The pivot from conservative media voices from vigorously opposing the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to attempting to rewrite discrimination against gay and lesbian servicemembers as part of the Democratic agenda is instructive of how history works. President Bill Clinton instituted DADT as a “compromise,” since it would allow gays to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation and prior to that point gays were categorically banned from serving.
Like I said last week, the only way Republicans opposed to repeal would be remembered as obstructionist dead-enders was if DADT repeal actually passed. Now that it has, Republicans are already trying to pretend they were on the right side of history all along. So you have people like Glenn Reynolds writing that “the best thing about this is that it passed legislatively, with bipartisan support.”
Eight Republicans made the right decision and crossed the aisle, and the Log Cabin Republicans hastened DADT’s demise by applying pressure through the courts. But they were the exceptions–the Republican Party, by and large, supported continuing the policy of military discrimination against gays and lesbians. History will not forget that.
