Minnesota Senator Al Franken gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday advocating for an end to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy which has led to thousands of loyal, patriotic servicemembers being discharged for the crime of being homosexual.
“All gay and lesbian service members want to be able to serve. Instead, people are getting kicked out of the military. People who don’t need any moral waiver, people who don’t need standards lowered for them in order to serve. People who are patriotic and courageous and who have vital, irreplaceable skills.”
Franken said the ban “makes no sense.”
“It is foolish, it is unjust and we must end it,” he said.
The bill to which the DADT repeal was attached failed to achieve cloture, 56-43, thanks to continuing obstruction from the Republican Party.
That bill also included a pay raise for active duty troops. But conveniently, Susan Collins, who supports ending DADT, voted with her Republican colleagues with a whine that they weren’t allowed to offer enough amendments.
Nominal Democrat Mark Pryor and soon-to-be-former Senator Blanche Lincoln voted with the GOP because, well, who the heck knows why. Maybe real Arkansans all hate gays and the rest of us have our heads in the clouds worrying about crazy ideas like equality, civil rights, and service to one’s nation.
Make no mistake, however: this effective filibuster shows once again that the modern Republican Party will hold our nation’s servicemembers hostage if it means sticking it to the gays.
Do they know anything but hate anymore? One must wonder.
All this being said, raise your hand if you’re glad we have a leader like Al Franken speaking up not just for Minnesota, but for those crazy ideas like equality, civil rights, and service to one’s nation.
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