DADT DEAD-ENDERS DIG IN…. This is starting to get pretty silly.
A member of the House Armed Services Committee plans to introduce legislation next week designed to put the brakes on repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay troops.
The measure by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) would add the four military service chiefs to the list of those who must sign off on repealing the policy before it can be officially scrapped. […]
The aide said Hunter could introduce the bill as soon as Tuesday evening, adding that “15 to 20” members — so far all Republicans — have signed on.
I’m genuinely surprised so many Republicans are bothering to pursue this. Remember, it’s not just Hunter — Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel, said he’d look for chances to bring back DADT, too, and presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty (R) announced this week he would “support reinstating” the repealed, discriminatory policy.
There’s just no point to any of this. To reiterate a point from the other day, conservative Republicans almost beat back the effort to repeal the policy late last year, but they came up short. The public wanted to see the change; military leaders wanted to see the change; and lawmakers in both parties approved the change. The moment President Obama held a celebration to sign the legislation, conservatives should have realized the game was up. There was a political fight, and they lost.
And yet, the far-right doesn’t want to give up. Hunter, Wilson, and others surely know that this effort is pointless and unpopular, so why do it? Because in Republican circles, the power of anti-gay animus remains strong.
As a result, dead-enders will keep wasting their time on this nonsense.
