"As expected, the Pentagon's review of DADT found that repeal of the flawed policy would not have an adverse effect on unit morale or cohesion. But Gates' unequivocal call for repeal by Congress was perhaps a surprise. The argument he made for repeal cuts particularly sharply for Republicans: if Congress doesn't repeal DADT in orderly fashion, the federal courts may do it in a haphazard and disruptive way.
Gates message to Republicans in Congress was pick your poison: You can repeal this policy in a way that lets us implement it with minimal disruption or you can fail to act and the courts will act by "judicial fiat" forcing the Pentagon to react with no time to prepare, which Gates said was his "greatest fear."
h/t TPM
By engaging in this obstructionist behavior, the GOP contributes to the perception that it is homophobic and will do everything in its bag of dirty tricks to deny Mr. Obama the repeal of the offensive program DADT (yes, I thought it was offensive when Clinton implemented it).
However, as has happened in the past with every battle to give dignity, equal protection, and civil rights to all American citizens, the GOP will be remembered as the party that embraces, promotes, and loves bigotry and the party that obstructs any attempt to implement justice. And John McCain's name will lead all the rest.
Why there is such a group as the Log Cabin Republicans is a mystery to me--why would gay men and women want anything to do with a party that is perceived as homophobic, and full of fearful liars, I don't know.
You can go here and read what Sue of "Hellooooo...Mr. President Are You Listening?" has posted on the subject and see for yourself an example of the sick mind some GOPers proudly reveal over the DADT issue.
This is frustrating to be sure, but in the end DADT will fall, and the Republicans who oppose the end of DADT will look like the anti-gay reactionaries that they are.
DADT is going down. What the GOP is engaging in by denying the means to repeal this policy is nothing but a cynical dog and pony show to mollify members of their base who embrace homophobia as a religious tenet, and that will bring contempt and shame on the GOP for all time.
More info here.
From "Foreign Policy" magazine:
They're Here, They're Queer, It's No Big Deal
Gay Israelis have been serving openly in the military for 17 years, and their country is safer for it.
UPDATE:
"What we've observed these past two years is a political party that knows nothing but scorched earth tactics, cannot begin to see any merits in the other party's arguments, refuses to compromise one inch on anything, and has sought from the very beginning to do nothing but destroy the Obama presidency. I see no other coherent message or strategy since 2008. Just opposition to everything, zero support for a president grappling with a recession their own party did much to precipitate, and facing a fiscal crisis the GOP alone made far worse with their spending in the Bush-Cheney years. There is not a scintilla of responsibility for their past; not a sliver of good will for a duly elected president. Worse, figures like Cantor and McCain actively seek to back foreign governments against the duly elected president of their own country, and seek to repeal the signature policy achievement of Obama's first two years, universal healthcare.
I know it is the opposition's role to oppose. But the sheer scale and absolutism of the opposition, and its continuation in the lame duck session, even over such small but integral reforms such as the new START and DADT repeal, is remarkable."
