Thursday, December 9, 2010

"Don't ask Don't Tell" repeal faces setback

Earlier this afternoon, the attempted repeal that would ban gay troops from serving in the US military failed in the Senate where Republicans voted 57-40 against it. However, some Senate Republicans like Susan Collins of Maine and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said that the repeal should have an extensions for debate and voting. Unfortunately, the Senate majority leader has refused to negotiate for more debating on the repeal. President Obama is disappointed that Republicans will most likely have a filibuster to delay the repeal along with adding amendments. The "Don't ask Don't Tell" policy debate is not over yet, but it looks like it has some obstacles to overcome if wanting to repeal. Do you guys think the topic is still worth debating in the Senate? Will it eventually be repealed or be stuck in the Senate by a wave of filibusters?
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5 comments:

Aaron Oppenheim said...

What I really want to know is WHY Republicans don't want to repeal DADT. Is it because they oppose gays serving in the military, or is it some other sinister purpose? Personally I feel that many of the senators who voted against the repeal of DADT are only doing it because they don't want Obama to have any "victories" during his term. It seems incredibly childish and spiteful, but i guess that's politics...

December 9, 2010 at 6:31 PM
Dan Fu said...

The overall issue is definitely worth debating again. My main guess is that individual court cases and further debate will occur, and will eventually lead to the repealing of DADT, but until then, we're just going to have to deal with filibusters.

December 9, 2010 at 7:16 PM
kiko said...

I agree with both Aaron and Daniel; I also think this issue is worth debating again, and I also want to know why the Republicans are against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It sounds like this proposed repeal will get stuck in a filibuster in the Senate, which to me is a disappointment, not only because I am in support of having “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repealed but also because it is shameful that Senators feel they have to resort to filibusters, which I think are impractical and inefficient. However, I do think that although Susan Collins and the lawmakers behind this effort will most likely have to start the process over again, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will eventually be repealed during Obama’s administration.

December 9, 2010 at 7:56 PM
Jeff Ware said...

I find it ridiculous that the elimination of DADT is being met with so much opposition. Even a clear majority of currently serving soldiers support it's repeal, so I hope that this doesn't become an impenetrable setback. In addition, I have to agree with the previous posters about how irritating filibusters are. Oh well, just another example of how dysfunctional the Senate is.

December 9, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Jason Galisatus said...

As I said at the beginning of the year, Congress is deliberately dysfunctional. Republicans voted against this for two reasons:
1. They do not want to give Obama any victories, just as Aaron said. They are so opposed to anything on Obama's agenda, that they vote CLEARLY on an irrational basis just to insure Obama doesn't have any victories. These people should be thrown out of office, because their childish partisan bickering is literally ruining some people's lives, just over the silly thing of keeping themselves in a Senate seat. This goes for both the Democrats and Republicans (though lately more so the Republicans).
2. They pander to their constituents homophobia. This just goes to show that this issue is not about whether or not integrating LGBT people into the armed services would be detrimental, it is just about whether or not their constituents would like it or not, which is simply stupid. If anyone thinks that repealing DADT would be detrimental to the military, you need to wake up and smell the roses. You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. Gay serving in the military DOES NOT HURT ANYONE. Get over it. If anyone still opposes this bill, it is because they are homophobic, as there is NO other factual bearing against allowing gays to serve. HOE-LEE cow.

December 11, 2010 at 8:12 PM

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