assume it is so because the other news outlets will be too afraid that it might cause a furor over the matter. If either assumption is true, journalism will not be served.

4 Replies

@Finn dAbuzz,

The NY Times email alert states: "By a vote of 65-31 and following House approval, the Senate sent the bill to President Obama..."

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@Finn dAbuzz,

You're correct. I don't think the final vote has been cast. The fact that Senate republicans broke with the party let it go to a vote though makes it pretty much money in the bank.

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

I think you're being too hard on McCain.

'
McCain made this his Alamo. He repeatedly defined and redefined the goalpost. McCain made this hard on McCain.

A
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T

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@failures art,

The AP reports: "The President and top military advisors must certify that lifting the ban won't hurt troops' fighting ability. After that, there's a 60-day waiting period for the military."

0 Replies

Ok. The confusion comes because there were 2 votes. The 1st was a test vote earlier on Saturday which carried 63-33. The 2nd vote was this afternoon on final passage. That was the one that was 65-31.
NPR did a better job of explaining that.
Not voting, by the way, on the 1st vote, were Joe Manchin (D-WVa), Jim Bunning (R-Ky), Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Orrin Hatch (R-Ut).

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

The Army and Marine Chiefs of Staff have stated that they believe a repeal will be detrimental to the ability of fighting forces. The Army and Marines hold the great majority of current combat positions.

I think it's wrong to assume that they are simply homophobes trying to come up with any plausible reason to fight the repeal.

Military polls have shown that servicemen in combat zones see the repeal differently from those who are in strictly support or stateside roles.

Whether or not this is a reason to maintain the policy is subject to fair debate, but to demonize McCain or anyone else who opposes the repeal as bigoted miscreants is foolish and unfair.

Yes, if it is repealed there will be incidents. There will be idiotic straights and gays who use this issue to push confrontations they probably would have been involved in anyway. I don't think there will be many, but at least early on when there are, they will be newsworthy.

I agree. It will be interesting to see what the service chiefs do now.

With this vote it will be difficult for the services to prevent or limit the creation of associations of homosexual servicemembers in the service academies and in fighting units. It was hard enough running a Battalion, Regiment or large ship like an aircraft carrier in operational situations: it will be much harder now.

4 Replies

BREAKING NEWS! Senate Votes to Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell Bill 63 - 33!

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