Harry Reid calls 'don't ask, don't tell' an 'obsolete, embarrassing, discriminatory policy.' Reid rips McCain over 'don't ask'

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ripped into Sen. John McCain on Saturday, saying the Arizona Republican has issued a "dizzying" defense of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays from openly serving in the military.

McCain, his party's 2008 presidential nominee, has defended "an obsolete, embarrassing, discriminatory policy that weakens our military and offends our values," Reid said on the Senate floor before a series of votes on extending tax cuts.


The majority leader likened McCain and other Republicans to the Peanuts cartoon character Lucy, who continues to pull the football away at the last second as Charlie Brown runs to kick it.

"First, Sen. McCain said he would seriously consider repealing it if the military leadership thought we should, and [when] the military leadership said it should be repealed, he pulled away the football. Then Sen. McCain said he would need to see a study from the Pentagon. When the Pentagon produced the study saying repeal would have no negative effect at all, he pulled away the football again," Reid said.

"And his latest trick, he said yesterday that he opposed repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' a proposal that would be a great stride forward for both equality and military readiness ... because of the economy," Reid added. "I repeat, the senior senator from Arizona said he couldn't support repealing 'don't ask, don't tell' because of the economy.

"I have no idea what he's talking about and no one else does either," Reid said.

McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan responded in an e-mail: "Perhaps someone should inform the majority leader the election is over."

Reid's remarks come during an intense debate over whether Congress should repeal the 17-year-old law in the lame-duck session, and a day after the heads of the Army, Air Force and Marines testified that an immediate repeal could disrupt combat operations.

Reid and McCain have tangled before. In February, Reid accused McCain of playing petty politics and suggested he hadn't gotten over his loss to Barack Obama in the 2008 race for the White House.

McCain fired back by pointing to Reid's dismal poll numbers, saying Nevada voters were sending a clear message about the job the leader was doing. Reid managed to fight off a tough challenge in November and win another six years in office.