Who were the two (or more) vote switchers between cloture and the final vote?

Note to John McCain: Now, "it gets worse"

I guess our 10+ year investment in Joe Lieberman finally paid off.*
I'm happy for all of my gay and lesbian friends out there.
DADT dead.
Hopefully, DOMA will be in a death spiral soon.

*Thanks, Joe!
Now can I go back to telling you what a useless turd in a punchbowl you are?

A truly beautiful day.

Strange as it may seem now, at the time it was enacted, Don't Ask Don't Tell was considered a progressive policy. And in fact it was arguably a necessary step to where we are now.

Again, my congratulations and gratitude to gay Americans, past and present, who served bravely in the face of institutional hatred. We will never go back to the dark days before 12/18/10.

Tears of joy.

In the end this was a standalone bill that passed rather than the previous version which was included with a military appropriations bill. I wonder if a standalone bill at first would have brought this about sooner or not. If so, I wonder if people in congress will consider this next time so they spend less time trying to "couple" one piece of legislation with another in order to get something passed.

This has been way too long in coming. But hey, we're here now. This is a good day to be an American.

Thanks for bring some clarity to the coverge Steve. Its not like it was in all the other coverage.

HOORAY! It's such a good feeling to do the right thing. Many thanks to all for your hard work.

This long overdue act of justice and for equality
is hopefully, if history is any guide, the beginning of the end for all de jure discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

This is a truly great day! Let's savor this victory.

That is a great list of thank yous, Steve. The only thing I would add is that we need to make sure the elected officials on that list hear such thank yous directly from us. It is always good to give politicians direct praise when they do the right thing, so pick up your phones and give them a call.

http://www.winningprogressive.org/america-becomes-a-little-more-fair-and-just

Who were the two (or more) vote switchers between cloture and the final vote?

Burr and Ensign. !?!?!!??!!??!!

"The result is a historic victory for American civil rights that all of us can be proud of."

AMEN!

Congratulations, everyone.

About time. I'll take it.

How 'bout a great "FU!" from History to McCain?!

"I wonder if a standalone bill at first would have brought this about sooner or not."

i don't think so. At the time it was a clever way of hiding the "difficult vote", but as opinion gradually shifted it no longer mattered,
At the end, ironically, the bigger bill provided more opportunities for McCain to run out the clock.

I also believe in 2009 it was unthinkable that Republicans would resist funding the troops. Their centre of gravity has moved so far to the right this is now happening.

For this one moment, I am proud.

Cheers,

Alan Tomlinson

I'm rather shocked, to be honest. I didn't trust any of the Republicans to do the right thing.

So when does the tea bagger meltdown begin?

Let me add one more to the list: Steve Benen.

On this issue you have been consistent and persistent over the past two years. You likely take no credit, but deserve more than a little. In the worst of times during the so-often disappointing first two years of Obama, you kept repeal of DADT front and center here.

So thanks to you, too, Steve. I'm so glad this is finally done.

I’m absolutely shocked.

The 111th Congress has been a truly remarkable and historic congress. In spite of the obstructionism, day after day the Democrats did the right thing trying to address the issues in ways that considered minority views only to be slapped in the face, they carried on. The repeal of DADT is a major victory.

Elections do have consequences, which we'll see very clearly starting on Jan. 5 when the progressives who stayed home in November will begin to see the consequences of their inaction.

A-Fucking-men! Where are we, in the 28th century???!!!

Fuck you past your dingey dentures there Senator McCain!!! Ah ha ha ha, I hope you rot in hate hell you poor excuse for a legislator you!

A Pink Letter day!!

I'm so happy for everyone whom the demise of DADT will touch. I also have a question: what will the "Obama has betrayed us" crowd use now, for their reason to "hang dogs on him (a Polish saying)"?

You can also thank the war. Nothing like war to advance social change. The Civil Rights movemnet, Homosexual rights movement, women's rights, etc. all the result of war.

Wow - Congress have done two things this year. 1. the got the keep them rich bill continued and now finally DADT has passed. Oh, i almost forgot - Beohner the cry baby is out on the Golf course today, makes his total days of play this year to --- 213. We paid his tab so now he may stop crying.

PS. Does anyone know how soon after the bill's been signed will the new law start being applied?

I'm so happy for everyone whom the demise of DADT will touch.

It touches all of us. Not just because the strength of our military affects us all; also because when one group of Americans is denied full equality, all of us are diminished.

PS. Does anyone know how soon after the bill's been signed will the new law start being applied?

It could be a few months -- the Pentagon wants to get together an implementation plan.

"Pelosi, Hoyer, and Murphy never wavered, and never blinked."

Be nice if they hand't blinked so much on every other goddamned thing.

Today is bittersweet. The successful filibuster of the Dream Act is countering my joy about the repeal of DADT. Frustrating.

I hate to quibble over form when the substance is such wonderful news, but it gives way too much cover to the party of hatred and intolerance to call a cloture vote with 57 Dems and 6 Repubs "bipartisan." They are the reason this took so long, not the reason gay Americans have more equality today than yesterday.

As Winning Progressive said above, thanking the politicians who fought for this is important. Positive reinforcement is important. Sometimes it even inspires.

Furthermore, cynics can't keep saying that Obama/crats can't get things done, don't help any of their base etc. Not that ObamaCo. didn't anyway, see for example the brazenly named http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

Every advance in civil rights has been due to long difficult struggles, and this is no exception. Every hard fought for advance sets a new benchmark for further progress. Thank you Steve for your tireless coverage of the struggle.

guest2 is right.

Politicians disappoint so often. And even with the polls showing strong support for repeal, it still might not have happened.

So here's to Joe Lieberman for fighting the good fight, and even the small minority of Republicans who voted the right way. And here's to President Obama. I am usually annoyed, if not outraged, by his cautious, consenus-building, reaching-out approach. But on this issue, he was right to allow public opinion and moderate senators to pull together a "clean" bill that establishes equality for gays and lesbians in the military for all time.

This is much better than some court ruling, or even an Obama refusal to appeal Judge Phillips' order, that conservatives would be bitching about forever.

This is a big effing deal!

"So when does the tea bagger meltdown begin?"
Posted by: SaintZak on December 18, 2010 at 4:21 PM

Although almost all Teabeggars are far-right reactionary Publicans, not all radical-right Publicans are Teabeggars -- and the overlap seems to be well under 100% on both sides for the Teabeggars, who are mostly econo-cons, and the "social conservatives" (ie, Christianist theocrats).
And although the corporate powers funding and organizing the Teabeggar "movement" are only too happy to exploit the frenzied energy, dollars, and votes of the Christers, I don't see them working that hard on their pet projects either now, or under the late CheneyBush cabal.
Cheney wasn't the only big player who (for his own obivious reasons) wasn't riding the 'phobe wave hard; GWB was even on record as favoring civil unions. (Clearly not the same thing as full equality, but still -- very far from the Dobson position.)

exlibra and shortstop, if I understand correctly the implementation should commence basically with the new year.
The time that the Pentagon requested for its' "study" was devoted to the "how" as well as "whether". I now expect to see DoMA go down sometime next year; whether by law (doubtful, what with the new batch of Teabaggers in the House) or by the courts.
I personally believe that fear of lawsuits against DoMA by spouses of military members was one of the major reasons for the Pentagon's desire for the study. The Pentagon is very protective of it's image and many of the messes it gets into (ie, Tilman) are strongly related to that.
I almost forgot!
HURRAY! HURRAY! HURRAY!
Thankfully it's winter and I don't have to worry about doing something stupid, such as dyeing my old summer whites pink...

"Let me get this straight"...

Would the name of the future young people be McCain by any chance?

As a resident of Arizona, I was on McCain's website, ready to send him the message:

The arc of justice is long
But bends towards justice

But I fear audits, or worse.

For the first time in history, we've had a straight up-or-down vote in both houses that's gone pro-gay (or anti-anti-gay). Unfortunately, it's probably the last one we'll have for a while (likely at least six years, given the number of seats the Dems have to defend in '12 and '14). I'll have to send off letters of thanks to my Senators (Levin and Stabenow) and Representative (Gary Peters) on behalf of myself and my brothers and sisters.

I suspect it may be years before we find out how instrumental Obama was in rounding up Reps and keeping certain Dems (Nelson NE and Conrad) from wandering away. And yes, I still can't forgive him for his warmongering ways, but Lieberman deserves full thanks for this one. I'll take allies wherever I can get them.

When I was 18 I was terrified of the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam, and there's never been a time in my lifetime when an 18-year-old me would have enlisted, but I'm just so happy there will be a time soon when my brothers and sisters won't have to hide out in order to serve.

Forgot to add:

I'm now a little optimistic we can repeal DOMA and enact ENDA and UAFA before I shuffle off this mortal coil(I figure with luck we're talking 25-30 years).

Historical victories like the repeal of DADT are few and far between, so I just had to leave a comment joining in the congrats and celebration of the occasion.

Good on you America, you never cease to surprise me or make me proud.

"when the progressives who stayed home in November will begin to see the consequences of their inaction." - Seould (above)

Gratuitous. Progressives voted.

Yanno, the issue isnt, to me, that one is gay, but that one must LIE about themselves to serve in the military.

If you want to indulge your taste for schadenfreude, go over to WaPo and read some of the comments on the story (upper right front page). Generally I am not vindictive but the sound of bigoted stupid heads exploding is the sound of victory.

For the record, I am straight and far too old to be directly affected. But being a Jew born in 1939 and growing up with knowledge of where bigotry can lead (and being at least potentially a victim myself) I've always empathized with the victims of discrimination for whatever "reason". (And that doesn't mean I support the right-wing meshuggen* calling the shots in Israel today either.)

Lately the news has been so depressing that I've sort of turned off. And I expect it will get worse (and not just because of the troglodytes of the right)as we humans happily careen and connive in our own destruction.. But this is a welcome relief that I am happy to celebrate for the gays I don't even know. Mazel Tov. Now if we could only end the stupid war....but you can't have it all.

I may even check in to see what Fox Noise is saying (a first!). Maybe there will be some explosions in living color!

*crazy men (in Yiddish)

I think the 111th Congress will be remembered as being one of the most remarkable in history. And the repeal of DADT will be a big part of this.

Sooner or later there's going to a service comedy about a gay soldier going through all kinds of tricks and subterfuge JUST to go serving and defending the freedoms and interests of troglodytes who think s/he's a menace to society.

It has to be a comedy--any number of heavyweight dramas tried to depict the lunacy of MAD, but it took "Dr. Strangelove" to the point across.

PS: Gerry Trudeau's got a little rewriting to do on his current arc, but I don't think he'll mind.

Doug: exlibra and shortstop, if I understand correctly the implementation should commence basically with the new year. The time that the Pentagon requested for its' "study" was devoted to the "how" as well as "whether".

Not quite that soon. First the military does more implementation work, which is then certified by the president, secretary of defense and joint chiefs. Repeal becomes effective 60 days after that certification. From the Pentagon report:

The repeal provision contained within both the House of Representatives and Senate Armed Services Committee versions of the NDAA would work as follows: once the law is enacted, repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654 would be effective only after the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs deliver to Congress a certification that: 1) they have considered this report and recommendations; 2) the Department of Defense has prepared the necessary post-repeal policies and regulations; and 3) the implementation of those policies and regulations is consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces. Once the certification is delivered, repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654 becomes effective 60 days later.

This is GREAT!!!

At long last, ANOTHER CIVIL RIGHTS *VICTORY*!!

And, as usual, against the greatest and most vicious of odds (I'm looking at YOU, bigoted Republicans and social conservative Democrats).

I strongly urge Harry Reid to keep on trying to get the DREAM Act and the START Treaty passed, and get rid of the holds on all of President Obama's appointees. Even if it means everybody in the Senate works on Christmas Day thru New Years' Day due to Republican obstructionism. In the past, I've had to work many a Christmas Day, New Years' Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc., taking a cab to work, since the buses didn't run to my worksite that day. My Congress should do the same.

This was definitely a wonderful valedictory for Patrick Murphy's career in the House. I've met the man, and like him. The House will be the worse for his absence.

-Z

And some of us will sheepishly reply, "Yep, I never understood it, either."

Actually, what will happen is that 99% of "us" will firmly reply, "Yes, well, you have to understand, there were a lot of narrow-minded bigots back in those days." A hundred million or so of "us" having conveniently forgotten which side of the debate we were on.

Anyone 65 or older has firsthand knowledge of the civil rights era, right? Try to find someone that age today who's willing to say, "In 1960, if you'd asked me, I'd have told you MLK was too uppity for a negro, that segregation was no big deal and not worth the trouble to change it, and that any negro who wasn't actually being lynched had no cause to complain to me." It's not easy!

We should probably accept that this and START will be the last pieces of sensible legislation that will pass until the 2012 election. We are headed into the twilight zone for at least two years.

GOOD RIDDANCE DADT.

The only question: How many minutes into the next Congress will it be before John Boehner & Co re-introduce a DADT-like law as a means to keep the issue open until 2012?

Well, there goes our National Security. From this point forward, Colonel McCain (USMC) will have difficulties focusing on the enemy from his fox hole in Afghanistan. He will, probably, give away his position by yelling out, "Don't you dare touch me".

From an Arizona Senator who actually knows something about the military:

"It's no great secret that military studies have proved again and again that there's no valid reason for keeping the ban on gays. Some thought gays were crazy, but then found that wasn't true. then they decided that gays were a security risk, but again the Department of Defense decided that wasn't so-in fact, one study by the Navy in 1956 that was never made public found gays to be good security risks. Even Larry Korb, President Reagan's man in charge of implementing the Pentagon ban on gays, now admits that it was a dumb idea. No wonder my friend Dick Cheney, secretary of defense under President Bush, called it "a bit of an old chestnut"

"When the facts lead to one conclusion, I say it's time to act, not to hide. The country and the military know that eventually the ban will be lifted. The only remaining questions are how much muck we will all be dragged through, and how many brave Americans like Tom Paniccia and Margarethe Cammermeyer will have their lives and careers destroyed in a senseless attempt to stall the inevitable.

"Some in congress think I'm wrong. They say we absolutely must continue to discriminate, or all hell will break loose. Who knows, they say, perhaps our soldiers may even take up arms against each other.

"Well, that's just stupid.

"Years ago, I was a lieutenant in charge of an all-black unit. Military leaders at the time believed that blacks lacked leadership potential - period. That seems ridiculous now, as it should. Now, each and every man and woman who serves this nation takes orders from a black man - our own Gen. Colin Powell.

"Nobody thought that blacks or women could ever be integrated into the military. Many thought that an all-volunteer force could never protect our national interest. Well, it has, and despite those who feared the worst - I among them - we are still the best and will continue to be.

"The point is that decisions are always a lot easier to make in hindsight. but we seldom have that luxury. That's why the future of our country depends on leadership, and that's what we need now.

"I served in the armed forces. I have flown more than 150 of the best fighter planes and bombers this country manufactured. I founded the Arizona National Guard. I chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I think it's high time to pull the curtains on this charade of policy.

"What should undermine our readiness would be a compromise policy like "Don't ask, don't tell." That compromise doesn't deal with the issue - it tries to hide it.

"We have wasted enough precious time, money and talent trying to persecute and pretend. It's time to stop burying our heads in the sand and denying reality for the sake of politics. It's time to deal with this straight on and be done with it. It's time to get on with more important business.

"The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people's private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone's version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays."

Barry Goldwater

"what will the 'Obama has betrayed us' crowd use now, for their reason to 'hang dogs on him (a Polish saying)'?"

Probably the numerous reports last week that the White House tried to kill the DADT repeal because they thought it would distract and delay START, their bigger priority.

Memories are short in Obamaland, but the paper trail in the Internet age is long. No so easy to take credit after the fact anymore.