Senators McCain and McConnell are "pulling out all the stops" to prevent the elimination of DADT. It has to be done by the lame duck Senate or it isn't going to get done.
...With a Republican majority in the House and diminished Democratic numbers in the Senate in the incoming Congress, the lame-duck session may be the last chance to repeal “don’t ask” before the 2012 presidential campaign begins in earnest.
If Reid isn’t able to move the repeal through the Senate, Obama will have to explain to his liberal base why he failed to follow through on a central promise from his 2008 campaign. ...The Hill
Some of this is about limp-wristed Republicans worried about their manhood and about the destruction of their beloved castle of manhood, the military. But I bet most of it is about letting President Obama achieve this moral victory. Either way, it's just more childishness on the part of the right whose political and sociosexual hangups don't belong in government.
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Sam Youngman, who also writes for The Hill, said in an interview this morning that McCain is dead set on putting the DADT repeal in the Senate, making it a dead duck, throwing it back to the courts where DADT will come to an end.
Jason Mazzone at Balkinization writes:
It comes as no surprise that the Supreme Court has refused to lift the Ninth Circuit's stay of Judge Virginia Phillips' injunction (which barred enforcement of Don't Ask, Don't Tell) in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States. But one question is now answered: Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from the case. This represents some very good news for the Ninth Circuit: its decision on the merits will almost certainly be the last word in the case. This is because if the Supreme Court reviews the Ninth Circuit, it will likely split 4-4, thus automatically affirming the Ninth Circuit's decision. The Ninth Circuit has something of a reputation for zany decisions that end up being overturned. Let's see what it does now that it knows it isn't going to be reversed. ...h/t Andrew Sullivan
