Posted on 12/18/2010 10:31:32 PM PST by rabscuttle385
(AP) Republican Mark Kirk broke with his majority of his party Saturday to support repeal of the dont ask, dont tell policy on gays in the military, casting one of the first high-profile votes hes faced as Illinois junior senator.
The Senate voted 65-31 to let gays serve openly in the military. President Barack Obama was expected to sign the legislation next week, although the change wouldnt take immediate effect. The House had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-175, on Wednesday.
Kirk was one of six Republicans to break ranks. The move was a reversal for him after hed earlier helped block repeal legislation. A spokesman said as recently as two days ago that Kirk was still undecided on the issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at newssun.suntimes.com ...
Graham voted NO on the DADT repeal, as did John McCain.
It's amusing when freepers say they can't stand John McCain but Kirk is OK as long as he doesn't "become another Lindsey Graham". In order for Kirk to become "another Lindsey Graham", he'd have to move about 20X to the right of where he is right now. He's currently another Jim Jeffords, c. 2000.
Since Kirk is knowledgeable of the position of the Marine Corps, then he must be gay. Even if gay, the repeal of DADT is nothing short of an attempt to wreck the effectiveness of our military. Gays have been serving well for many years.
Given the position of Islam on homosexuality, that policy really sticks it in their face, and may incite and motivate the Islamofacists even more. You would think that Kirk would know that, given that he is in intelligence.
But in spite of all that, these evil heretics put DADT at the top of the list of what is important to the lawmakers in America, not jobs, not employment, not our debt load, not our safety, not the will of the people, not science, not common sense, but a policy that will prove to further erode the ability of our country to defend itself, while increasing health and safety risks across the board.
The fact that Sen. Kirk is in the navy reserves doesn’t explain his vote, to me. I was in the navy for 21 years (11 on active duty and 10 in the reserves). I was in marine units for eight years. I never heard any of my co-workers say that gays should be allowed to serve, in the military.
“these evil heretics put DADT at the top of the list of what is important to the lawmakers in America, not jobs, not employment, not our debt load, not our safety, not the will of the people, not science, not common sense, but a policy that will prove to further erode the ability of our country to defend itself, while increasing health and safety risks across the board.”
Exactly.
For those of us who dont like the way Kirk votes, the moest effective thing we can do is find a local candidate to work for in the 2011 local elections.
If we replace a lousy village trustee or school board member with a good candidate, that will be heard louder than our whining about Kirk.
It has yet to be proven that the Tea Party is more than just a single election phenom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.