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Scott Brown announced his support for repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell today, consistent with the position of the broader military.
“I pledged to keep an open mind about the present policy on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Having reviewed the Pentagon report, having spoken to active and retired military service members, and having discussed the matter privately with Defense Secretary Gates and others, I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on the Secretary’s recommendations that repeal will be implemented only when the battle effectiveness of the forces is assured and proper preparations have been completed.”
Bob Gates successfully convinced Brown on the implementation process, which should concern people a bit, especially as Gates might not be around to do the implementation. Gates did say that he would not “slow-walk” things, but what about his successor? What if a President Palin reaches office without implementation in place, and she just never certifies it? I don’t know if that’s likely, but it’s something to watch.
On the matter at hand, it seems like there are now two sure Republican votes for repeal: Brown and Susan Collins. Joe Lieberman said Richard Lugar was a Yes vote for repeal a couple weeks ago. So that means that, if Democrats all vote for repeal, even with the loss of fundie Mark Pryor you’d have 60 votes. In addition, Lisa Murkowski and John Ensign have indicated potential support, with Olympia Snowe, George Voinovich and George LeMieux as possibles.
However, getting all the Democrats but Pryor on board is unclear. Jim Webb seemed to drift closer to support in the hearings. Ben Nelson switched his vote to support months ago, and he was stalwart in the hearings, but he has also said that the Senate shouldn’t move forward on anything but taxes and spending and jobs. One of the newest Senators, and the newest member of the Armed Services Committee, Joe Manchin, seemed very focused on chaplains leaving the military as a result of any policy shift. Previously, Manchin said he wanted the report before he would agree to support repeal, but now it’s here and it makes a pretty definitive case. Blanche Lincoln voted against cloture last time on the defense authorization bill, but she’s a lame duck now. She’s publicly uncommitted.
I think the votes are possibly there, but it’s a matter of whether the Republicans will demand some kind of long time frame in exchange for their vote, which could put the whole thing out of reach.
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I’m confused.
Aren’t there 58 Democrats now, with Kirk sworn in to the special Illinois seat, including Bernie and RGJoe? If Pryor’s a NO (on the cloture vote as well, I wonder? has anyone asked?) Brown & Collins make 59.
Why trust RGJoe’s characterization of Lugar’s vote? It’s not like he’s lied before when he’s said he’s ‘convinced’ of something.
None of the possibles will vote YES on anything until the tax cut deal is done their way, so say they all in their unanimous letter to Reid yesterday.
So how does Lugar get to be a YES, let alone Snowe, Voinovich, LeMieux? They’ve said they WON’T vote for anything until their rich patrons and contributors (and THEY) get their tax cuts.
I think any actual tallying of GOPs as YES votes on cloture OR DADT needs this question first: “Senator, does your commitment to vote YES here void your commitment in your caucus’s unanimous letter to Majority Leader Reid?”
I’m not just taking RGJoe’s word for it. There are other indications that Lugar’s a yes. For one, Richard Lugar. As recently as two days ago. After the empty Republican kamikaze threat.
And that tax cut deal is cooked, IMO, I see a weekend news dump in the near future.
I look forward to Scott Brown’s Tea Party supporters (who are not at all just plain ol’ disgraced conservative Republicans under a new name and are in fact just citizens from all over the spectrum who have never been politically active but have been spurred to action by concern over government spending and nothing else) losing their fucking shit over this.
Anyone try calling Scott Brown’s offices? I bet you can’t even get through. At least you won’t be able to once his entitled voters catch wind of this. Seems he’s positioning himself to be reelected largely thanks to the middle. Not the radical right. Still, he left himself a bit of an out at the end of his statement.
What preparations have to made exactly, to implement a plan that consists of ignoring something that’s already being by nearly everybody? Someone should ask them that.
Fixed it for you.
Maybe he’ll start his own Party. “Massachusetts for Brown” anybody? I don’t know the primary situation in Ma but this will guarantee a teabagger challenge. Not that he has much of a chance of re-election anyway, unless the Democrats run some entitled clown like Coakley again.
I’d like to ask for opinions on this video where Dan Choi debates lesbian peace activist Matilda Bernstein Sycamore on Democracy Now. Who do you think argues the stronger and wiser progressive position?
http://tinyurl.com/2cbpg4j
Big deal. Half the military and 20% of the civilian population will probably be radioactive ash with her as end-of-dayser-in-chief (is that a word?). DADT will be least of our problems.
President Palin? What is wrong with you? Are you trying to up the national suicide rate? It’s bad enough that the fucking rich get big raises for just being rich and we get to foot the bill because they think that we are some kind of sub-human. And the proof is, you were not sub-human you would be fucking rich.
Palin would just give up because it does not pay enough and it is “too hard. People keep wanting me to make decision and I just want to go hunting wolves with Air Force One.”
I hope so. I worry that he will be able to pretend that he is moderate enough – and with him sharing a ballot line with Obama, I am sure they will cook something up.