DADT reaction. With DADT repeal [1]now passed by the Senate, the bill awaits President Obama's signature. Once that happens the president must sign a letter, with the secretary of Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [2], must sign a document that certifies the changes will not negatively impact military readiness. This letter is then sent to the Congress, and 60 days later DADT is done. "Even with this historic vote, service members must continue to serve in silence until repeal is final," said Aubrey Sarvis [3],� executive director for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
[4]
Gates and Mullen recognize the law has changed, but remind the old rules still apply. Here is what Secretary Robert Gates [5]said in his statement about the Senate vote. ?It is therefore important that our men and women in uniform understand that while today?s historic vote means that this policy will change, the implementation and certification process will take an additional period of time.� In the meantime, the current law and policy will remain in effect." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen [6]promises that whatever follows, change will follow military time. "I am pleased to see the Congress vote to repeal the law governing ?Don't Ask, Don't Tell.? Handling this through legislation preserves the military's prerogative to implement change in a responsible, deliberate manner."
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Joe's�victory. When the bill gets Obama's signature, Sen. Joe Lieberman [8] will be front and center. And he should. He carried this legislation through to passage. Despite being Sen. John McCain's attack dog in the 2008 election, it was a smart move on the White House to make the Nutmeg State senator the point person on this. ?Repealing ?Don't Ask, Don't Tell? is the right thing to do whether you're liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, or independent," the senator said in a statement. "It is the right thing to do for our military and the right thing to do for our country. The sixty-five Senators who voted to correct this injustice showed that we?re still able to come together in a bipartisan way to fight for America?s best interests.? And let's not forget Maine's junior senator Susan Collins, [9] who bucked her Republican leaders by being a co-sponsor to the DADT stand alone bill. ?I view this as a matter of fairness and justice, but also as a matter that we should want to have talents of anyone who wants to serve.?
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McCain's legacy. The senator from Arizona went nuclear during Saturday's debate.That would have been fine if he made any sense. Instead�petulance was all he had. McCain moaned that repeal would only be applauded in "the liberal bastions of America." [11] He then ended his argument [12] with this: "Today's a very sad day. The commandant of the United States Marine Corps says when your life hangs on the line, you don't want anything distracting. . . . I don't want to permit that opportunity to happen and I'll tell you why. You go up to Bethesda Naval Hospital, Marines are up there with no legs, none. You've got Marines at Walter Reed with no limbs." In all of this rambling, McCain�more than likely never�thought about�the service of Staff Sgt. Eric Alva [13]. The senator probabbly�doesn't care. Much better to get�adoration�from the Family Research Council, [14]�and to disregard the sacrifices of gay troops.
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Ivies and the ROTC. Once the Senate passed the DADT bill, top universities announced they were ready to remove their ROTC bans. "This is an historic development for a nation dedicated to fulfilling its core principle of equal rights," said Columbia University President Lee Bollinger in a statement. "It also effectively ends what has been a vexing problem for higher education, including at Columbia -- given our desire to be open to our military, but not wanting to violate our own core principle against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."
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University of Connecticut Huskies and history. The Huskies [17]�play three steps above the competition.�Yesterday the program became a permanent part of basketball college�history with its�88th consecutive victory, tying John Wooden's�University of California, Los Angeles record.
[18]
[1] http://www.365gay.com/news/senate-votes-to-repeal-dont-ask-dont-tell/
[2] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704862604576029813273703364.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
[3] http://www.sldn.org/news/archives/breaking-sldn-statement-on-u.s.-senate-vote-to-allow-for-the-repeal-of-dont/
[4] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/flag-2-top.jpg
[5] http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14154
[6] http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14155
[7] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/Mike-Mullen-top.jpg
[8] http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/news-events/news/2010/12/lieberman-hails-senate-passage-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal
[9] http://new.bangordailynews.com/2010/12/19/politics/mainers-lead-repeal-snowe-collins-cross-gop-on-military-gays/
[10] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-lieberman-top1.jpg
[11] http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/12/john-mccains-dont-ask-dont-tell-last-stand/68243/
[12] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121803395.html
[13] http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/12/15/Eric_Alva_Blasts_Marine_Commandants_Remarks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AdvocatecomDailyNews+%28Advocate.com+Daily+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
[14] http://www.365gay.com/blog/121610-thursday-watercooler/
[15] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-john-mccain.jpg
[16] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-rotc-campus-top.jpg
[17] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/sports/ncaabasketball/20uconn.html?ref=sports
[18] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/basketball-floor-top.jpg
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