Reid’s Cynicism Knows No Bounds

I know it’s a parliamentary tactic, allowing Reid to reintroduce the motion for cloture later…but you can’t help noticing how utterly cynical it is that he would vote AGAINST the cloture motion in the Senate today on the National Defense Authorization Act.

After all, it’s Reid’s own shenanigans that shoved the DREAM Act and the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell nonsense into a bill that should have been left alone to singly focus on appropriations to Defense so they can continue fighting two wars.

Fox makes it sound as if the Gay rights movement has suffered a blow, but this is not the case. Democracy has been given a victory. On the merits, Congress should be able to show their resolve to address the Gay rights issue not only within the Military, but on the larger scale across the entire American culture. So too should they be grown ups about Immigration, and address the issue on its own merit. That they were unable to, and instead felt the only way they could shore up that voting bloc was by sneaking these issues into the Defense bill shows their lack of courage and the endlessness of their cynicism.

I had the opportunity to watch some of the debate on the Senate floor that led up to this vote, and each of the Republicans that DID speak had the issue exactly right. Now is the time to fund the military, not solidify voting blocs in support of the majority party which finds itself facing major defeat in the midterms. Now is time to focus on the needs of Americans, not the needs of the special interests and the lobbies. Now is the time to do what is RIGHT, and not what is politically expedient.

I have had my differences with the Senate Republicans this year, but they get a standing O from me on this one. For now, at least, DADT and DREAM remain for future debate among reasoned men and women…even if it means we wait until January 2011 for reasonable men and women to be present on the Senate floor.

Well done Senators, well done.

[Note: This article originates at Liberty.Com