Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook

Friday, December 10, 2010

Democrat Manchin "Explains" Why He Voted Against DADT Cloture

Democrats aren't surprised when Republicans like Scott Brown (MA) say they'll support something like the end of DADT and then reverse themselves when the time comes to stand up and be counted. They have years of practice saying one thing and doing another, putting their deep pockets and party politics before the welfare of their constituents or just doing what is fair and just.

The only differences between Brown and Senator Joe Manchin (WVA) is that the former is a Republican and the latter is a Democrat - and Manchin has consistently expressed reservations about repealing DADT at this time. It's just that his explanation doesn't bear up under even a cursory examination.

On Monday, he told reporters he was concerned that repealing the ban now could impact soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan as well as add to the military budget at a time the nation needs to cut costs. He said testimony from the chiefs of the Army and Marines opposing repeal of the ban during hearings last week swayed him toward waiting longer before taking action on DADT.

"They don't believe that it should be invoked at a point of time when they're engaged in combat, because it would be a hard transition for them," Manchin told reporters, according to the AP.

Obvious questions that come to mind are: 1) How does repealing DADT impact on the military budget? 2) When is the United States not engaged in combat?

In a comment chillingly reminiscent of Republican strategy - and cowardliness - he helped set the stage for President Obama to become the scapegoat by passing the buck.

Besides, Manchin added -- if supporters of repeal are upset with the Senate vote, they can always go talk to President Obama about ending DADT discharges with a stroke of his pen.

"While I may disagree with a repeal of DADT at this time, some believe that President Obama, as Commander-in-Chief, if he so chooses, has the authority to suspend discharges under DADT, if he deems it a matter of national security," Manchin said. "If this is correct, and the President was to make such an order, while I may disagree with it, I would respect his authority as President to do so."

Manchin is a Democrat in name only. He is pro-life, anti-gun control, opposes equal rights in the LGBT community through same sex marriage and obviously opposes open service in the military. No wonder the Republicans like him. He's one of them.

25 comments:

  1. Indeed!!! Are you watching/listening to Bernie Sanders' filibuster? I think it's important!!!!

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  2. Like having a Bronco in the Raider huddle.Maybe a better analogy would be having the entire Bronco team and their coaches in the Raider huddle, since aside from Barbara Lee and Grayson the rest are no better.

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  3. The democratic party is not what it used to be.
    Plain and simple.
    When they act like this, they should be called out by their peers and shunned to the highest degree.

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  4. Kay. Will catch it later. I only get Faux on my cable. Go Comcast.

    Oso: Sports analogies are lost on me I'm afraid.

    RZ: Maybe the Dems are just "too" tolerant. We had the Dixiecrats for several decades and now we have the yellow Blue Dogs - but yes, Manchin should be backhanded.

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  5. Didn't Martin Luther King address this type of excuse in the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"? Somehow it's always the right thing to do, but it's never quite the right time to actually do it.

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  6. PS: Given the Republican propensity to filibuster anything and everything, I doubt that repeal could even be passed right now -- but my point still applies to Manchin's attempt to justify his own vote.

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  7. Here's what doesn't make sense. Is Manchin saying there is an entire platoon of flaming gays ready to be shipped into the war zone?

    What other explanation of his remarks can be had?

    The chances of a military that does not have gay people in it, [at least according to Sen. McCain] being able to send enough gay servicemen to Afghanistan quick enough to negatively impact our straight soldiers is ludicrous.

    I would feel better if folks were just honest and would say, they do not gay people anywhere near them, their families, friends and their military, instead of these constantly changing standards that are, by design, unreachable.

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  8. Brown understands that to keep his seat he must rally the bigots, idiots and homophobes in Massachusettes.

    Manchin is just an asshole.

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  9. "he told reporters he was concerned that repealing the ban now could impact soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan ..."

    An estimated 16,000 soldiers have been terminated from military service due to DADT. In many of these cases, soldiers were terminated during tours of duty, in the midst of mission preparations, and just before battlefield operations. DADT has resulted in losses of key personnel and specialized skills at critical moments. DADT has been a disaster. Ask any soldier who has experienced this firsthand (note: the source of this information is my daughter who is a Major serving at the Pentagon).

    Manchin and McCain are being more than disingenuous. They are liars and hypocrites who put our troops at risk, and I feel nothing but contempt for them.

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  10. Infidel: I vaguely (I've read so much but it's been a few years) recall MLK having said this. Obviously it's still a truism. Thank you.

    Dave: I agree with you but people like Brown, Manchin, McCain, etc., don't seem to be able to deal honestly with their own prejudices, so they speak in code - much like racists do.

    Lordy - I think you've got it!

    Octo: Interesting bit of info there. Thanks to your daughter. The GOP and some Demos just can't seem to deal any other way but hypocritically. I'm doing some further research into this very thing and it's proving most enlightening. More later.

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  11. Look at where Manchin is from. He's probably considered a way-out liberal back home.

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  12. I didn't recognize Manchin's name at first but when I realized he was from West Virginia it all clicked into place. Can't help be think West Virginia is the one state that can give South Carolina a run for the money in being stupid.

    As for Scott Brown, I don't believe he really understand he comes from a dark blue state and that his election to Teddy's seat was largely a fluke for a couple of reasons.

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  13. I'm not sure I'm comfortable calling everyone in a state stupid. There are large groups of people in both states who are actively progressive. The trouble is, there's just not enough of them.

    Brown most likely won't be re-elected, thank the lord.

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  14. Frodo was born in West Virginia (fortunately, he escaped at an early age). The State has the highest rate of dental decay among all fifty states, and, as far as Frodo knows, that is the only statistic to which the residents can sincerely claim "We're Number One." They are very close to that same ranking in obesity. There seems to be a propensity to digest the sugariest of all sugars, the Pepsi-Cola product, Mountain Dew.
    Those statistics aside, there is no popular movement to accept anyone who falls outside the traditional emigration patterns of the past 150 years. The State born amidst the Civil War came into existence as a "Free State." Geography and the robber barons of coal and railroad allowed this reluctance to grow as if all the residents of West Virginia were to be forever housed on a plateau separate, but not equal.
    Has anyone ever wondered why a grand old man like Senator Byrd began his political career as a member of the Ku Klux Klan? Joe Manchin is just another politician playing the same game. Perhaps in fifty years he'll suddenly develop a conscience.
    Until then, Frodo agrees, he's an asshole.

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  15. Frodo said, "... the robber barons of coal and railroad allowed this reluctance to grow as if all the residents of West Virginia were to be forever housed on a plateau separate, but not equal."

    But communities, including the miners, are beginning to rise up against the mtn-top coal mining companies and they are being very effective as the companies begin to back off from raping the earth. And yes, he is just what you say he is.

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  16. Obama has weaseled on DADT as well, with his opposing the court overturning it (Come on, just get rid of it already!). But it sort of fits in on how he campaigned on the basic agenda of Calif Prop. 8: against gay marriage, but civil unions are OK. Everyone, Obama included, just needs to stop couching their words and get this over with.

    Dave said: "Here's what doesn't make sense. Is Manchin saying there is an entire platoon of flaming gays ready to be shipped into the war zone?"

    Perhaps such use can be made of such an incindiary weapon.

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  17. dmarks: You left a similar comment on another blog and I provided a link to an article that offers a solid perspective on this issue. You might not have seen it, so here it is again -

    http://theexaminedlife-sheria.blogspot.com/2010/11/repeal-dadt-yes-we-can.html

    I recomment to everyone.

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  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. Oops, fumble. Trying this comment again.

    I'd really like to see something on what repeal is estimated to cost the military. One would think it would cost them LESS, since there would be fewer cases for JAG. I suppose they would have to generate some paperwork and do some re-education service-wide, but surely not much more than is already expended trying to train the soldiers to engage in the institutionalized duplicity that is DADT.

    I remember when DADT was proposed: what a cobbled together bunch of crap it was, with neither side hopeful that it could work. I believe US troops were actively engaged in Bosnia and Somalia at the time and we were still policing airspace around Kuwait...in other words, business as usual.

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  20. I wonder when people like this turkey will stop treating the military like they are fragile little popkins to be cuddled and coddled and protected from that big bad world of gays and women.

    Wait, that's just their excuse for perpetuating it, isn't it?

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  21. Nance: And this is any better? "I recomment to everyone."

    To me that whole argument about the "cost" of repealing DADT is hogwash. The GOP loves to talk about how much everything costs - until it comes to tax cuts for the wealthy.

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  22. The cost of keeping it in? Servicemen and women booted out for no good reason at all.

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  23. That's true but I think we were referring to the claims amongst the GOP that to repeal DADT would have dire "ecnomic" consequences. Obviously they have no concerns wbout anyone getting kicked out of the military or of the psychological impact it might have on them.

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  24. Excuses excuses out of this idiots mouth. Even Byrd said he would vote for repeal of this policy so why this ass clown is voting against is beyond me. He was only voted in to fill the remainder of Byrd's time, so hopefully there is a better dem waiting in the wings.

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  25. Even worse than his vote against cloture, Manchin SKIPPED THE ACTUAL VOTE TO REPEAL BECAUSE HE HAD TO ATTEND A FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY. Talk about ball-less bastards in Congress...
    This guy knows the yahoos back home would barbeque him if he voted to allow gays in the military (as opposed to those West Virginia heroes like Jessica (I've got amnesia) Lynch...
    Manchin has no political soul. Instead of voting his conscience, he just skipped town to raise a toast under the mistletoe.
    What a douche...

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