Instead of lambasting the entire GOP today, I think it is important to give praise where praise is due. Eight Republican Senators bravely crossed party lines to vote their conscience on Saturday and repeal the severely flawed and immoral policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:
- Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Mark Kirk of Illinois
- John Ensign of Nevada
- Scott Brown of Massachusetts
- George Voinovich of Ohio
- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Olympia Snowe of Maine
- Susan Collins of both of Maine.
Let’s hope this ushers in an era of social progressive-ism that will one day break down all barriers that the LGBT community face on an everyday basis. Sure, there will always be holdouts like John McCain, but that is no different than Strom Thurmond fighting against the desegregation of the military in 1948. Old people with bigoted ideas won’t change but when the nation begins catapulting forward and socially conscious people like Olympia Snowe join the ride, John McCain and Mitch McConnell will be left behind to grow old, insignificant and sad. I think McCain’s already there.
YouMightBeGOP 
December 21st, 2010 at 2:53 am
Your remark about Strom Thurmond fighting against the desegregation of the military in 1948 struck me as a bit odd for two reasons:
– Desegregation of the military did occur in 1948, though it was not due to legislation. It was accomplished with an executive order from President Truman, thus bypassing Congressional debate entirely.
– Strom Thurmond was not serving in Congress in 1948. He was the Governor of South Carolina at that time.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that I misinterpreted this part of your post and that you were referring to something completely different!
By the way, I like that you singled out the Republicans who voted FOR repeal of DADT. It’s proof that the GOP does, occasionally, get some things right!.
December 22nd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Maybe “fighting against” was the wrong terminology. Thurmond was a candidate for president then for the Dixiecrat party and, from what I understand, was very outspoken against the decision. I guess it wasn’t the best comparison since he wasn’t actually in congress and voting for the policy since it was an executive order — but I think it illustrates that the there will always be a fringe of conservative politicians that just don’t “get it”.