Admiral Mullen was stunning today. And, we need DADT repealed this year.

John and I spent some time thinking through our response to the DADT hearing today. I've posted my thoughts over at AMERICAblog Gay. Here's how it starts:

The big takeaway from the Senate Armed Services Committee's hearing was Admiral Mullen's stunning testimony. He was very impressive and very personal:

“It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” Mullen said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“We have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals, and ours as institutions,” Mullen added.

And, he reiterated what he said after the hearing via his Twitter account:

Stand by what I said: Allowing homosexuals to serve openly is the right thing to do. Comes down to integrity.

Mullen showed a lot of integrity today.

We're not so keen on the year-long review of the policy. The best thing to do is to repeal DADT this year. Dragging it out just gives our opposition the chance to mobilize and do everything possible to undermine progress. Chairman Levin should work to include the repeal language in the Defense authorization bill.

And, it doesn't help to have people who are viewed as representing supposedly liberal organizations, like the Brookings Institution, on CNN spewing right-wing, homophobic talking points. But, that's what Michael O'Hanlon did today as he talked about the problems some in the military will have "accepting alternative forms of lifestyle." He was pathetic. And, Glenn Greenwald rightly ripped him apart for it. Thanks for aiding the enemy, Brookings.

UPDATE: Here's video of O'Hanlon.