Lieberman To Take Lead On 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will be the lead sponsor of legislation to repeal the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevents openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military.

"I will be proud to be a sponsor of the important effort to enable patriotic gay Americans to defend our national security and our founding values of freedom and opportunity," said Lieberman in a statement.

"I have opposed the current policy of preventing gay Americans from openly serving in the military since its enactment in 1993," Lieberman continued. "To exclude one group of Americans from serving in the armed forces is contrary to our fundamental principles as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and weakens our defenses by denying our military the service of a large group of Americans who can help our cause. I am grateful for the leadership of President Obama to repeal the policy and the support of Secretary Gates and Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen."

To progressives, Lieberman has been the most frustrating and disappointing member of the Democratic caucus for the past year, especially when he flip-flopped to oppose a Medicare buy-in during the Senate's debate on health insurance reform at the end of last year. His opposition to DADT, of course is nothing new.

Polls show that most Americans support the policy's repeal. That includes Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, who announced his opposition to the policy during a Senate hearing at the beginning of the month.

Comments

[Dastius-Krazitauc]

10:34 PM on 02/24/2010

Did Sen. Gillibrand relinquish the lead or did he just take it from her?

[Tyler VanderMeer]

06:50 PM on 02/23/2010

I might gain some respect for Mr. Lieberman if he doesn't flip flop on this issue. What he did with the health care bill was absolutey traitorous and backstabbing

[Horus45]

04:59 PM on 02/23/2010

How is his handling of this going to sit with his buddy McCain?
McCain is dead set against repealing it.

[Seattlelite]

12:36 PM on 02/23/2010

Trying to do a little image repair Joe? Ain't gonna work! Can't speak for everyone but I WILL NEVER forget the spoiler roll you played in the health care reform fight.

[Cogs]

12:27 PM on 02/23/2010

I would rather Joe take the lead on ending US involvement in an illegal war.

[armadillious2002]

10:44 AM on 02/23/2010

The only thing I wish with all my heart is that when Joe gets voted out he would lose his health care insurance.

[LeFlaneur]

10:42 AM on 02/23/2010

I fully expect this will all move forward until the 8th inning when Joe does a complete about face and undermines the entire process.

[goldhillnv]

10:05 AM on 02/23/2010

Don't trust this creepy guy. He'll make sure it doesn't get repealed. He's just spy for the Republicans.

[kplNYC]

09:58 AM on 02/23/2010

Chances are, he will change is mind, so don't get your hopes up.

[jones]

09:44 AM on 02/23/2010

Just hearing his voice makes my skin crawl.

[istvan13]

09:33 AM on 02/23/2010

This has the appearance of political gamesmanship, an attempt to get back into the good graces of the general public. Notice he came out for DADT after the polling number came out, and after the leadership in the military came out against DADT.

[mamacat]

05:29 AM on 02/23/2010

Let's hope he doesn't do a flip-flop before this thing is over and done with. Maybe I am just being paranoid, but I feel that having Sen. Lieberman on the right side of this issue may end being the kiss of death.

[Tugar]

05:59 AM on 02/23/2010

I Agree totally ! Because Joe is known for doing a dance or two when it comes to any issue !

[its miller time]

05:26 AM on 02/23/2010

If anyone could kill something before it even got started, he's the man for the job. I'm sure I'm not the only one who starts to nod off every time he speaks or look at a picture of him. This is the guy who’s going to champion the repeal of DADT. Oh my god, now it is definitely going to take at least a year to talk about it, then another to implement it. Hopefully by then all the wars will be over and the previous two years achieved the primary goal of delay as long as possible so there are no disruptions during an active war.
From what I understand you can attach the repeal to the annual defense appropriations bill, which comes up for a vote in the spring. This way they would have to vote against money for defense in order to stop the repeal, nobody would dare do that, would they?
There are several blue prints out there from several other countries who repealed their own DADT how many studies (delays) does it take to repeal a law? It is not like it has never been studied in the US before for god’s sake. This is a prime example of why Washington can't get anything done and tactics that are used to intentionally delay legislation, not to mention the money wasted.
Anyway, yawn, I think I hear Liberman talking, goodnight.

[nubret2008]

05:16 AM on 02/23/2010

Now it's very likely that the repeal will fail...

[AmbientDiscord]

05:01 AM on 02/23/2010

easy to understand, corporations don't care about this issue.