Don't Ask Don't Tell

Bill Kristol, with A. B. Stoddard and Jonah Goldberg, last night on Fox News:

David Brooks: "Obama Rejects Obamaism"

"You know what? I’m gonna call it. Bill Maher is the de facto leader of the Democratic Party."

A shocking story in the New York Post today. At a hearing about whether ROTC should return to Columbia University now that Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed, students openly mocked a disabled Iraq war veteran arguing in favor of the program:

It’s disappointing that Princeton University remains unwilling to consider ROTC courses for academic credit, particularly after student calls for the university to reevaluate its relationship to ROTC pending the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The Hill reports that John McCain, the Senate's lead opponent of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, will work to "minimize" repeal's harmful effects on the military: 

There’s been some hyperventilating among conservatives about the effects on the military of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It’s going to be amazingly difficult to implement, some say. It could well be the end of the U.S. military as a feared fighting force. It’s just another step in the decline…

With the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, elite colleges now have a chance to make good on their promises and bring the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) back to campus.

There’s been some hyperventilating among conservatives about the effects on the military of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It’s going to be amazingly difficult to implement, some say. It could well be the end of the U.S. military as a feared fighting force. It’s just another step in the decline…

With the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, elite colleges now have a chance to make good on their promises and bring the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) back to campus.

President Obama says in an interview with The Advocate that his "strong sense" is that implementation of Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal will be "a matter of months...absolutely not years—and that we will get this done in a timely fashion, and the chiefs are confident that it will get done in a timely…

Ben Smith reports that schools that currently ban ROTC from campus are moving toward ending their discriminatory practice now that Congress has repealed the law banning openly gay people from serving in the military:

Now that the lame duck Democratic Congress has repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), the new Congress will have to see to it that the Obama administration manages the implementation of repeal responsibly, and that the concerns of military leaders and troops are taken seriously. But over the next…

Starts and Stripes reports that Marine Corps Commandant General James F. Amos just dropped a rhetorical bomb on renewed efforts to repeal "don't ask, don't tell":

The Defense Authorization Act, which included a provision to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, has failed to gain cloture in the Senate, 57-40.  After signaling that she'd oppose the bill, Senator Susan Collins was the only Republican to vote in favor of cloture.

The Hill's Roxana Tiron reports: 

Lisa Murkowski becomes the third member of the GOP Senate caucus, along with Susan Collins and Scott Brown, to endorse a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." The Alaska senator says in a statement: "my support for moving the Defense Authorization bill forward, which includes a repeal of the Don’t…

The Hill's Jordan Fabian reports:

Republican senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts said in a statement today that he now supports repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military: "I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on [Secretary of Defense Robert Gates'] recommendations that repeal will…

The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" is the hot-button issue attached to the defense authorization bill that's getting all the attention, but it's not the only issue that could keep the bill from passing. Douglas Johnson of the Nation Right to Life Committee says his group will oppose the defense…

At today's Senate hearing, three of the four service chiefs expressed opposition to repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy on gays in the military. "My recommendation is that we should not implement repeal at this time," said Marine Corps commandant General James F. Amos (watch his…

Marine corps commandant General James Amos testified before the Senate this morning that Congress should not repeal its law regarding gays in the military. It's hard to find a stronger or more succinct defense of the current policy than the following letter from a "Marine lieutenant who was a…

Long before the Pentagon’s report on the expected effects of repealing the current law prohibiting open homosexuals from serving in the U.S. military was released, the conventional “narrative” had already been established thanks to leaks by anonymous individuals “familiar with the report’s…

Long before the Pentagon’s report on the expected effects of repealing the current law prohibiting open homosexuals from serving in the U.S. military was released, the conventional “narrative” had already been established thanks to leaks by anonymous individuals “familiar with the report’s…

While many opponents of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) have argued against the military's policy on gays in the military by comparing it to racial segregation, an Obama administration official seemed to reject that comparison during his testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee today.

The legislation to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy would only go into effect when the president, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and the defense secretary sign off on it. This morning, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Defense Secretary Robert Gates…

If the Senate takes up the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in this lame duck session, there's a chance that some senators in both parties will cross the aisle. Here's the math:

Early reports on the Pentagon's survey of the troops on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were nothing but roses for repeal supporters, but the details of the survey complicate that narrative somewhat. While only 20% of troops who have never been deployed to a combat zone say that repeal of DADT would "very…

If the Senate takes up the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in this lame duck session, there's a chance that some senators in both parties will cross the aisle. Here's the math:

The Pentagon's report on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hasn't been released yet, but ABC highlights some interesting numbers: 

On the eve of Thanksgiving, Howard Dean writes about the troops in an email to his supporters. No, Dr. Dean doesn't find space to thank those who are serving our country--it's just an opportunity to rail against the "shameful policy" of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Oh, and ask for donations: 

Sam Stein reports that the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled two days of hearings next week on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military: 

Is the Solomon Amendment a dead letter? The statute, enacted in 1996, forbids federal funding to universities that prohibit military recruiters or Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) units from their campuses. Yet today, nearly 15 years since the amendment’s passage—and despite President Barack…

A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll finds that 50 percent of voters favor repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward gays in the military, while 38 percent favor keeping the policy. That's a far cry from the much cited CNN poll earlier this year, which found that 78 percent of all adults favor…

While President Obama and most Democrats in Congress have voiced their support for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy on gays in the military, a few Senate Democrats are leaving open the option of voting against repeal. Senator Jim Webb of Virginia said Wednesday that members…

The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe and Greg Jaffe report:

The AP reports that General James F. Amos, the recently-confirmed commandant of the Marine Corps, thinks the ban on gays serving openly in the military should not be repealed: 

The recent district court ruling that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law governing homosexuals in the military is unconstitutional triggered speculation that the Obama administration, which is eager for Congress to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” might choose not to appeal the ruling. That speculation…

A federal judge in California has ruled, for a second time, that the United States Constitution includes a right of gays to serve openly in the military:

NBC reported early this afternoon:

Senate majority leader Harry Reid has decided, reportedly, to hold a vote on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' next week. Here's the Washington Post: