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Lieberman to take lead on DADT repeal

by: saramerica

Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 12:53:31 PM EST

To say that most of us aren't big Joe Lieberman fans on this blog is, well, a bit of an understatement. But I have to give credit where credit's due, and here's somewhere it is: Senator Lieberman is going to be taking the lead on the repeal of the ridiculous 1993 Don't Ask, Don't Tell legislation, under which over 14,000 qualified men and women have been discharged from the military, including over 59 Arabic linguists critical to our missions overseas.

In an interview with the NY Daily News, Lieberman said the reasons for overturning DADT are twofold:

First, allowing gays to serve openly fulfills the bedrock American promise of providing citizens with "an equal opportunity to do whatever job their talents and sense of purpose and motivations lead them to want to do - including military service." Second, and no less important for a lawmaker whose commitment to national security the Pentagon can't doubt, is that "When you artificially limit the pool of people who can enlist then you are diminishing military effectiveness."

On this, Lieberman parts ways with his campaign BFF John McCain and his former running mate, Sarah Palin. McCain is opposed to repealing DADT, on the basis that, "At a time when our armed forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy."

Palin, with her usual semi-coherence, echoed McCain: "I don't think so right now. ... And I say that because there are other things to be worried about right now with the military."

Other things like, say...not having enough qualified linguists?

Here's Joe actually sounding like a Democrat and not like that other thing that Jon Stewart called him:

"My own experience as a member of the Armed Services Committee, visiting our troops on bases here in this country and abroad, particularly in war zones, the most remarkable quality you'll find is unit cohesion," he told me. "What matters is not the gender of the other person in your unit or the color or the religion or in this case the sexual orientation. It's whether that person is a good soldier you can depend on. And that's why I think it's going to work."

Now if Joe could just be as constructive on health care reform, I might just listen to my mother and lay off the guy a bit.

saramerica :: Lieberman to take lead on DADT repeal

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Lieberman to take lead on DADT repeal | 8 comments

Give him credit? Give me a break!!! (4.00 / 1)

As New York Times columnist Frank Rich pointed out recently:

Many of his Republican colleagues said little or nothing. The right's noise machine was on mute. The Fox News report on (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) Mullen's testimony was fair and balanced - and brief. The network dropped the subject entirely in the Hannity-O'Reilly hothouse of prime time that night....why did such a hush greet Mullen on Capitol Hill? The answer begins with the simple fact that a large majority of voters - between 61 percent and 75 percent depending on the poll - now share his point of view. Most Americans recognize that being gay is not a "lifestyle" but an immutable identity, and that outlawing discrimination against gay people who want to serve their country is, as the admiral said, "the right thing to do."

So Joe Lieberman remains perfectly silent for years while his good friends the Republicans and Dick Cheney use bigotry against homosexuals to win re-election. But now that even Fox News remains silent on the issue, now- NOW- Joe Lieberman figures it's OK to sign onto a Democratic issue.

I'm sorry, but this just shows how truly despicable Joe Lieberman really is. This isn't acting like a Democrat, it's showing how awfully hypocritical Lieberman really is. And let's not forget that Lieberman's almost running mate John McCain continues to oppose repeal. And Lieberman never took issue with McCain when he touted how McCain, not Obama, was the man who "put America first."

Lieberman deserves abolutely nothing but scorn and disgust from us for this cheap self-serving move.

Now he's in favor of repealing DADT. Now. Three more years until the SOB is gone.

by: thomashooker @ Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 21:09:08 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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twice a day (4.00 / 1)

a stopped clock is right.

Lieberman is right once a year (if we are lucky).

We would be better served by a stopped clock.

The question is not what you are, we already determined that, we are now negotiating price.
electrealdemocrats.com Online since 3/07 -- TimetogoJoe.com Online s

by: Met00 @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 08:26:26 AM UTC

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True (0.00 / 0)

The damage he does the rest of the time kind of counteracts the good he does when he's right.

by: saramerica @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 13:36:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Touché! (0.00 / 0)

by: Ann Galloway @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 13:55:19 PM UTC

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The same "broaden the pool" theme used for civil servants (0.00 / 0)

http://thehill.com/homenews/se...

Senate Bill 1102 was reported out of committee (Homeland Security) on 12/16/09. That's all I know.

Basically, it is said to be a bill that would give
"domestic" benefits to the partners of gay federal employees. He again says it is not a rights issue, it is a way of broadening the pool of federal employees.

Lieberman is on the record as being against gay marriage, and IIRC sought support in his 06 campaign from churches with anti-gay points of view. I seem to recall a particular church in the New Haven general area.

From what I have read, Rep. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill in the House in 07, and the same year Lieberman proposed a bill in the Senate. The bills were re-introduced in 09 whenthey failed to go anywhere in 07.

by: greenpeas @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 14:49:39 PM UTC

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Marc Ambinder captures the politics of the choice (0.00 / 0)

A Renaissance Of JoeMentum
Not only is Sen. Joe Lieberman going to lead the Senate's attempt to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but the White House asked him to do it. Why, oh why, would the White House reward the man whose health care dithering they came to hate? Simple: this works for everyone. Lieberman can work on Republicans he respects, like Sen. Lindsay Graham, he can regain some credibility with liberals (I said some credibility), he actually does believe that DADT should be repealed, and he now owes the White House a favor.

http://politics.theatlantic.co...

by: Scarce @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 15:42:04 PM UTC

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Joe's not pro-gay - he's pro war and a member of (4.00 / 1)

the Committee on the Present Danger

via Chris Bowers of Mydd:

Members of this group have written about how Iraq transferred their WMD's to Syria just before the start of the Iraq war, and about how Russia moved Saddam's WMD's. Predictably, they have argued that the Supreme Court furthered a jihad against America by ruling against Gitmo. A look over their recent writing indicates that their favorite topic seems to be Iran. Like Joe Lieberman, they don't talk about Iraq much.
The amount of material connected to this website and the members listed on the website is enormous, and I have no doubt you could spend days surfing through and every few hours or so you will have uncovered enough material to make another one of these posts. It is also interesting that the only article they have posted on their news site that is not explicitly about foreign policy is titled A Ned Lamont Victory Would Jeopardize a Safe Democratic Seat and Undermine Party Unity. Strange that they decided to wade into electoral politics in that one election. Interesting that a group that is a who's who of the political arm of the military industrial complex finds that the only election worth commenting on in 2006. Even more bizarre that the group claims defeating Lieberman will undermine Democratic unity, since Lieberman was the only Democrat in Washington to not sign the new Democratic plan on Iraq. It seems to me that defeating Lieberman will only increase Democratic unity.

by: Sue @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 02:29:27 AM UTC

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Will you people of CT (0.00 / 0)

Will you people in CT for get all the BAD that this Person has caused Can anyone REALLY trust LIE-berman? Will the people FORGET all that LIE-berman has done to the whole COUNTRY. I hope that he will not be Reelected.

by: blackjack @ Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 10:20:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]