I will admit it, I was wrong, I thought DADT repeal wouldn't pass

[dsc]

I still think that putting it off until the lame duck was a risky strategy that nearly cost us the win but win we did. And a stand alone win is even better. It has been a long difficult journey but it is finally over. The fathers and mothers of this victory are legion. Pelosi who got not one, but two House votes through repealing DADT. Patrick Murphey, who may well have lost his seat over this. Reid, who didn't give up on this and forced this issue with three votes. Lieberman who got GOP votes for this and continued his long, decades long, career fighting for civil rights. Obama when he signs it will deserve credit for signing it and letting the vote take precedence over Gitmo. Lt Choi, may he get better soon, deserves immense credit for laying his career and his mental health on the line for this cause. Staff Sgt Eric Alva, the first marine injured in the Iraq War, who blunted Amos's horrid comments. The 63 Senators who voted for the repeal and the 250 House members who voted for it twice. On edit: I can't believe that I forgot to mention Gillibrand by name. She, whose appointment I was against as I felt New York could do better from a gay perspective, proved me wrong in spades. She was tireless in her advocacy. I will also say that the study turned out to be a good idea. I wish it had been conducted with an August or even September deadline instead of a December deadline but I will say that the results were good.

I am so glad it passed.

[jefferson_dem]

1. Good post.

I join you in celebrating this monumental ocassion of progress, for equality. :toast:

[bigwillq]

2. Good post.

K and R :thumbsup:
:hi: :hug:

[emulatorloo]

3. Standalone win is a very good thing. I am so HAPPY this got done

[Tx4obama]

4. Only the cloture vote has passed so far. Final vote 3pm ET today!

The final vote will be at 3pm ET this afternoon, MSNBC just said.

[Arkana]

38. Cloture was the hardest part.

We always had enough to pass it--that requires only 50+Biden.

[Pisces]

5. I also joint you in celebrating this long overdue victory!!

[rug]

6. I'll joint you too.

:smoke:

[MuseRider]

15. :-)

A little early for me but later.............

Edit: Meant to go to the poster above the post I responded to

[vaberella]

7. Obama gets credit only for signing it?! ~sigh~ Yes, he really didn't do anything else, obviously.

Same old, same old on this board.

[treestar]

8. Since it was all his fault when it was still active

It should all go to his credit that it be repealed.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MiniMe]

25. It was a law. This was the way for it to be done

I disagree that it was his fault that the law was still active. And doing it as a stand alone policy stripped all cover from anybody who votes against it. I don't want a President who orders a change in the law. We complained about that when Bush did it, but for different laws like the law against torture. To me, it doesn't matter if I agree with the law (like the torture laws) or not (DADT).

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Number23]

54. Damn, vab. It's like we have radar. I saw the EXACT same thing

The man can't win for damn losing. Even when he does something right/good/progressive, it's still "less than" what others have done or will do.

Same old, same old on this board.

Yes indeed.

[Exilednight]

9. I, too, was wrong. I honestly believed that this would not get done. I give credit to

the lesbian and gay community for doing most of the heavy lifting and keeping the pressure on. Reid and Lieberman came through with the Senate. As much as I despise Lieberman at time, I thank him for his work on this.

[dkf]

10. What is amazing is it got more votes than needed.

I'm so happy you are happy. I know this process was rough for you and I am glad our people came through.

[jaxx]

11. I am so happy for you.

:hug:

[MuseRider]

14. I will join you.

I did not think it would pass either. I figured the arms would have been twisted so hard last night that we would lose the votes we needed.

It is a small step in the fight but a huge help for those of us working out in the boonies. Once the Fed does something like this our credibility will go up and people who might change their minds will listen with a more open heart and mind.

I admit to tears when I read this. I was a little surprised by them over this bill but they came and I feel a tiny bit of ease in my heart for the future of the fight for equality. Mostly though I feel tremendous pride for those of you who have hung in through all the nastiness and stood tall and straight and demanded that people look at you for who you are, equal citizens in every way but by law.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

16. I'll join you.

:toast:

[Pirate Smile]

17. This is how I always thought this was going to play out. I think the time to get Gates and Mullen

on board with repeal, along with the Pentagon study, was crucial to providing cover to moderate/conservative Democrats & moderate Republicans to vote for repeal.

That extra time and groundwork was laid by Obama while he was attacked constantly for it.

One other twist is that the Tax Compromise Deal was also required as a trade-off to get to this vote. If that hadn't happened then I have no doubt that Republicans would have filibustered this.

Sometimes slow and steady does win the race.

[Schema Thing]

21. correct. there are pieces of DADT reform in the tax bill

we can be sure of that. It's that horrid compromise (read: negotiation with terrorist).

[TheKentuckian]

18. I didn't think it would pass either. The piece of shit Lieberman deserves credit for getting Pukes

onboard, Reid for keeping it on the board, Pelosi for getting it through twice, Murphy for being a tireless warrior, and certainly President Obama for keeping our folks in line and keeping the dialog in the mix.

[jenmito]

19. K&R. n/t

[kestrel91316]

20. It HASN'T passed yet. We need a final vote and then a signature.

I'm not holding my breath. Time is running out.

[bigwillq]

22. How soon after will Obama sign?

:shrug:

[Pirate Smile]

24. WH said early next week.

[bigwillq]

28. Thanks (nt)

[kestrel91316]

44. No idea. IF he signs. He doesn't have to, you know. He dragged his feet on

the issues and pursued legal support of DADT.

I'm not holding my breath.

[OhioBlue]

62. Bull. this was his strategy to get it passed that has worked out

completely ridiculous and misleading to imply that he wouldn't sign it.

[kestrel91316]

72. Now that he has responded publically and said he WILL sign it,

I am going to relax just a little. But I am NOT celebrating until it is SIGNED. I guess I have been too disappointed by our supposed leaders in recent decades.

I will give him credit for pursuing legislative reform rather than having those horrible "activist judges" rule in favor of a repeal, or trying an Executive Order, which could be easily undone.

Nobody is EVER going to be able to pass legislation to remove the right to serve from gays - at least not as long as this is the America I know and love. The genie can't be put back in the bottle. Yay.

[JuniperLea]

81. He's already said publicly that he'll sign it... eom

[Schema Thing]

23. it's as good as done.

don't be a numbskull.

[MiniMe]

26. Vote will be at 3pm today.

If it passed Cloture, which it did, it will be voted into law. The vote to pass it is now by simple majority. I was sweating out cloture, that was the big hurdle imho.

[Tx4obama]

30. It WILL pass final vote at 3pm ET. We need only 51 votes now. n/t

[Aramchek]

32. you can't even concede that we have won this one? it only takes 51 votes now.

Filibuster has been squashed.

You don't have to hold your breath.

All that's left to do now is celebrate.

[kestrel91316]

45. It has NOT been signed. And no, I no longer trust ANYONE.

So I will believe it is a done deal when Obama signs it and not one second before.

[Aramchek]

75. How about now???

;)

[dave29]

27. This is a good day :)

:hug:

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. Yes, I was DEAD wrong. I've already cried on the phone with my daughter this morning...

She could hardly believe her eyes and ears when she turned on the TV. She called me to tell me turn the TV on to CSPAN... Imagine that... my teenage gay daughter telling her father to turn on CSPAN!

So... Thank You President Obama and Congress. Thank You from the Bottom of My Heart.

Happy Day!

[dave29]

35. !

:toast:

[great white snark]

36. I'm happy for your family.

And for all the families like yours and mine.

:toast:

[Aramchek]

31. it takes a big person to admit when they were wrong and give credit where due

DADT is History.

Good for you,
and good for America!!

[ClassWarrior]

33. You admit to being a bitter pessimist?

Well done. :D

I'm so glad it passed too. :fistbump:

NGU.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sheepshank]

37. Sorry your faith in the Administration has been so shaken

in the case DADT...I was pretty confident this was going to happen. now I'm feel all self righteous and smarmy and all those other 'bad winner' adjectives.

[JTFrog]

39. K&R!

[Born_A_Truman]

40. Senate DADT: 65 to 31

At last.

[ClarkUSA]

41. President Obama deserves most of the credit. W/o his pushing for it, there'd be no repeal.

"Like 2009's removal of the HIV ban, which was as painstakingly slow but thereby much more entrenched, this process took time. Without the Pentagon study, it wouldn't have passed. Without Obama keeping Lieberman inside the tent, it wouldn't have passed. Without the critical relationship between Bob Gates and Obama, it wouldn't have passed."

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

It's great to see President Obama make good on his campaign promise to the LGBT community and correct another one of Bubba's legislative disasters.

[dsc]

42. that is a load of hooey

First the HIV ban was actually lifted in legislation in 2008 and Obama merely took forever in a day to actually get the ban lifted. As to the notion that he kept Lieberman in the tent, that is also absurd. It was, and still is, a Senate decision as to keeping or not keeping Lieberman. I will give him credit for Gates. As to blaming Clinton for DADT that would be like blaming Obama for the tax cuts for the rich. In both cases they were forced to compromise. Clinton by Congress, led my Sam Nunn, directly stating that gays would be banned if he didn't agree to codify DADT. That is why people such as Kerry, Kennedy, and Boxer all voted for DADT when it was in the defense funding bill Clinton signed. It was DADT or gays banned outright and jailed, yes jailed for being gay.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

53. You may want to

read this and watch this

Kerry and Boxer voted against DADT and in support of Boxer's amendment to strip it from the defense bill. Why do you try to take credit from everyone, including the President, for their correct stance on DADT while absolving Clinton?

[dsc]

57. they voted for the final bill which included DADT

which is the bill Clinton signed. They are every bit as much to blame for it as he is if that bill is why Clinton is to blame.

[ProSense]

61. No, they didn't

You have this argument all the time. The argument that Clinton accepted this in lieu of a gays being banned outright is bogus. Thats sounds as much as a cave to the Republicans. They did not have the votes to pass an outright ban and overcome a veto even if they could.

That argument also doesn't hold water because Boxer's amendment would have stripped it from the bill.

Kerry supported that amendment, which failed 33-63:

● Codification of the Ban on Gays and Lesbians in the Military (September 9, 1993)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 1994 (S. AMDT. 783 to S. 1298) to prevent codification of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on lesbians and gays in the military. The amendment failed 33-63 (Record Vote No. 250). HRC supported this amendment. Biden also supported it.

link

Roll call

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN F. KERRY, A U.S. SENATOR

<...>

But against that you have to measure what those problems really represent once you have acknowledged them: Why is there a problem? There is a problem because many people view gays with scorn or derision or fear. There is a problem because when people look at gays or lesbians, they find a lifestyle which they may abhor, cannot understand, do not want to understand, and believe they should not have to understand, and so do not.

The result is that we find ourselves put in the position of either embracing or rejecting what is a fundamental form of discrimination--a dislike of someone or something else because it does not conform to our sense of how we want to be or how we think everybody ought to be.

That is not what this country is supposed to be about. Whether it is a matter of skin color or religion, that is not who we are. And it is also not who we are with respect to matters of sexual preference.

Now, I am not going to spend a lot of time going into or discussing why someone is or is not gay . I am no expert on that. I can only suggest that the vast majority of people to whom I have talked who are gay do not view it as a matter of choice. They are born with that choice already part of their constitution. And for many, there is a lifetime of agony in trying to face up to the realities of who they are as a human being, as a person. And those agonies can drive some to suicide. They drive some to live a life of lies and running away. Others embrace it more readily and more capably.

We are supposed to be a society that does not drive people to run away from themselves or from their history or who they are. We are supposed to be a society which allows human beings to live to the fullest capacity of who they may want to be or who they are, defined by themselves, as long as they do not break the law, break the rules, intrude on other people.

Now, that is conduct, and conduct is what should matter in making judgments about what should or should not be allowed within the military . Status, the actual fact of being gay , and only being gay without attendant conduct that might offend somebody, cannot be sufficient in the United States of America to disallow somebody the choice, if they are qualified in every other regard, of serving their Nation.

Now, if we were to adopt a policy in this country that were to codify discrimination of this form, I think we would turn our backs on a number of different things, Mr. President, not the least of which is reality. Is there anyone in the Senate, or in this country, or in the Pentagon particularly, who believes that none of the 58,000 heroes listed on the wall in front of the Lincoln Memorial was gay ? I have never heard anybody, nor do I believe anybody could, make that assertion. Is there anyone who believes that there are not hundreds, perhaps even thousands of individuals who were gay who are buried beneath the white crosses at Arlington?

Is there anyone who does not believe that there are thousands of gays and lesbians in the military at this minute? Eleven thousand of them over the last few years have admitted it, voluntarily or not and they were drummed out.

We can be assured that there are surely thousands more who are scared to admit, who are forced by our policy to live a lie. They go about their business. They defend their country. They defend our freedoms. They defend the Constitution because they believe in what we, as a nation, stand for.

The question is not whether we should have gays in the military , because we have gays in the military . Gays have fought in the Revolution, in the Civil War, in both World Wars, in Korea, in Vietnam, in the Persian Gulf, and they fought, Mr. President, and they died not as gays or lesbians, but as Americans.

So the question is whether we as a country should continue to treat a whole group of people as second-class citizens? Is it appropriate to codify a lie, to pretend that there are no gays in the military ? Is it right to continue a policy that says to this group of Americans you are somehow not part of America, not entitled to help defend America, not someone whom we are willing to openly associate with in the military , even though every day in the workplace, every day in schools and colleges across America, we have learned to live and work together?

Mr. President, to codify discrimination in the military alone is not worthy of America. These are people who want to serve our country. They want to risk their lives and we respond instead by treating them like criminals, requiring them to hide from the fundamental part of their own identities not asked for but God given, forcing them into lives of secrecy and needless and senseless fear.

<...>

[dsc]

64. He voted for the bill which included DADT

I have posted the vote in DIRECT RESPONSE TO YOU on SEVERAL OCCASIONS so I won't be doing so again. But the fact is he voted, after that amemdment failed, for the same exact word for word bill that Clinton signed. So faced with the same choice Clinton had, he made the same choice Clinton did. You can post blue links until the cows come home and give birth to aliens but the facts are what the facts are. Oh, and as even your link shows only 33 Senators favored gays serving openly instead of DADT or an outright ban. So a veto by Clinton wouldn't have been upheld. Both Kerry and Clinton wanted gays to serve openly. Both tried to affect that change. And both, when faced with a hostile political reality, decided DADT was better than an outright ban.

[ProSense]

68. No, he didn't

and DADT was lousy policy that should never have been implemented.

Press Conference on "Gays in the Military" (January 29, 1993) Bill Clinton

A Retreat on Gay Soldiers

<...>

President Clinton was on the right track when he pledged during the campaign to lift the ban on gay service members. But once in office, Mr. Clinton erred by not lifting it with the stroke of a pen. Instead, after months of wrangling, the Administration issued a half-hearted policy on July 19 that left the ban in place but curbed the screening and investigations designed to ferret out homosexuals.

<...>

The whole purpose of the Senate bill is to exclude homosexuals because their presence would create an "unacceptable risk" to morale, discipline and unit cohesion. But it is shocking how little evidence supports that assertion. When challenged on the floor, Senator Nunn cited the predictable testimony of top generals. Their seasoned judgments deserve to be weighed -- but they may simply be reluctant to tackle a tough social issue.

The Rand report offers voluminous evidence that homosexuals and heterosexuals could indeed work together effectively. Its researchers visited foreign military establishments that welcome or tolerate homosexuals, including such capable armies as those of Israel, France and Canada; none thought their effectiveness had been reduced. The researchers visited police and fire departments where gay and heterosexual members put their lives at risk together; none reported a loss of effectiveness.

<...>

A pending defense bill has language identical to the Senate's, but more progressive members hope the Rules Committee will allow debate on an amendment that would leave policy on homosexuals in the military to the Administration. That is the best way to go. Cementing the Senate language into law will just make it harder to ease the ban as social attitudes become more enlightened.

[dsc]

69. One more time since you apparently are unwilling to admit the truth

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=103&session=1&vote=00380

Number: H.R. 2401 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 )
Measure Title: A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1994 for military activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 1994, and for other purposes.

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---77
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Boren (D-OK)
Bradley (D-NJ)
Breaux (D-LA)
Bryan (D-NV)
Bumpers (D-AR)
Burns (R-MT)
Byrd (D-WV)
Campbell (D-CO)
Chafee (R-RI)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cohen (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Craig (R-ID)
Danforth (R-MO)
Daschle (D-SD)
DeConcini (D-AZ)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durenberger (R-MN)
Exon (D-NE)
Faircloth (R-NC)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Ford (D-KY)
Glenn (D-OH)
Graham (D-FL)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Heflin (D-AL)
Hollings (D-SC)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (R-VT)
Johnston (D-LA)
Kassebaum (R-KS)
Kempthorne (R-ID)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerrey (D-NE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Mathews (D-TN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Mitchell (D-ME)
Moseley-Braun (D-IL)
Moynihan (D-NY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nunn (D-GA)
Pell (D-RI)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Riegle (D-MI)
Robb (D-VA)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Sasser (D-TN)
Shelby (D-AL)
Simon (D-IL)
Simpson (R-WY)
Smith (R-NH)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thurmond (R-SC)
Warner (R-VA)
Wofford (D-PA)

end of quote bold mine

That is, as I said, the vote on the final defense appropriations bill, the same exact word for word bill that Clinton signed into law. In short every single syllable of every single word I typed was 100% accurate. Kerry did exactly what I said he did and it is exactly what Clinton did. You can post blue links from now until the sun burns out and it won't chang

[ProSense]

70. Really?

"National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994"

Senator Kerry was not going to vote against the defense bill, that is not DADT.

He vigorously opposed DADT. Period.


Also, you marked Kerrey of NE. Notice also that Boxer did not vote for the defense bill.

On edit: You still have not addressed this.

[dsc]

71. that is the bill Clinton signed

it included DADT. You can spin, fold, and mutilate the facts until Hell freezes over, but the facts are what the facts are. I did mark the wrong name but you can plainly see the right name is there. As to Boxer, OK I was wrong on that.

[dsc]

73. as to 'this'

The ban on gays couldn't be removed by Clinton by EO since there was a law on the books banning military personnel from engaging in sodomy, defined as both giving and receiving oral sex. Since you aren't gay, let me spell this out for you, pretty much the only sex gays engage in are covered by that law so we would have to remain celebate in order to stay in. I fail to see how that would be any better than DADT. Would you be willing to refrain from any sex for 20 or 30 years to do your job?

[ProSense]

74. Um

wrong

[ecstatic]

55. Was Obama responsible for the tax compromise?

Or do you pick and choose what he's responsible for?

[dsc]

58. Actually go ahead and search for a post where I blame him for the tax compromise

you won't find it. The fact is the blue dog dems in the House created that mess and the compromise is what it is. I would have preferred that the stimulus measures lasted the same amount of time as the rest of the bill but that is more a quibble than anything else. I don't know the extent he is or isn't to blame for the switch from Making Work Pay to the payroll tax cut. That was a very bad idea and frankly if he is to blame for that he is if he isn't, he isn't. The fact a compromise had to be made at all is the blue dog's fault not his.

[ClarkUSA]

59. No, it's the truth. And Rachel Maddow agrees with me: "This is the President's victory"

I think that politically, though, the thing to not lose touch of, to not lose touch with here, this is the President's victory. The President took a lot of criticism, a lot of abuse, a lot of skepticism from his otherwise most loyal supporters on this. But this is an issue on which the President did not waver. He continually insisted that this was possible. That it would get done.

It, in fact, was not possible for the President to do this through Executive action. This is something that had to happen legislatively if it was really going to happen in a definitive way.

The President did not waver. He DID work on the Senate to get this to happen. He insisted that this was possible against a lot of people, including me, saying it was not possible.

This is a difficult promise kept. It's not just a promise that was kept. It was one that was hard to keep, that cost a lot of political capital and a lot of work and this is the President's victory today and his base will reward him for it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x571393

It's important to note that both Rachel Maddow and Andrew Sullivan share my viewpoint re: President Obama deserving the lion's share of the credit for this historic achievement. Your refusal to give President Obama ample credit for this victory is what's really "a lot of hooey".

[QC]

76. Has Nan Hunter released a statement yet? n/t

[ClarkUSA]

78. Is that all you've got? Cat got your tongue?

I'll bet it has.

[frazzled]

48. Obama's getting the Sec Def and Joint Chiefs to endorse repeal

as well as commissioning the study that left no doubt (except to Republicans) that the ban should be lifted, is the single most important thing that got this passed.

The Republicans, as you know, will block any legislation from the Democrats or the administration: we saw it with the 9-11 firefighter's health issue just this week. They'd oppose legislation that promised to save their own mothers if it meant giving the Democrats a defeat. The only reason they allowed some in their party to bolt on this one is because they knew they could not oppose the recommendations of the U.S. Military: they let some go ahead with cloture, and then saved the rest of their faces with their homophobic base by voting against it. It was Obama who accomplished that: he was the one who got them on board.

This was a campaign promise he always said he would deliver on. He did. It took all the work from the gay and straight community as well (my husband and I called our new Republican senator Mark Kirk four times and wrote letters--he ended up voting for repeal). It took even Joe Lieberman and the Log Cabin Republicans. But Obama deserves huge kudos on this.

[Radical Activist]

49. I must have gotten 10 messages from OFA about calling Mark Kirk.

Between email and text messages. I understand the anger that he didn't do this faster. But now that it's done, it's clear that Obama put his weight behind making it happen.

[Number23]

56. "Obama deserves huge kudos on this." Exactly. Along with all of the other groups you listed

But the OPs and a few others STAUNCH determination to not give the president those kudos is nothing short of bizarre.

[OhioBlue]

63. exactly. n/t

[MrScorpio]

46. It's time to celebrate and reflect...

But, the battle continues.

[CakeGrrl]

47. I suspect the President will have done a LITTLE more than put a signature on it.

"Credit for signing it"? Faint praise indeed.

[AtomicKitten]

50. You are still wrong insinuating Pres Obama had nothing to do with the repeal of DADT.

from you ---> "Obama when he signs it will deserve credit for signing it ..."

SOTU 2010: Pres Obama calls for the end of DADT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOWYT8NatM

“This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It’s the right thing to do.”

[CakeGrrl]

51. Rachel Maddow said the President did a lot of work on the Senate to get it done

So...will he get credit with the appropriate affirmations? Hopefully.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ClarkUSA]

60. President Obama deserves much more credit than you're willing to give him.

LGBT media personalities and passionate pro-DADT repeal advocates Rachel Maddow (MSNBC host) and Andrew Sullivan (blogger) both gave credit where credit is due in their comments today: President Obama.

Andrew Sullivan: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/obamas-long-game.html
Rachel Maddow: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x571393

If it weren't for President Obama's efforts, DADT would never ever have been repealed. Those of us who always supported his strategy on this issue have finally been vindicated.

This is CHANGE.

[stevenleser]

65. Good post and congrats to us all n/t

[Egnever]

66. Its a good day!

[bliss_eternal]

67. congratulations....!

...I'm so glad it passed, too.
very sorry it wasn't passed on the deadline you had in mind. :( if nothing else, it's a wonderful christmas present, yes? ;)

btw--it's incredibly gracious of you to say you were wrong. :hug:

[dsc]

77. It wasn't my deadline

to use one example, thanks to his recent committment, in all likelyhood caused by the stress of this, Lt Choi is likely not going to benefit from this.

[stevenleser]

79. It will be interesting to see what comes of all of the separations in the last yr, 2 yrs, 5 yrs, etc

Do they get compensated? Can they re-enter the armed forces and get credit for time?

I'd say they ought to be immediately reinstated if they so choose and get credit toward retirement.

[Beacool]

80. I was pleasantly surprised that some Republicans voted for it.

Enough of them to make the repeal happen. It just goes to show you, you can never be sure about people.........

:-)

[dsc]

82. Burr was a major, postive surprise

while Lugar was an unfortunate, negative one. Otherwise we got all the ones we thought we had a shot at.