Obama feeling more confident now? I hope so.

Interesting. That obstructionist Joe Lieberman is sponsoring the bill to repeal DADT.

Rip off the fucking bandaid.

@2 I know, right? You just expect him to be a dick about everything, but sometimes he surprises. Crazy Joe is crazy.

I'll believe it when it's signed, sealed, and delivered. Especially after this line from the article:

According to a knowledgeable source, Gates will effectively limit enforcement to those cases where a servicemember actively outs himself or herself and “leaves the chain of command no legal choice but to proceed” with an investigation while the law remains on the books. That means the clear majority of cases for discharging someone under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — so called third-party based investigations — will no longer be in effect.

All this means is that every third-party investigation is going to begin with "the servicemember actively outed himself to me" in the paperwork.

@1: This has nothing to do with the politics of healthcare reform. The Administration has been working steadily on this for months, and this particular announcement was scheduled at least two weeks ago.
@5: This is a clear, unambiguous signal to commanders that they'd better be ready for the full repeal of DADT. As Bob Gates now says openly, it's a question of when and how, not whether.

Fascinating historical tidbit: The ancient Greeks had a model army, and sought out male pairs of lovers to serve together. Their philosophy was that lovers would fight for one another much more ferociously than mere friends would. They even believed that any government that would contradict that was seeking to tyrannically sap their army's strength. The Sacred Band of Thebes was comprised entirely of 150 pairs of male lovers, and was undefeated until, finally, the army of Philip II of Macedonia conquered them. Philip II was said to be so impressed with their ferocity and bravery, he himself commissioned a monument to their honor in battle.

Hmmmm.