Thoughts on the DADT Cloture Vote

As many of you know, today the Senate voted 63-33 to invoke cloture (stop debate) on the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The final vote, in which only a simple majority is required, is scheduled for later this afternoon and should pass easily.

Some random thoughts:

• It pains me to say this, but Joe Lieberman (I-CT) gets a gold star on his forehead for tirelessly championing the repeal effort. Lieberman wasn't going to let anyone - including his good friend, ancient bigot John McCain - get in the way of repeal.
• I am so glad that Kirsten Gillibrand is the junior Senator from New York - and not that Conservadem Harold Ford. I called it back in January - Gillibrand was/is the right person to represent my state.
• Six Republicans voted in favor of cloture: Snowe and Collins (ME), Voinovich (OH), Brown (MA) and Kirk (IL) and Murkowski (AK). Snowe, Collins and Brown are understandable - they come from liberal Northeast states. Voinovich is retiring, so he was free to do the right thing. Kirk (who holds President Obama's old Senate seat) is a pleasant surprise. But perhaps the most delicious is Lisa Murkowski - who won in a write-in candidacy over Sarah Palin's hand-picked crony Joe Miller. I hope Ms. Murkowski spends the next six years in the Senate doing things to piss off Mama Grossly.
• Joe Manchin, the newly-elected DEMOCRATIC Senator from West Virginia, did not vote. Just become a Republican already, will ya?!?

UPDATE: The bill passes easily - 65-31. Two Republicans switched their previous cloture vote and voted for repeal - Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). I guess even some Republicans didn't want to end up on the wrong side of history with John McCain and the other homophobes.

Now it's off to the President's desk for his signature.

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