President didn't call wavering Senators today, but did reach the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm

I got two emails this afternoon that, unfortunately, complement each other perfectly. The first was from someone who watches the DC political game pretty closely:

What’s even more outrageous is that two Democrats joined the Republican filibuster. Lincoln and Pryor are shameful. But what’s more shameful is that I strongly doubt Pres. Obama even lifted a finger to call moderate Republicans or Democrats (like Lincoln and Pryor) to push them to vote to protect our troops and protect equality. The Republicans once again have seized the debate, in part by pressuring their moderate members to reverse stance. Too bad that Democratic leaders don’t ever pressure their own in the same way.

So, no lobbying whatsoever from Obama on the Defense Authorization bill that's being filibustered while we're engaged in two wars.

Obama must have been really busy, right? Oh, he was working the phones today. I got this via email, too:

Earlier today, President Obama called members of the Seattle Storm organization, to congratulate them on winning the WNBA Finals for the second time, on their success during the regular season and their undefeated run in the playoffs. The President told them that they are an inspiration to everyone, especially his daughters. Members of the Storm organization on the call told the President that they appreciated his call and that it was a highlight for their organization. President Obama said he looks forward to congratulating them in person at the White House.

He does loves his sports talk. And, the Seattle Storm's championship warrants Presidential recognition.

But, that the White House thinks this is just business as usual is what's extremely problematic. And, it would have been nice to get an email with a readout of the President's calls to target Senators. But, that didn't happen. Read More...

Looks like 'Faggots must die' comment at Joe.My.God came from office of Sen. Chambliss (R-GA)

Wow. This is so disturbing. But, why should anyone be surprised that an anti-gay slur came from the office of GOP Senator when GOP Senators spent the day trashing gays and lesbians. Actually, the GOPers were trashing gay and lesbian servicemembers.

From Joe, who has the initial details and this update:

I've just gotten off the phone with Atlanta Journal-Constitution political writer Jim Galloway who says that Sen. Saxby Chambliss has confirmed that the "All faggots must die" comment left here on JMG earlier today did indeed come from his Atlanta office. Galloway reports that Chambliss told him his office is conducting an internal investigation.

Joe added, "The AJC's Galloway cautions that Chambliss is not taking responsibility yet." Wonder if they ever will. Read More...

When Kerry Eleveld wouldn't let John McCain lie about DADT

John McCain and his sidekick, Lindsey Graham, held a victory press conference after they won the filibuster vote, which insured no imminent legislative action on DADT repeal. Kerry Eleveld was there -- and she deals in facts. She questioned McCain's flawed interpretation of how DADT works. He was wrong -- and it sure looked like he was was getting ready to explode because someone had the audacity to challenge him.

Igor Volsky just posted this video at Think Progress. The female voice asking McCain the question is Ms. Eleveld:

The male voice at the end asking about Mike Almy belongs to Metro Weekly's Chris Geidner.

Igor adds:

In fact, as Almy explained in testimoney before McCain’s own committee (Senate Armed Services): “In Iraq, during the height of the insurgency, someone in the Air Force ordered a search of my private emails solely to determine if I had violated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and to gather whatever evidence could be used against me.” “I was relieved of my duties, leading nearly 200 Airmen, my security clearance was suspended and part of my pay was terminated. Even as my commander was relieving me of my duties, he assured me this was in no way a reflection of my performance or my abilities as an officer,” Almy testified.

Now, if I were Lindsey Graham, I might want to find out what the policy really is. Because, what happened to Mike Almy isn't an isolated case.

Jeremy Hooper, of course, has the best headline: Video: Oh Lindsey, don't act like you're not car-singing 'Alejandro' every chance you get Read More...

NYT, 5/06/09: 'They have a vision,' Mr. Solmonese said. 'They have a plan.'

I have to say, two years into the Obama administration, I'm not really loving this promised vision and plan. Read More...

We lost in the Senate, 'The whole thing is a political train wreck'

The vote to end the filibuster of the Defense Authorization bill just failed by a vote of 43 - 56. Arkansas Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln voted no, joining every GOPer. (Reid switched his vote to "NO" for procedural reasons.)

I'll be updating this post.

Here's what Richard Socarides said earlier today, which sums up the vote:

"The whole thing is a political train wreck," said Richard Socarides, a former White House adviser on gay rights during the Clinton administration.

Socarides said President Barack Obama "badly miscalculated" the Pentagon's support for repeal, while Democrats made only a "token effort" to advance the bill.

"If it was a priority for the Democratic leadership, they would get a clean vote on this," he said.

He's right. We just watched a political train wreck that smashed into equality.

Here's the statement from SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis:

Today’s Senate vote was a frustrating blow to repeal this horrible law. We lost because of the political maneuvering dictated by the mid-term elections. Let’s be clear: Opponents to repealing "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" did not have the votes to strike those provisions from the bill. Instead, they had the votes for delay. Time is the enemy here. We now have no choice but to look to the lame duck session where we’ll have a slim shot. The Senate absolutely must schedule a vote in December when cooler heads and common sense are more likely to prevail once midterm elections are behind us. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network will continue to take this fight to the American people, the vast majority of whom support repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

Aubrey and his team did everything that was asked of them -- and more.

There's plenty of blame to go around -- and I have every intention of playing the blame game.

UPDATE @ 3:12 PM, via email from GetEQUAL:

There will undoubtedly be an avalanche of folks out there trying to sell all different kinds of stories to us, yet again, about what went wrong. Democrats will blame Republicans. Republicans will blame Democrats. President Obama will blame Congress. Some of our national organizations and elected representatives will blame the community for "not working hard enough."

But that's not true. Today is a disappointing day for everyone who has engaged in this fight over the years -- for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Servicemembers United, Outserve, Knights OUT, countless servicemembers who have taken action with us, and the active-duty servicemembers across the globe who are being forced to remain closeted while serving our country. We thank them for their service and we stand steadfast in our commitment to serve them as they have served us.

We are calling on President Obama to show the courage and leadership required of the Commander in Chief to unequivocally state that military discharges must end immediately.

Our elected leaders have demonstrated that they are either unwilling or unable to do the right thing. Now it's time for our "fierce advocate" to step up to the plate for us.

UPDATE @3:30 PM from Servicemembers United:

"Today's vote is a failure of leadership on the part of those who have been duly elected to serve this nation and to put the best interests of the country ahead of partisan politics," said Alexander Nicholson, founder and Executive Director of Servicemembers United. "The Senate could learn a good lesson from those who serve in uniform and who stand to benefit from proceeding to debate on this bill - serving this country means putting politics aside and getting the job done. It is simply inexcusable that this vote failed today."

Read More...

Live stream of Senate vote to end filibuster of Defense Authorization

Voting has begun. You can watch here

Removed the embed. Read More...

Join our live chat with House candidate Steve Pougnet, the married gay dad

It's a busy afternoon. The Senate will be voting to end the filibuster of the Defense bill, which includes the DADT repeal language. We're probably going to lose.

More than ever, it's clear we need solid advocates in Congress. We need an openly gay, married dad: Steve Pougnet. Join OpenLeft, Bilerico, Pam's House Blend, Good As You and AMERICAblog for a chat with Steve. He'll be on our side. His campaign website is here. We've got an ActBlue page here.
Read More...

Obama complains about Dem. base, but fails to say a word about DADT repeal

A few minutes ago, I tweeted this:

Does @barackobama know that the GOPers are filibustering the Def. Auth. bill? We're in 2 wars, you'd think he'd say something.

Mike Signorile tweeted:

Imagine if Democrats held up a defense bill? Why isn't Obama pointing to the Repubs not supporting the troops in 2 wars? Where is he?

We haven't heard a word. But, last night, Obama was bitching about Democrats who aren't happy with him, via Jake Tapper:

Last night at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia, President Obama said “when I hear Democrats griping and groaning and saying, ‘Well, you know, the health care plan didn’t have a public option;’ and I don’t know, ‘The financial reform -- there was a provision here that I think we should have gotten better’; or, ‘You know what, yes, you ended the war in Iraq, the combat mission there, but you haven’t completely finished the Afghan war yet’; or this or that or the other -- I say, folks, wake up.”

Continued the president: “This is not some academic exercise."

Actually, we know that. So, while he's out complaining about us -- and last night wasn't the first time, no one has heard a thing from Obama on this upcoming vote. Last night, I reported that the White House wasn't even lobbying for passage of the Defense bill. Yet, Obama wonders why we "gripe and groan."

Today, via the Washington Blade, SLDN goes on the record saying the President has been AWOL:

Blame is already being assigned to the White House.

Trevor Thomas, spokesperson for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said his organization hasn’t seen an effort from the White House on the issue in recent days.

“We have not seen any signs that the White House has been whipping this vote in the last 48 hours,” Thomas said.

Thomas said he can’t predict what will happen with the cloture vote and maintained SLDN is “taking nothing for granted.”

Every time this President has had the opportunity to take action for equality, he hasn't. We get nice speeches, but not much more.

It doesn't get any better: Don't Ask, Don't Give. Read More...

Obama admin. supports Defense bill's 'Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces'

The Office of Management and Budget has issued its Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on S. 3454 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. For starters, "The Administration supports Senate passage of S. 3454, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011." Here's the section on DADT

Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces: The Administration supports section 591 as it would allow for completion of the Comprehensive Review, enable the Department of Defense to assess the results of the review, and ensure that the implementation of the repeal is consistent with the standards of military readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention. Such an approach recognizes the critical need to allow our military and their families the full opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process through a thorough understanding of their concerns, insights and suggestions.

Yes, the Administration's support is all related to getting that Pentagon study completed. The military is calling the shots here, not the White House. And, has anyone heard one word from Obama about this mess? For Christ sakes, he's the Commander-in-Chief, the GOP is filibustering the Defense Authorization, but not a word. Stunning.

You may recall that then-OMB Director Peter Orzsag wrote a letter to the Hill back in May stating that "ideally" the Administration would rather see legislation passed after the Pentagon study was completed. And, of course, Secretary Gates wrote that infamouse "strongly worded" letter to the Hill in late April, which declared he wanted no legislation passed til his study was finished.

No wonder Republicans are using it as a talking point during the debate today. Here's Senator Inhofe (R-OK) citing the Gates letter:
Read More...

For Susan Collins, DADT repeal is outweighed by GOP amendment 'rights'

GOP amendments have a moral equivalency to DADT repeal, according to Senator Susan Collins. Both aren't fair. Of course, one involves the lives of tens of thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and one is about the usual GOP obstructionist tactics. That's not equal. She's choosing the procedure over the equality.
Read More...

Even the Wall Street Journal supports repeal of DADT

Yes, we're linking to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Even the notoriously conservative editorial page of that paper supports repealing DADT. It's sub. req., but here's an excerpt:

For a more sober view of the subject, turn to Dennis Laich, a self-described "old, bald, straight guy." Mr. Laich has none of the glamour of Lady Gaga, but on this subject he has one valuable credential: He retired from the U.S. Army in 2006 after a 35-year career in the reserves that began in field artillery, included tours of duty in Honduras, Germany, the Netherlands, Kuwait and Iraq, and culminated in a command position at Ft. Devens as a Major General. Unlike Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman who has also expressed reservations about the policy, he has no liberal political masters to please. But he still thinks DADT is nuts.

The strength of the general's case is that it's not about "rights," gay or otherwise, much less whatever Lady Gaga happens to think is in the Constitution. It's about the interests of the military itself, starting with its values. "If you talk to most theologians, ethicists or philosophers, they'll tell you there are two kinds of lies, of commission or omission," he says. "Don't Ask Don't Tell represents a lie of omission that is inconsistent with the values of a military organization that presents itself as values-based."

And the conclusion:

In the meantime, it's worth noting that there are an estimated 48,000 homosexuals on active duty or the reserves, many of them in critical occupations, many with distinguished service records. If they pose any risk at all to America's security, it is, paradoxically, because DADT institutionalizes dishonesty, puts them at risk of blackmail, and forces fellow warfighters who may know about their orientation to make an invidious choice between comradeship and the law. That's no way to run a military.

Republican senators are now bellyaching that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to jam the repeal amendment into a bill they have no real choice but to vote for. They should be silently thanking him. He's giving them the chance to do the right thing while blaming the Democrats for it. It's a GOP twofer, plus a vote they'll someday be proud of.

Yes, even the WSJ. I know SLDN worked hard on this editorial. In fact, the above-mentioned Dennis Laich serves on the SLDN Military Advisory Council.

This is such a no-brainer, it hurts. Read More...

Join our live chat with House candidate Steve Pougnet, the openly gay married dad, at 2 PM ET

Open Left, Bilerico, Good As You, Pam's House Blend and AMERICAblog are hosting a live chat with House candidate Steve Pougnet today at 2 PM Eastern. He's the openly gay, married dad running against incumbent Mary Bono Mack in California's 44th District. This race is considered one of the best chances for a Democrat to win a GOP-held seat. Steve's the Mayor of Palm Springs. Last night, he sent a video inviting folks to the chat.

We'll be chatting while the Senate is preparing for the filibuster vote on the Defense Authorization bill, which includes the DADT language. Bono Mack voted against the DADT amendment in May. Read More...