An outcome every senator can love

The Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) ban on gays serving openly in the military and the defense spending bill it was a part of came before the Senate yesterday for a vote. This wasn't to pass it, but a vote whether it should come up for debate, so it needed 60 votes. It failed -- 56 to 43.

Naturally, the politics are being dissected and the entrails examined. Here's some of what's being said:

The bill wasn't just defense money and DADT. There was also a provision to allow abortions to be performed in government hospitals. There was the Dream Act, which allows children of illegal immigrants to gain citizenship through high school graduation or military service. Finally, there were provisions that Obama saw as wasteful military spending -- Congress demanding the military buy weapons systems the military doesn't want.

Obama threatened a veto over the spending issues. Nobody has been mentioning the abortion issue. Some speculate the whole bill was done in by the Dream Act because it allows the naturalized kids sponsor their parents for citizenship. But in news articles DADT gets the blame.

More speculation is aimed at the procedural move Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled. Many Senate watchers said there were 60 votes -- until Reid declared that only three amendments would be allowed between this vote and the final one. All three blatantly benefited Dems and all would have failed. That was enough to annoy the GOP and a couple Dems, who voted no.

So instead of money for the troops (why does that work when the GOP says it and it fails when the Dems do?) and the end of a policy that weakens the military we get political theater. Reid was apparently never serious about letting DADT pass and getting rid of a nasty policy. As theater goes, all sides played their parts with gusto. The audience is the voters who have to make choices in just a few weeks.

The GOP gets to claim yeah, we want to repeal DADT (sure you do) but we had to stand up to that evil Democratic Machine. They wouldn't let us introduce a few harmless (sure they are) amendments that would improve the bill. The Dems get to claim that if it wasn't for the evil GOP Machine we would end a policy that three-fourths of Americans agree should end.

Even gay activists have a role in this stage epic. We're the dancers behind the scene (and our dance moves are fabulous!). It's a role we play well.

And Obama? He issued the perfunctory statement about how he doesn't like the policy, but didn't make any effort to campaign against it.

All 100 Senators got what they wanted, especially Reid himself: a campaign issue. Gay soldiers still get thrown out. Politics at its worst.

The fate of the DADT policy now rests with two possible ways forward. First is the court case in which it was ruled unconstitutional. Obama has until tomorrow to file an appeal. Alas, that allows lawmakers to shirk their responsibility. Second, Reid voted against the bill in a procedural move that lets him bring it back after the elections. And if he doesn't we won't see any action for a couple years.