Joe Lieberman is going to introduce legislation to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.
"I will be proud to be a sponsor of the important effort to enable patriotic gay Americans to defend our national security and our founding values of freedom and opportunity," he said in a statement Monday in which he noted his longtime opposition to the policy.
"To exclude one group of Americans from serving in the armed forces is contrary to our fundamental principles as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and weakens our defenses by denying our military the service of a large group of Americans who can help our cause," said Lieberman, who has angered liberals with his resistance to Democratic orthodoxy on issues like health care reform....
Lieberman, who calls repeal "an extension, the next step of the civil rights movement," says limiting the pool of possible service members by banning those who are openly gay amounts to "diminishing military effectiveness."
Republicans have resisted a repeal of the policy, which they say has been effective, and argue that this is not the time to make a change. With polls showing that a majority of Americans support repeal, it is not clear whether Senate Republicans would use the threat of filibuster to force Democrats to garner 60 votes to overturn the legislation.
The 60 vote barrier is the rub, and before Lieberman gets too much credit for this, consider the exchange he had with Carl Levin, in the DADT Senate hearing earlier this month.
SEN. LIEBERMAN: I appreciate that.
And, look, then the final, obviously, is that it’s up to us in the Congress and in the Senate. We’ve got to – we’ve got to get 60 votes to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell, or else it will remain in effect. Thank you.
SEN. LEVIN: Unless there’s a provision inside the Defense authorization bill; that goes to the floor, which would then require an amendment to strike it from the bill; in which case the 60-vote rule would be turning the other way. In fact –
SEN. LIEBERMAN: It is – (inaudible) – knowledge, but it is with great appreciation that I accept the higher wisdom – (laughter) – of the chairman of our committee.
SEN. LEVIN: (Laughs, laughter.)
SEN. LIEBERMAN: I think that’s a great way to go.
SEN. LEVIN: That’s on the record, everybody. (Laughter.)
Concern trolling at its worst from Lieberman, there, about how much he'd truly like to see this, but, sigh, that 60 vote margin. As Levin points out, the 60 vote problem is reversed if the administration puts the DADT repeal into defense budget--then it will take 60 votes to strip the provision out, a much tougher hurdle. So neither Lieberman nor Obama gets much cover from this move, it's another punt. If Lieberman means it, he'll call on Obama to include the DADT repeal in his budget.