Posted earlier at AMERICAblog Gay. (That link has video and photos from the rally in Portland.)
These Republicans do stick to their talking points. Of course, Obama's Secretary of Defense gave them this talking point about waiting for the Pentagon study:
Without explicitly saying how she'll vote tomorrow on whether to start debate on a bill which includes the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine seemed to echo a point many other Republicans against the bill have raised: a military review of the issue should be completed before the law is repealed.Remember, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote a "strongly worded" letter to Capitol Hill on April 30, 2010, stating that he did not want any repeal legislation passed until the Pentagon study was finished. Now, that's part of the GOP's standard talking points even though it's not valid. The Pentagon study is about how to repeal, not whether to repeal.
"We should all have the opportunity to review that report which is to be completed on December 1, as we reevaluate this policy and the implementation of any new changes," Snowe said in a written statement this afternoon.
Snowe's statement was made while thousands of Mainers were attending the DADT repeal rally with Lady Gaga. At least people in Maine know what this vote is about. Snowe can use the bogus excuse about the study, but she's siding with the homophobes. And, she's throwing gay and lesbian servicemembers under the bus. Snowe and Collins know their party will never push a repeal bill. Ever. Tomorrow marks the best chance we have.
Collins already voted for the Defense Authorization bill. She'll be flip-flopping.
Neither party is without blame here. Maybe if the Obama administration had done its job to push for repeal -- as promised -- we wouldn't be down to the last minute scrounging for one vote on a bill that doesn't even end the ban. It sets up a process to eventually, hopefully, end the ban. But, it's the best we've got.
