The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Votes
The Senate armed services committee last week voted repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" out of committee, and will now include it in the Defense spending bill.
The House last week voted to pass repeal on the floor.
Well worth celebrating, but let's look at that vote more closely:
For: 234
Against: 194
Dems for: 229
Dems against: 26
Reps for: 5
Reps against: 168
Forget the fact - FACT - that the rights of a minority should not be up for a popular vote. Several polls have been done recently on this subject, and they show that the overwhelming majority of the general population, 70-75 percent, believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military. A number that high obviously has to include a large number of Republicans.
Yet this is how the vote falls out? Along party lines? What this says to me is that the Republicans are not interested in what their constituents want - unless those constituents are donating money to their campaigns. They are catering only to the extremists in their base.
This shows why a vote on ENDA is not progressing as fast as it ought to be.
And I've said it before: Obama will not go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents, that much is clear. But John McCain continues to prove that he is a tool, and I am so glad he is not in the White House!
If you're curious about how your representative voted, or you want to hear some of the debate, you can go here:
http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2010/05/breaking-house-joins-senate-committee-on-side-of-progress.html
The House last week voted to pass repeal on the floor.
Well worth celebrating, but let's look at that vote more closely:
For: 234
Against: 194
Dems for: 229
Dems against: 26
Reps for: 5
Reps against: 168
Forget the fact - FACT - that the rights of a minority should not be up for a popular vote. Several polls have been done recently on this subject, and they show that the overwhelming majority of the general population, 70-75 percent, believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military. A number that high obviously has to include a large number of Republicans.
Yet this is how the vote falls out? Along party lines? What this says to me is that the Republicans are not interested in what their constituents want - unless those constituents are donating money to their campaigns. They are catering only to the extremists in their base.
This shows why a vote on ENDA is not progressing as fast as it ought to be.
And I've said it before: Obama will not go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents, that much is clear. But John McCain continues to prove that he is a tool, and I am so glad he is not in the White House!
If you're curious about how your representative voted, or you want to hear some of the debate, you can go here:
http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2010/05/breaking-house-joins-senate-committee-on-side-of-progress.html