What A Difference A Day Makes

Ipsos/ Reuters put out a poll yesterday afternoon that shows Democrats with a 5-pt lead in the generic congressional poll and voter enthusiasm for the GOP at 8.8 out of 10 and Democrats at 7.6 out of 10. So it's tied. To stay even Democrats always need at least a 5pt lead and the so-called enthusiasm gap looks fairly traditional. Remember Democrats have a larger voter pool to draw from. It's beginning to look like the Democratic base is coming home to roost.

What I've noticed in the polling is that almost all races are tightening up from the Senate to the House. David Plouffe on his book tour commented that the teabaggers' importance was to motivate the Republican base, but they alienate independents. So his conclusion was higher Republican turnout as a result but , as he has argued on video briefs to OFA members,this election will be determined by very small margins of victory. That's why the Democrats are now in full Get Out The Vote mode in all their calling.

The Chamber of Commerce's Tom Donoghue is about the launch his $75 million blitz for the GOP but has admitted that he's examined every House race and believes at the end of the day Democrats will keep both the Senate and the House. Some say he was trying to lower expectations about the GOP tide but others claim that really his belief.

While Christine O' Donnell continues to amuse,one has to be concerned about Sharron Angle and Harry Reid being locked in a tie. Rachel Maddow last night revealed the rather mind-blowing fact that Angle recently attended the John Birch Society's convention in Utah, where she bragged about being with "mainstream Americans" there. Marco Rubio has gone further strange in Florida, where right now he looks like he may win. He claims he knows what it's like to lose a country--Cuba--and will fight Obama to save our own. Obama's Gulag is getting oppressive.

I think Russ Feingold is toast in Wisconsin. I believe the poll showing a close West Virginia Senate race is an outlier. And I applaud Meg Whitman having a fund-raiser with the Koch family as sponsors. I guess she's having a cash flow problem. Also the founder of EBay came out and said he could not support her and if he still lived in California, he wouldn't vote for her. Meanwhile cheapskate Brown continues to lead her in another two polls. I sense a trend.

Jerome Corsi, who really is the father of the birthers with his scurrilous book on Obama, wants Obama to denounce Lucifer. This raises the awkward issue of whether Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck should do the same since both believe Jesus is the brother of Lucifer. At least Christine O'Donnell gets off the hook for her witchcraft by claiming she's "born-again"--that wonderful Get Out of Jail free card for all sinners.

I had only read Eugene Robinson's column on Leroy Gingrich's fear-mongering on Sharia law. I had not read that Newt actually recommended Congress outlaw Sharia Law. What's great is how oblivious conservatives are to the Constitution. The First Amendment would do the trick in this case. Oh wait... Fat Tony Scalia told law students in a speech in San Francisco that the founders really didn't mean it about the separation of church and state and that the Constitution really doesn't allow for treating genders equally. Poor Steven Beyer has another book out on the Constitution attacking the originalists like Scalia for getting the most important things about our system wrong.

I owe Senator Webb an apology. He did not vote with the Republicans to filibuster the Defense Appropriations Bill. He does oppose the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But he had other fish to fry--namely the bill bringing Tricare, the military's healthcare system in line with the Health Reform bill, and the allocation of more funds and facilities for the Wounded Warriors program, which is dealing with severe injuries and PTSD. Also, the Dream Act, which allows younger illegal immigrants to go to college or join the service to rectify their legal status, was included in the bill.

In poll after poll, a vast majority of Americans--from both parties--believe that openly gay people should be able to serve in our military. And, contrary to Senator McCain's statements yesterday, the military has been de-commissioning those people who never mentioned they were gay by reading private e-mails and even taking testimony from local American law enforcement officials. Over 14,000 gay personnel have been ousted since the beginning of this law. One problem is generational. The elderly Republican senators are nostalgia for an America that no longer exists and forgets that the young men and women in the military already are familiar with gays, having grown up with them. It is estimated that over 50,000 American military personnel are gay or lesbian, serving in fairly sensitive positions up the chain of command.

American support for gays in the military dwarfs popular support for same-sex marriage and other gays rights issues. (Although we have to note majority support for same sex marriage has now been recorded in two recent polls.) The judge's full opinion on the unconstitutionality of DADT is worth reading and is as devastating as Vaughn Walker's opinion on same-sex marriage. Obama's error came from his reasonableness by allowing the military to conduct a survey of the armed forces to determine whether gays affect military readiness. The publically released surveys were already biased in terms of their questions. Harry Truman actually did the same concerning blacks in the military, but decided to throw that all out with an Executive Order. Buried in our history is also surveys of the military concerning Jews serving during WWII and questions of their loyalty.

The current limbo state of gays in the military isn't healthy for anyone and is simply hypocritical. When the armed forces had trouble recruiting people around 2004, there were "medical waivers" for gays and other allowances so as to retain force strength. With DADT pronounced unconstitutional, the Obama Administration should refrain from appealing the decision. The executive branch usually is duty bound to argue for existing law even though they may not believe them. But in this case, since the train is moving in this direction anyway, the administration should take a by. Also, there should be a moratorium on further hearings on dismissing gays or lesbians from the military. And, once the December report is in, President Obama should simply announce that he is signing an executive order eliminating DADT. The policy started as an executive order under Clinton, even though it was later ratified by Congress. Given the polarization in the Senate (The House has already repealed it), there is no sense to get its repeal hung up by the looney tune Right. After all he is the commander-in-chief, not Old Walnuts McCain.

Now if you are a practitioner of civil disobedience, there is another option. All the 50,000+ gays and lesbians in the armed forces could proclaim their gender preference openly and demand the military take actions against them. This would cause a bureaucratic collapse and also make the USG liable for enormous civil damages because of the unconstitionality of the law. In fact, the gays and lesbians swore to uphold the Constitution so this would be in line of fulfilling their duty. Then, see how the old geezers react. The gays and lesbians would have public opinion on their side as well as the Law.