Barney Frank: DADT Repeal coming next year.

[Clio the Leo]

Says that the WH has been committed to doing this from the jump. The idea being to put it in a defense authorization bill that the GOP will not want to oppose (as opposed to making it an autonomous bill that offers no incentive for its opponents.) It puts those who'd want to retain DADT between a rock in a hard place. If they OPPOSE this, they must also oppose "supporting" the troops by not voting to fund them armor and supplies. Democratic opponents could then, on the campaign trail, say, "Rep. So and So actually voted AGAINST aid to our boys and girls fighting over seas!"

DADT Likely To Be Part of Defense Bill

By Kerry Eleveld
Repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” will likely be included as part of next year’s Department of Defense authorization bill in both chambers of Congress, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) said Wednesday.

“Military issues are always done as part of the overall authorization bill,” Frank said, insisting that this has been the strategy for overturning the policy all along. “'Don’t ask, don’t tell' was always going to be part of the military authorization.”

Frank said he has been in direct communication with the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and other Congressional leaders about the strategy for ending the 1993 ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Though some moderate Democrats have recently expressed concern about repealing the policy during a midterm election year, Frank said resolve at the White House has never wavered. “The Administration is totally committed to this and has been from the beginning,” he said.

Anecdotally, Frank recalled an incident earlier this year when Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a statement to reporters suggesting that repeal was still an open question.

“There was a point where Gates said, ‘If we repeal don’t ask, don’t tell,’ -- and the next day he said, ‘When we repeal don’t ask, don’t tell,’” said Frank. “That’s because Rahm called him up. The White House has been consistently committed.”

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/11/DADT_Likely_To_Be_Part_of_Defense_Bill/

[msallied]

1. Excellent Strategy!

[mopinko]

2. damn that rahm.

he is so good for nothing. oh wait....

[Clio the Leo]

5. Yep and I'm TRYING ....

.... to be nice and not wave my chess piece in the air, but at least we can all agree that their are ADVANTAGES to having a former Congressman as the Chief of Staff and two former Senators as the President and VP. (And I'd imagine Hillary and the other former members of Congress at the WH have some thoughts on the matter as well.)

Any fear that I may have that they cant get things done in Congress is tempered by the fact that Joe Biden became a Senator BEFORE I WAS BORN!!!

[mopinko]

6. rahm is a team player. he does what the pres wants him to do.

and he does it tooth and claw. i disliked him intensely as the head of the dccc. but i was thrilled with his pick as cos. nobody can twist arms like rahm. he is a great bad cop to obama's good cop.

[Clio the Leo]

8. I loved the response he gave recently ......

.... when asked if he favored a public option, he said, "you dont understand, *I* dont get an opinion, I speak for the President."

[mopinko]

10. yup

i'm sure he has an opinion, and i'm sure he lets the pres know what that is, but he also knows that he is not in a policy position. he is my favorite bulldog now.

[PopSixSquish]

19. Both Rahm and Joe Biden Oppose the Build Up of Troops in Afghanistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/asia/11policy.html?_r=3&ref=politics

"But administration officials cautioned that Mr. Obama had not yet made up his mind, and that other top advisers, among them Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, remained skeptical of the value of a buildup."

And I do wish folks would research Rahm's voting record in Congress with regard to HealthCare before casting him as the devil's handmaiden...

[Jennicut]

29. But that would just be too easy.

Rahm is actually on the right side of some things that we want. Not my favorite politician ever but not so easy to pigeonhole as many out here make it to be.

[vaberella]

36. Hah!!! I already waved it...meh!! My arrogance is too much. I'm a smug punk.

:rofl:

[Kdillard]

3. Excellent. K and R. I also agree with the strategy.

[IndianaGreen]

4. The world ends in 2012

I hope DADT is repealed before Jesus returns with all of those angry gay angels!

[Clio the Leo]

7. Except that we go up THERE......

.... to Jesus and the angy gay angels I mean, they dont come back down here. We go up to them.

But I'll admit, like everything else, it's a matter of contention. ;)

[Cha]

14. Some people surely think so..I

think it's going to be the year of the transition to a new world of harmonious energies on December 21, 2012.

[Clio the Leo]

17. No, that happened on 1.20.09.

And just because I'll never have an excuse to post this again...

[Cha]

24. That most definetly was

the Beginning!

Nice Graphic:) The mods have been saving us from the zombies around here..go mods!

[RetroLounge]

9. Well, another year to "hope"

:eyes:

RL

[CakeGrrl]

13. Damn this Administration for actually using 2 out of their 4 YEARS

to accomplish this, because they've done nothing but sit with their thumbs up their ass for 9 months.

Why didn't The Messiah just open his arms and part the seas? It's just that easy!

:sarcasm:


:eyes:

[impik]

41. Yea, that bum Obama...

Honestly, some people on the left deserves George Bush.

[phleshdef]

18. Yea, damn Obama for actually waiting for the right time to make the repeal a passable law...

...instead of just giving you your unreliable little pony without effective, meaningful congressional action.

[RetroLounge]

43. Yeah, an election year...

Wow, you must be young...

:rofl:

RL

[Bonobo]

11. And yet some here will say it is "Despite Obama".... nt

[AndyA]

12. So, in other words, the Dems are now acting like the Republicans, right?

Beat them at their own game, so to speak. Well, what goes around comes around I guess. Glad to hear it's in the works. Way, way overdue. :thumbsup:

[jesus_of_suburbia]

15. Great news! We finally join the UK, Israel, Australia, etc. who already allow gays in the military.

:)

The way they are planning on doing it is smart.

[Arkana]

16. Actually, that's a fantastic strategy.

Hang the GOP high by sticking it in the defense bill. If they oppose it, slam them for "not supporting the troops."

Wow.

[Peacetrain]

20. I am so happy to read this.. thank you!! I knew it was going to happen

:)

[ClarkUSA]

21. I never doubted the WH on this matter, unlike some bitter Haters here.

Nice to see Rep. Frank confirm that President Obama has a solid agenda that will correct one of the worst of Clinton's many
legislative fuck ups.

[vaberella]

39. Ditto. n/t

[Kitsune]

22. Bullshit, 2010 is an election year.

They'll all be running for the hard right and calling it being "moderate" and insisting that, if we'll just vote for them, they'll totally come through for us this time.

Forgive me if I come off as excessively cynical, but this is getting into Charlie Brown/Lucy football territory. This is not an especially complex issue. Huge majorities support it. It would take five goddamn minutes. They could have it done by the end of business today if they were so "consistently committed."

[phleshdef]

23. Polling shows that DADT is no longer popular, not even among a lot of Republicans.

It won't hurt re-elections.

[dsc]

26. intensity matters

and I think there are likely more single issue voters on this on the pro DADT side than on ours.

[phleshdef]

31. Not according to the polls I've seen.

Some issues I may agree, like gay marriage for instance, but as far as allowings gay people to serve, the tide on that has really turned over the last decade or so.

[IndianaGreen]

27. If it was up to the GOP, they would repeal Brown v Board of Education

[Clio the Leo]

33. Exactly, they'll be running to the right...

.... which is why the left is putting it into a DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS bill.

[dsc]

25. I will believe it when I see it

2010 is an election year and I fear that more than a few Representatives and Senators will get cold feet. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

[Clio the Leo]

28. Well, the thing I'm TRYING not to say.....

.... is that I think all of Congress will be under greater pressure to pass the Appropriations bill because troop levels in Afghanistan will have increased quite a bit at that point.

We just saw a HUGE chunk of our own party take a big step backward away from a progressive agenda in favor of a more conservative one (Stupak.) I think that underscores just how difficult repealing DADT by itself would be. It has to be done in a way that the GOP (and GOP wing of the Democratic party) will really have no other choice.

Remember how Hillary (and others) were criticized for "voting in favor of the Iraq war"? ....... If I'm not mistaken, she was voting for an appropriations bill. A "no" vote would have also meant "no to armor."

[dsc]

32. I have no problem with this strategy

but I just have my doubts that the 'moderate' dems will allow us to use this strategy. Again, I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

[Drunken Irishman]

30. NEXT YEAR? WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHEN THAT WILL HAPPEN!

:crazy:

[CTLawGuy]

48. is that from

The Simpsons?

[Drunken Irishman]

49. Family Guy...

It's their lone Christmas episode. Peter is obsessed with the Christmas movie KISS (the band) Saves Santa. Yet every time he tries to watch it, he's thwarted (has to go shopping on Christmas Eve with Lois).

During their shopping, he passes by a display of a television and notices it's playing. So he stops and begins watching until the store sells the TV and the clerk has to unplug it to give it to the customer.

Peter goes, "Hey, I was watching that!"

and the clerk tells him not to worry, it'll be on next Christmas and of course, Peter responds with, "Who the hell knows when that's gonna be?"

So, I guess my quote is a variation of that. haha

[CTLawGuy]

51. o yeah

Kiss Saves Christmas! Too funny!

[vaberella]

34. Do we call this "CHECK and MATE----BITCHES!!!!!" I love my President, Rahm, Biden, Pelosi.

God...you know for all the idiots that are in Congress and the Admin, we got some of the best brains as well!! They manipulate the system to push their Leftist, Socialist, Non-corporatist agenda. Bless them.

[Clio the Leo]

35. lol No! Shhhhh....

you crack me up.... ;)

see.........

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8749662&mesg_id=8749681

[Neecy]

53. The "bitches" comment is totally unnecessary

[bullwinkle428]

37. Cubs fans have been hearing "wait 'til next year" for over a century...

;)

[vaberella]

38. Is anyone reading the COMMENTS at that site?! Those people are crazy.

You have the one complaining it's going to slow, you have one screaming it's a national security problem, and you have a homophobe. Dear God almighty. It's like the worst of America just posted there. From the purist leftist to the bat-shit crazy conservative.

[impik]

40. But, but, but, i read that Obama hates the Gaze!

[joeybee12]

42. Sorry but I'm not that gullible...this has not been the strategy all along...

...he's lying, like any good politician, to put a spin on things.

[Zenlitened]

44. A minor point re: "a defense authorization bill that the GOP will not want to oppose"

35 GOP Senators Vote Against Defense Bill With Hate-Crimes Amendment
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/35-gop-senators-vote-agai_n_330376.html

... for example.

Republicans gave themselves permission to vote 'no' on defense funding the moment a Democrat became president.

Add some text that says, basically, gays and lesbians are human beings, too... well, I think nothing's guaranteed until the ink dries on Pres. Obama's signature.

[Prism]

45. These people are like the Keystone Cops of LGBT issues

"Oh, we meant to piss off an entire constituency for no very good reason. It's chess, bitches!"

You know, I really do think they believe we rode a short pink bus to school.

I'll believe this when I see it. Especially coming from Frank, a man who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt this summer that power and expedience will never ever be set aside in favor of solidarity with his own community.

Notice how LGBT issues, even the relatively easy things, are drawn out more and more in a kind of political time-wasting exercise.

Who wants to put money on "But you have to vote and donate in 2012. We have so very much more LGBT stuff to do! Eventually!"

I'm telling you, these politicians (and apparently some of their supporters) think most of us had a horrific dildo accident where it became permanently lodged in our frontal cortex, and now we're a bunch of drooling, lisping imbeciles who can't figure out when our dignity is being passed around like a wretched case of herpes.

Good daisy lord.

[vaberella]

46. You think LGBT is relatively easy?! Are you mad?!

Look at the constructed effort to limit the rights of women. Women's rights which should be relatively easy to maintain has turned into a fight now because we got Dems willing to cost millions of lives if their demands are not met. Not to mention a good number of the goons that helped pass DADT/DOMA are still chillin.. How do you think that LGBT is relatively easy?! Nothing is relatively easy when it comes to Congress---especially when you're deaing with a fairly decent minority who will ALWAYS bring you down and a nice number of the majority who basically share the same ideals of that minority.

[Prism]

47. Read this and weep:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=150641&mesg_id=150641

This administration has been a total fucking fiasco when it comes to LGBT issues. This whole "We meant to do it," excuse is deeply, deeply insulting after the way the LGBT community was treated this past spring and summer.

Deeply insulting.

And if you actually cared about the LGBT community, instead of seeing occasional related threads, sighing, and chalking it up to people who just don't get Captain Wonderful's inherent awesomeness, you'd know Frank's remarks are deeply insulting and this administration's approach to LGBT issues borderline incoherent and totally unacceptable.

If you cared. Which, based on your chess declarations above, I'm guessing you actually don't.

You know, it isn't actually all about President Obama. Some of us actually are trying to eke out a second class existence down here. Care to help? Or are you only good for ill-informed, cannot-pretend-to-give-a-shit commentary?

[vaberella]

52. You're input is worthless to me.

If there is nothing else that annoys me more is when some presumes to know me and make declarations into my thoughts or feelings. You definitely don't know shit about me. You turned something that is an issue for thousands if not millions of people into this nation into a ridiculously rhetoric laced with presumpations and assanine declarations. To me that smacks of bitchiness that is definitely unwarranted from my post. I'll look at the thread you posted...but I won't waste any more commentary on you.

[ecstatic]

50. I respect your skepticism. I guess we'll just see... So far he

appears to be doing the things he said he'd do.

[Hekate]

54. Excellent. When it goes thru Congress it cannot be overturned by Executive Order from another Prez

If President Obama were to do what so many want him to do -- wave his pen and write an Executive Order -- DADT could return by an Executive Order of the very next president, if the political winds blow that way.

I believe that this is why people like Barney Frank have been willing to wait this out and bide their time with Obama. It's coming, and it will happen. And when it's done it will be law.

Hekate