In a vote of 65-31, the senate has voted to adopt the DADT compromise repeal measure. My jaw dropped when I heard because I honestly didn't expect it to happen, but score one for justice. It went down a little something like this...Darth McCains forces of discrimination and injustice were closing in on the plucky rebels. There seemed no way out as time became the enemy...would there be enough votes?...It all came down to one fateful moment as a handfull of equality minded Senators staged a last ditch assault against a horrific monolith of evil...
Lol...you know I was gonna relate it to Star Wars some how. But in all seriousness todays vote truly was one in a million. Much as this victory didn't end the war for the rebels it certainly was a massive victory(and saved their bacon). So also is todays vote...it's not an end to the struggle but it is an incredible victory that will change the course of things to come.
But, for now...DADT still has some hoops to jump before it is truly only a memory in the public consciousness. For instance, it must still be signed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense...and the President. Assuming that happens without incident then implementation will occur...and no one knows exactly what the military has in mind for that which leaves us with a some what indeterminate timeline for when a soldier might safely admit to being gay without suffering consequences. That's a lot of room for foot dragging in my opinion In addition, this repeal made no accommodations for Transgendered soldiers, thoughI feel that is just a matter of time with this repeal.
However...lets be thankful for the victory we have. Me being a "glass half empty kinda guy just means I need to go fill it up and raise a toast in thanks.../cheers!
And I have to say...if Gay rights continues to parallel events in Star Wars, than its time to brace yourself for "The Empire Strikes Back"...I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the scene when McCain Captures Ted Olsen and David boys and attempts to freeze one of them in carbonite...it might make that love scene a little awkward...
Congratulations to everyone and Happy Holidays!...as well as a super congrats to all the gay and lesbian soldiers out there who have just received and incredible vindication for their service.
A tally of how the vote went down can be found below the fold:
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Begich (D-AK), Yea
Bennet (D-CO), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brown (R-MA), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Not Voting
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Coons (D-DE), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Franken (D-MN), Yea
Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Not Voting
Hagan (D-NC), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Not Voting
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johanns (R-NE), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Kirk (R-IL), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
LeMieux (R-FL), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Manchin (D-WV), Not Voting
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Merkley (D-OR), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Risch (R-ID), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (D-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Udall (D-CO), Yea
Udall (D-NM), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (D-VA), Yea
Webb (D-VA), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Thank you "yea" Senators one and all.
until next time dear readers....
This might just push John McCain over the edge! He really should spend the rest of his days on a golf cart at one of his four (or five?) houses... How sad that his last days as a politician will be remembered as embracing bigotry...
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, "might"? McCain went over the edge and into his own Tony Perkins-esque lala-land some months ago during his nutty, increasingly divorced-from-reality campaign to keep bigotry alive and well in the military. The reason we didn't realise it at the time is because we'd all got so used to him gradually ramping up the grand pillock factor in his speaches that we didn't notice when the line was crossed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps J Mc can gracefully follow this into the history books. So sad his wife and daughter proved to be the real mavericks on this issue.
ReplyDeleteK
Whoa didn't see that coming! Huzzah!
ReplyDeleteDoing the happy dance! I'm wondering how much foot dragging will follow, hopefully not much. It would have been nice if they had included a timeline for implication in this bill. But, hey it's still a go!
ReplyDeleteYES, This is great news. I too wounder how much foot draging their will be but from what some of the top brass has said it sounds like there might not be much at all. This deffinitly brightens up my day.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the moment but don't relax it is only one item in a long list we must fix.
ReplyDelete