Obama Encourages DADT Repeal by End of Year
Despite McCain cockblock, vote likely soon
By Katie Tomasino, 2:00PM, Fri. Nov. 19, 2010

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, considered taking out Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal from a bill to get it passed, until he got a call from the president.
Nine Senators will deliver personal statements in Washington today to support DADT. Eight of the nine Senators are Democrats, but one Republican is getting a lot of attention for trying to rain out this gay parade. MVP cockblock, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is leading a Republican-supported filibuster of the entire defense authorization bill to prevent the military from repealing DADT after it releases its study on the issue. Despite his open opposition to DADT, Levin, the democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he might let the bill pass without the repeal in it.
While Levin was busy flip flopping, DADT repeal wing-man (finally), Pres. Barack Obama, laid it down. He told Levin to leave DADT repeal in the bill and to get it passed by the end of the year. It’s a small window of time to get it done, but DADT repeal supporters, interviewed on the Rachel Maddow Show, say it looks like Obama is living up to his promises. The president may be strategizing to get a repeal passed in the lame duck session of congress before Republicans assume control of the House. We’ll be on the edge of our seats for this one folks, stay tuned …
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Katie Tomasino, Nov. 19, 2010
Gay Rights, John McCain, Carl Levin, DADT, Rachel Maddow, Don't Ask Don't Tell