If we did, we would have ample justification. How many of you remember all the times that Republican Representatives and Senators falsely claimed that Democrats hate the troops, when we held out for such things as demanding an end to Republican torture policy. So even though I don’t think it’s true, I can’t really blame anyone for saying it, just to rub their noses in it. The truth is that Republicans don’t really care about the troops. They love to proclaim support when they want to use our troops as cannon fodder for their aggressive wars of conquest or spend money to transfer wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich, but that isn’t support. When it comes to making sure they have the equipment they need, giving them raises, giving them health care, increasing veterans’ benefits and caring for their families, Democrats have provided it over Republican opposition. That’s support. Republican obstruction of the Defense Authorization Bill has nothing to do with the troops, except for the gay and Latino ones.

Republicans and two Democrats on Tuesday blocked a defense bill in the Senate that would have paved the way for the repeal of the military’s "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy for gay service members.

The Senate came up three shy of the 60 votes needed to begin debating a $725 billion defense authorization bill that included a provision lifting the ban. Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both Arkansas Democrats, voted against the measure, as did Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both moderate Republicans who the Democratic leadership had hoped would back the bill.

The legislation’s defeat also dashed the hopes of some immigration reform proponents because the bill was to serve as a vehicle for an amendment providing a path to citizenship for children living in the United States illegally… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <San Francisco Examiner>

First, I think that, if Lincoln and Pryor won’t even support bring this to the floor for debate, our DNC and DSCC money should be invested elsewhere.

Frankly, I think the establishment Republicans hate the idea of depriving military contractors of the rich rewards this budget offers, even for a short time, but they have a problem. The Theocons and InsaniTEA wings, who make up nearly all of the Republican base, hate gay and Latino Americans so very much that the establishment types are afraid to cross to cross them, even though they love corporate greed more than they hate gays and Latinos. They had lots of excuses to explain why. All of them were lies, which Rachel Maddow completely debunked.

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Then Rachel and Lawrence O’Donnell discussed how Republicans are trampling the traditions of the Senate.

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If Democrats retain the majority in the Senate, that had better end the filibuster and private hold rules. Believe it that Republicans will, if they get control.