Sunday Afternoon Quick Hits

Looks like the move to repeal DADT is gaining traction in Congress. I wanted quicker action on this by the Obama Administration, but I will take this as a positive sign that a repeal is coming soon.

In the House, Rep. Patrick Murphy’s (D-Pa.) H.R. 1283 now has 181 co-sponsors, including five who signed on in the last week or so. There have been other bills to overturn DADT, but none has come close to generating this kind of support.

In the Senate, we learned this week that White House officials have begun working with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on advancing a repeal. While the independent senator has been a stunning disappointment on a variety of issues, Lieberman has always opposed DADT and may be positioning himself as the primary sponsor to undo the law.

The White House, in addition to engaging Lieberman on this directly in the hopes of generating some momentum, is also filling the key Pentagon slot for the implementation of the new policy. Ben Smith reported the other day, “The appointment of retired Marine General Clifford Stanley as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is being hailed by a key group that represents gay soldiers as a major advance toward repeal — suggesting the White House is moving closer to backing legislation that would reverse the measure.”

Why does it seem that the only sane Republicans the ones no longer in elected office? Former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-OK), writing for The Atlantic:

One campaigns as a member of a party (Madison’s warnings against parties — permanent factions — having been long since disregarded) but on election steps across an invisible line and becomes not a representative of a political faction but a part of the government sworn to serve the nation’s interests rather than the cause of partisan advantage. That may lead one to vote for or against a proposition, but for reasons other than, and far more important than, the desire to be true to one’s team. Olympia Snowe is guilty of no more than having taken her oath of office seriously. It’s something more of her colleagues should try.”

Former Governor Sarah Palin is on LinkedIn, perhaps looking for a job? She had a job. She quit.

Phillies Gotta Feeling…..