Posted on 12/16/2010 8:34:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
ABC News reports that Scott Brown has announced that he will support a stand-alone repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” ending the expulsion of gay and lesbian troops from the military. Brown’s decision gives Harry Reid 61 votes, enough to pass a cloture vote for the policy, and one final hurrah for the Democratic-controlled 111th Session — if he can fit it into the schedule:
Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown today voiced his support for a stand-alone repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, bringing the bill one vote over the 60-vote threshold that it will need to reach if and when the Senate votes on the measure in the coming weeks.
“Sen. Brown accepts the Pentagon’s recommendation to repeal the policy after proper preparations have been completed. If and when a clean repeal bill comes up for a vote, he will support it,” said Brown spokesperson Gail Gitcho.
Brown’s backing means that – on paper – supporters of the repeal have61 senators in favor of the bill. On Wednesday Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Lisa Murkowski both announced their support for the stand-alone repeal. The House passed the clean repeal on Wednesday and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has vowed to bring it to a vote in the Senate before the end of the year.
However, Reid has warned that bringing the bill to a vote in the Senate is not an issue of support, but rather of time. With just over a week before Christmas, the Senate is only now kicking off debate on the START nuclear treaty and a massive $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. It will likely be early next week before the Senate wraps up work on those two measures – and numerous GOP senators have voiced stern opposition to both bills, preferring instead to fund the government into early next year and go home for the holidays. That leaves little time for the Senate to pass the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal.
Brown voted against the military appropriations bill that contained a DADT repeal last week, objecting to a jam-down of a massive spending bill without sufficient debate or amendment opportunities. Two other Republicans that support a repeal, Olympia Snowe and Lisa Murkowski, voted no on the same grounds. A stand-alone bill will avoid those issues and allow the three to switch votes and support repeal, a position publicly held or at least considered by all three prior to the lame-duck session.
The Senate has already passed the tax deal, which was the line drawn in the sand by the GOP at the start of the post-midterm session. Brown can therefore vote for cloture on this measure without violating the earlier pledge, even if Congress hasn’t addressed the budget with a shutdown date rapidly approaching. The GOP wants a continuing resolution anyway rather than an omnibus spending bill completing the FY2011 budget.
Reid, though, has already started debate on START, and still has to handle the budget this week as well. He’s trying to double-track the two efforts, but Jim DeMint has threatened to obstruct if Reid tries a jam-down on START. If DADT doesn’t come up in this session, it will have to be passed again in a Republican House after January, and that may be a problem with the GOP holding a 48-seat majority in the lower chamber. Still, the threat of court action that would immediately impose a repeal rather than an orderly transition may move John Boehner to allow a vote without whipping the caucus early in the next session.
Not only will I not encourage my kid to join the military, I will actively discourage anybody I come into contact with. I will be an anti-recruiter.
He HAS to know that he is dead meat next time around anyway.
I am not surprised at this, but it is still disappointing.
Rainbow uniforms on order as we speak!
No flame, but I think you put your finger on the problem. Do you think gays will be willing to do what the military tells them? They will be a protected class and will will raise holy hell with troop morale. There is no way this strengthens the military. It only weakens it, and I assume this is the real intent.
That’s the whole point - to drive out Christians and conservatives and patriots out of the military so that it can be used to oppress these same groups.
Once this is passed, I’ll never have any respect for anyone enlisting.
“WHO THE HELL CARES?”
People who care about national security, I guess. Who supplied that other perv in Europe with all of our docs for WikiLeaks?? He was as gay as Baawney Fwank.
Yeah, this is what I worry about. Why?
I bet the JAG ranks will become full of open homosexuals.
No more suggesting my son stay in the Army; my hope now is that he gets out and doesn't look back when his current hitch is up, because there will be pillars of salt enough the way it is.
Mr. niteowl77
Pisant will be happy!
YES, little soldiers for the marxist!
Normal military personnel will be leaving the ranks at increased rates as homosexuals are promoted to leadership positions. We’ll see how a majority homosexual military defends the nation.
Don't you get it? The repeal of DADT is allowing them to flaunt it!!! That's the whole idea.
And everyone thought Scott Brown was such a good guy.....NOT!
He is a RINO.
I heard some stats recently about the numbers -
something like .04% of the military has been discharged for stating they’re homos,
while 40% of the military said they’ll leave at the first opportunity if homos serve “openly”.
Sure, and there still won't be enough to prosecute all the "hate crimes" that are sure to come every time some homo gets punched in the face or doesn't get a promotion, etc.
“We’re facing a trillion dollar deficit and THIS is what people are worried about?”
“The revelations of Manning’s openly pro-homosexual conduct suggest that a more liberal Department of Defense policy, in deference to the wishes of the Commander-in-Chief, had already been in effect and has now backfired in a big way. The result could be not only the loss of the lives of U.S. soldiers, as a result of the enemy understanding U.S. intelligence sources and methods, but damaged relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan and a possible U.S. military defeat in the region as a whole.” – Accuracy in Media
The suspect in the leaking of classified military files, Spc. Bradley Manning, voiced his disgust with US Army commanders and U.S. “society at large” on his Facebook page just prior to his alleged downloading of thousands of secret documents, according to the British news media.
According to one story appearing in Britain’s The Telegraph, Manning, who served as a US Army intelligence analyst, became depressed after a break-up with his homosexual campanion. He also wrote: “Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment,” and quoted a joke about “military intelligence” being an oxymoron.”
Who cares if we have a whole new batch of these unstable idiots in the military? I do, for one. And most thoughtful people I know.
AFTER the new congress that was just elected arrives in January when their votes wont matter.
In the meantime, they need to filibuster EVERYTHING.
Just called up my senator’s office (McConnell) and told the lady on the phone the same thing. All she said was “hmmm”. Probably won’t make any difference. They’re going to do what they’re going to do anyways because they don’t give a crap about our military accomplishing its mission - they just want to pander to a tiny special interest group.
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.