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Senate Republicans have been playing a neat trick to squeeze Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal off the Senate calendar. On the one hand, as the year comes to an end, they're eating up the last days of floor time and refusing to debate any issues until the tax cut fight is resolved and the federal government is funded into next year. On the other hand, they're laying out arbitrary -- and totally new -- benchmarks for how long it should take to debate the Defense Authorization bill (the vehicle for DADT repeal) to argue that there isn't enough time to...

Democrats are frantically finalizing the details of their capitulation on the "temporary" extension of low tax rates for the super-wealthy, in part so that they can just move on from the depressing tax issue and maybe get some votes on other stuff taken care of before Rand Paul shows up next month with his snake flag and his MESSAGE FROM THE TEA PARTIES. One of the things Democrats would like to vote on is the Defense Authorization bill, which includes the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." It is looking less and less likely that they'll get it done. Unless...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Wednesday evening postponed votes on major legislation, including the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal bill. The Senate held off procedural votes on the DREAM Act and a bill that would compensate those who have fallen ill after working at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that toppled the twin towers of the World Trade Center, MSNBC and NBC New York reported. MSNBC reported Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office confirmed votes on the measures that would allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces and provide a way...

  DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, DON'T CALL OUR TROOPS HOMOPHOBESby Ann CoulterDecember 8, 2010 The Pentagon's poll on "don't ask, don't tell" is beyond idiotic. Instead of asking whether the troops support repeal of DADT, the Pentagon asked only if they can learn to play nice with the gays. Even more absurdly, the Pentagon polled all military "personnel" -- and their spouses! Only a small portion of what is known as "the military" actually does the fighting. The rest is a vast bureaucracy along the lines of the DMV. Today's military features "victim advocates" and sensitivity training facilitators, the...

Why is Obama fighting behind the scenes to get DADT repealed before Christmas? Because if it doesn't happen, there won't be any fruitcakes at the White House "holiday" party.

(CNN) -- WikiLeaks has published a secret U.S. diplomatic cable listing locations abroad that the U.S. considers vital to its national security, prompting criticism that the website is inviting terrorist attacks on American interests. The list is part of a lengthy cable the State Department sent in February 2009 to its posts around the world. The cable asked American diplomats to identify key resources, facilities and installations outside the United States "whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States." The diplomats identified dozens of places on every continent, including...

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a startling statement in congressional testimony last week. When asked if allowing open homosexuals into the U.S. military would lead to a mass exodus of troops from active service, he boldly declared that they can “find another place to work.” Such a cavalier response to a U.S. senator’s serious inquiry may play well in the press and in the current commander-in-chief’s office, but it illuminates a deeply misguided commitment to political correctness and foreshadows serious adverse consequences for our national security. If tens of thousands of troops now serving...

The debate is on. The polls are out. It is now time for all the candidates and potential Presidential candidates for 2012 to tell us clearly where they stand on the repeal of DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell). Mike Huckabee was against the repeal in 2007, but did use the hedge word "now" in the quote below (I doubt if he has changed on the issue, however): I believe this policy works, and I don't think now is the time to change it, because our military commanders tell us it serves it's purpose in preventing the disturbances that occur...

Follows are some extracts from this 267 page report. Bolding and font colors are mine. (p 139)Article 125 of the UCMJ treats all acts of sodomy, heterosexual, homosexual, consensual, or otherwise, as punishable conduct. In Lawrence v. Texas,360 the Supreme Court held that private consensual sodomy between adults cannot be considered a crime. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces reached a similar conclusion in the military context in the case United States v. Marcum.361 In light of these decisions, we recommend that Article 125 be repealed or amended to the extent it prohibits consensual sodomy between adults,...

People who take polls for a living will tell you that depending on the methodology, the sample, how a question is asked and the understanding of the ones being polled, the outcome can pretty much be predetermined. If you are dependent on a superior for your job and that superior tells you he wants a certain conclusion reached about a policy he wishes to implement, that, too, can affect the outcome. Such is the case with President Obama, who has told gay rights groups he intends to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow homosexuals to serve openly...

While I have been here since 2003. This is my first post. Wouldn't you know it was a vanity? The following post is my review of the DADT report available on the Defense Department web site. The review is quite lengthy so it is broken up into four parts. Those parts are listed in the first comment section of each post. I wrote the review late at night and after work, so please forgive any errors. It may seem to be all about the DADT report, but what it is really about is how the press portrayed the report, and...

While I have been here since 2003. This is my first post. Wouldn't you know it was a vanity? The following post is my review of the DADT report available on the Defense Department web site. The review is quite lengthy so it is broken up into four parts. Those parts are listed in the first comment section of each post. I wrote the review late at night and after work, so please forgive any errors. It may seem to be all about the DADT report, but what it is really about is how the press portrayed the report, and...

While I have been here since 2003. This is my first post. Wouldn't you know it was a vanity? The following post is my review of the DADT report available on the Defense Department web site. The review is quite lengthy so it is broken up into four parts. Those parts are listed in the first comment section of each post. I wrote the review late at night and after work, so please forgive any errors. It may seem to be all about the DADT report, but what it is really about is how the press portrayed the report, and...

While I have been here since 2003. This is my first post. Wouldn't you know it was a vanity? The following post is my review of the DADT report available on the Defense Department web site. The review is quite lengthy so it is broken up into four parts. Those parts are listed in the first comment section of each post. I wrote the review late at night and after work, so please forgive any errors. It may seem to be all about the DADT report, but what it is really about is how the press portrayed the report, and...

MUSCAT, Oman — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday cast doubt about a Senate vote this year to allow gay men and women to serve openly in the armed forces. In comments aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, Mr. Gates said he was unsure if the Senate would vote this year to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the 17-year-old law that requires gay men and women in the military to keep their sexual orientation secret or face discharge. “I’d have to say I’m not particularly optimistic that they’re going to get this done, I would hope...

“Sen. Lieberman believes that there are at least 60 votes to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year, provided that leadership allows time for sufficient debate and amendments," Lieberman spokeswoman Erika Masonhall said. "Wanting to go home is not an acceptable excuse for failing to pass a bill that provides essential support for our troops and veterans and failing to take action that the president, the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have called for.” The senator also appeared to endorse Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart's demand that the Senate stay in session in...

Senate debate over repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will have to wait until next year, Minority Leader Mitch McConnel predicted on Sunday. Appearing on NBC’s "Meet the Press," he noted that there are other controversial measures beyond allowing gays to serve openly in the military, including questions about abortions in military hospitals, embedded in the larger defense authorization bill. And he said such a massive bill typically takes two weeks for the Senate to advance, even when it’s not chock-full of thorny issues. “I don’t see how we can possibly finish the defense authorization bill, a two-week bill,...

Retired General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark said Sunday that a repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy will happen and that wartime is an ideal moment to move ahead with repeal. Clark said on ABC's "This Week" that with the military focused on war, "this is the ideal time to do this, because we're talking about building teamwork around a common purpose." The former Democratic presidential hopeful said military leaders are ready to implement a repeal of the policy now, suggesting the prolonged political debate has become a distraction. Clark said the message from...

Two week ago, when John Heilemann wrote a cover story for New York Magazine outlining the perfect storm that could carry Sarah Palin to a Presidential election victory in 2012, I would have told you that Sarah was much more powerful as a king-maker and not a King. And then she went and bragged to Barbara Walters that she can beat Obama in 2012 this. Hah ha. Funny. In an Armageddon kind of way right? We can’t be that stupid, can we? Well… in the immortal slogan of an era long ago: yes we can! So I decided to re-read...

WASHINGTON – As the commanders of the Army, Air Force and Marines cautioned the U.S. Senate against abruptly repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, critics are also warning that accepting open homosexuality and pro-homosexual "reprogramming" could drive massive numbers of troops out of the service.