OK, Now JOHN friggin' STOSSEL is advocating to repeal DADT, allow same-gender marriage.

[Bluebear]

Hello? President Obama? Democratic Congress? WTF are we waiting for besides your stupid-assed "survey" of the troops? Thank you.

=====

America is one of many countries that forbid openly gay people to serve in the military. Others are: Cuba, China, Egypt, Greece, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, and Venezuela.

See a pattern?

With a few exceptions, those are not countries where free people want to live.

By contrast, Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain all allow gay people to serve.

No country has America's in-between policy: Gays can serve—as long as no one finds out about it. Where did that come from?...

Just as I see no reason why gays should not be free to marry, I see no reason why they shouldn't be free to be in the military.

http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/29/dont-ask-dont-tell-should-go/1

[zipplewrath]

1. We have to give the bigots time

Gotta give 'em a year to "study" it. Let them fill out surveys. Make sure they won't be tramatized. Then we can write some rules that let them stay in the military, as long as they don't disturb the bigots too much.

[gratuitous]

2. That settles it

Since Stossel can never be right, DADT and the prohibition against same-sex marriage must remain the law of the land forever.

Well played, Mustache Man.

[DJ13]

3. Well played, Mustache Man.

[The Northerner]

4. Isn't Stossel a libertarian?

and, from what I've observed, most every libertarian is socially liberal so I wouldn't be surprised.

[Cant trust em]

5. He is purportedly a libertarian, so this doesn't surprise me too much. nt

[Bluebear]

6. Libertarians are stronger on gay rights than Democrats :(

That's a bitter pill to swallow.

[Cant trust em]

7. Libertarians who don't need to get elected to anything...

That doesn't excuse the democrats, but it doesn't surprise me that the ones not holding office can speak up.

[Bluebear]

13. Americans favor overturning DADT by a WIDE margin. It would not be electoral suicide in the least

[USArmyParatrooper]

8. Uh, Hello? It's already in the works

Not that you'll credit Obama with following through, exactly as he said would happen.

http://lezgetreal.com/2010/07/full-congress-likely-to-take-up-dadt-repeal-in-september/comment-page-1/

Full Congress Likely To Take Up DADT Repeal In September

Advocates for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell are expecting a vote on the 2011 Defense Authorization Bill to occur sometimes in September after the August recess. The language that would repeal DADT is embedded in the Defense budget, and voting against the bill has always been seen as politically difficult no matter what the reasons. The bill funds the troops no matter what their sexual orientation is. Currently, the timetable for the bill being brought to the floor of the Senate is being negotiated between the Senate majority and minority leadership.

According to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, “What we’re hoping to do before August is to have an agreement which will pave the way for it being brought up right after the recess.” The next time that negotiations regarding what is in the bill can come up will be during reconciliation, and that will happen when the two chambers negotiate over differences in the bill.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and the SLDN are urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the bill to the floor after Congress returns to work after Labor Day. “Yes, it would have been better if we were on the Senate floor this month, but the calendar was just too crowded,” Sarvis is on record as saying.

“This is the bill that provides for the pay and benefits and equipment for all service members, straight and gay. This bill and these core benefits for our should not be caught up in post election games and posturing,” he has also said.

The biggest concern so far has been that those opposed to repealing DADT might try to get the language struck from the bill either through another amendment or by filibustering the Defense bill. Both are problematic. In order to get a new amendment added to the bill on the floor of the Senate, it will take sixty votes to get it put into the bill. As for filibustering the whole bill, that could be even more problematic politically. It is unlikely that the Republicans will want to look like they are willing to vote against the troops in the middle of a war and right before the election. So far, no amendments have been planned to end the DADT repeal, but Levin predicts that there will be.

Sarvis is confident that the repeal will go through. He stated “The Senate votes are likely to be close, but, in the end, I think, repeal proponents will prevail.” The votes on the amendments are likely to be close or not happen at all. The filibuster on this is likely to be the usual kabuki dance of having just the moderate Republicans vote in favor of ending debate and then having most of the Republicans vote for the bill.

The biggest problem is avoiding the lame duck session after the election. Republicans have vowed to grind Congress to a halt during that time.

Carl Levin Makes It Clear That The Troops Do Not Have Veto Power Over DADT Repeal

Senator Carl Levin, the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has stated that he understands the frustration that many in the LGBT Community feel regarding the slow process of repealing DADT. Senator Levin spoke to reporters at a breakfast held by the Christian Science Monitor. Regarding the phrasing of the survey, that he has not read, he “can understand the resentment in the gay community.” He stated “the military is not a democracy.”

The Michigan Senator predicted that there would not be a filibuster because those who oppose the repeal of DADT are unlikely to oppose funding the troops. According to Levin “It’s a very good idea to get the attitude of the troops on things,” but that the troops needed to understand that this is not about them having the veto power over the repeal of DADT.

“A lot depends about how the survey is worded … make sure they understand military leadership made a decision. asking these questions as a way to help us implement this effectively,” Levin stated. Levin does feel that the Pentagon should have asked whether or not it was alright to discriminate against lesbians and gays.

Levin stated that Congress was not asked about the wording of the survey. In response to a question regarding whether or not the survey results would be released to the public, Levin stated “They will probably leak but they won’t be leaked at my suggestion.”

[Davis_X_Machina]

9. He has to do some high-profile liberartiansiming....

...every so often, so people don't notice that he's been bought and sold more times than shares in the Producers, which is not so libertarian.....

[blondeatlast]

10. Is it okay if I still loathe him? I don't think my psyche could take the conflict

if I have to give him more than the tiniest bit of grudging respect (besides, I smell a political tactic from the likes of O'Reilly and Stossel).

[tridim]

11. Thank gawd you finally said it.

I thought I was going crazy with all this libertarian talk. It's bullshit.

This is a political tactic dreamed up by the RW hate machine, period.

[Bluebear]

12. Of course. As I do. But look at another reply, to your message:

All this pro-gay talk is just the RW hate machine. :silly:

We could certainly do something as Democrats and stop the possibility of using gay rights as a weapon by affording equal rights to all!