UPDATE: It's all over except for Obama's signature. The Senate voted 65-31 today to repeal the Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy, ending, as the New York Times puts it, "a 17-year struggle over a policy that forced thousands of Americans from the ranks and caused others to keep secret their sexual orientation."
UPDATE: The Senate voted 63-33 Saturday to end debate on the Don't Ask/Don't Tell bill, which means repeal is only one more vote and a presidential signature away. Read the reports from the New York Times and advocate.com.
The following is a post from Friday evening. Let's hope the gay soldier who wrote the letter excerpted in the post will now be able to serve openly.
The Senate has the votes.
That's the current news in the fight against the U.S. military's indefensible Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy. Following Wednesday's House vote to repeal the policy, Republican Senators Brown, Snowe and Murkowski announced they would vote for the stand-alone bill, bringing the total senators in favor to 60 — and, according to co-sponsor Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a filibuster-proof 61.
But first the bill must be brought to the floor, and that depends on the political whims of Republican Senate leaders and the pull of Christmas vacation, both of which threaten the bill's chances.
If there are Republicans leaning toward repeal but need more information, I hope they saw the Huffington Post today. HuffPo ran one of the most powerful testaments to the insanity of DADT that I have ever read — made more powerful by the measured anger of the writer, a gay soldier about to ship off to Afghanistan.
Just the first two paragraphs alone should sway any sentient human being:
