Maddow: Thursday may see House, Senate votes to repeal DADT, the ban on gay soldiers [video]
”Senators Ben Nelson, Susan Collins and Robert Byrd now reportedly saying they’ll vote for an Amendment to repeal the policy after Pentagon review. That means the Amendment will probably pass. It would take 60 votes to strip that Amendment out later, so for opponents of the [DADT] policy, the pospects, at least on the Senate side, seem pretty good. On the House side, Congressman Patrick Murphy told us last night that he has the votes to pass the same Amendment. No one actually knows for sure if he does have those votes, but he says he’s got them.”
Rachel Maddow reporting on her MSNBC show last night about the increasing momentum to repeal the 17-year-old Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that effectively banned openly gay people from serving in the US Armed Forces. Maddow also talks to members of an “influential” group of military bloggers who agree that the repeal is likely inevitable at this point. JD Johannes of OutsideTheWire.com tells Maddow that the opinion of conservatives is much more diverse today, and that there are gay servicemembers. He adds, “I don’t think you’re going to see a big flood of young men and women coming out in declaring their openness and their sexuality. I think they’re going to continue to serve with distinction. … Sexual relations are not allowed under General Order Number One, so you’re not going to have any changes in actual behavior overseas…. What you will find is a lot of young men and women, a lot of officers, a lot of NCOs … are going to have one less burden — lifted off of their shoulders — one less thing to worry about … and they’re going to be able to focus on the task at hand.” (Rachel Maddow / MSNBC)
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