re: #152 Obdicut

Not sure I can be much clearer than that I view the repeal of DADT as a civil rights issue. That it happens to affect only the military is, in my view, secondary to the real issue. And either way, it is not an appropriations issue.

As for ramming through DADT reform, the Dem leadership has shown they are capable of pushing through legislation when they actually care about gettnig it passed rather than scoring cheap political points. But that would require that they actually care about passing the substantive reform and working to get enough Repub defectors to pass the bill, as they did with stimulus and health care reform.

Perhaps you are sufficiently satisfied with an empty gesture by the Dem leadership that is designed solely to place blame on Republicans and try to “save” the mid-term election. For my part, I would prefer to see our president take the lead on this important civil rights question and the Dem leadership do the legitimate legislative work necessary to prevent any Dem defections and to get a sufficient number of moderate Republicans (yes, they do exist) to join the cause and get the bill passed. Dem leaderhip gets no brownie points from me for what is by any objective measure a cheap political stunt, just as the Repubs lose points in my book for voting down an important defense appropriation rather than repeal DADT.