Thom's blog - Monday December 20th, 2010

You need to know this. Progressives and defenders of civil rights celebrated over the weekend when the US Senate succeeded in passing “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” repeal legislation. 8 Republicans ended up voting in support of the measure after weeks of a near unified filibuster – showing politics not policy was the main reason for opposition. The President is expected to sign the bill this week. Still though – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will remain the official policy in the military until the Pentagon, the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff issue a certification that repeal will not negatively affect the readiness or effectiveness of the armed forces. Even after certification – it could be as long as 60 days before repeal actually takes place. Still – this is a major civil rights victory – and history will judge those Republicans who stood in the way.