Will Lady Gaga Sway the American Senate?
The 2011 Fiscal Year Budget includes a budget line of $760 million for the future application of the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill. It is one of Barack Obama's promises. The pop star Lady Gaga, a missionary for this cause, urged two senators to vote for this line. Is the wild singer the most presentable lawyer in the eyes of the opponents of any change in the bill? Not so sure. But it was spectacular.
If the budget line is passed, it will be a major step toward the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" but it will not be a complete victory. Two more steps will be necessary: the Pentagon's review and final recommendation and the imprimatur of the Army's commandant officers.
In puritanical America, this is a touchy subject. The Army remains a place of blatant manliness and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill, passed under Bill Clinton's presidency, was a compromise formed after a hard dispute. To avoid glitches, two rules gave their names to the bill. The Army promised not to ask service members' sexual identity: Don't Ask. Service members would not disclose their sexual orientation: Don't Tell.
This act, which was introduced by Colin Powell and maintained by George W. Bush, has always been fought against by the homosexual community who had received it as a bad compromise.
Today, Republicans like John McCain are fiercely opposed to its repeal in the name of moral principles and because it is brought up during the midterm elections, which is an improper call for homosexual and Hispanic voters. They are threatening the Democrats with a filibuster.
Among the supporters who swept all American newspapers’ front pages, there is Lady Gaga. She thrust herself onto a stage in Maine in a fierce argument to defend sexual equality in the Army and in a vibrant calling out of the two Maine Republican senators who are undecided on the issue: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. During the week, she got ex-soldiers who had been fired from the Army because of their homosexuality to come to her show.
On Twitter, and also on YouTube, she attacked the Republican senator McCain in a special video. We all pray, on our knees and brooms, that it will work out. *
*EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a direct translation of the original sentence, which is neither an idiom with a comparable expression in English nor a phrase which is commonly used in the original language.
If the budget line is passed, it will be a major step toward the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" but it will not be a complete victory. Two more steps will be necessary: the Pentagon's review and final recommendation and the imprimatur of the Army's commandant officers.
In puritanical America, this is a touchy subject. The Army remains a place of blatant manliness and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" bill, passed under Bill Clinton's presidency, was a compromise formed after a hard dispute. To avoid glitches, two rules gave their names to the bill. The Army promised not to ask service members' sexual identity: Don't Ask. Service members would not disclose their sexual orientation: Don't Tell.
This act, which was introduced by Colin Powell and maintained by George W. Bush, has always been fought against by the homosexual community who had received it as a bad compromise.
Today, Republicans like John McCain are fiercely opposed to its repeal in the name of moral principles and because it is brought up during the midterm elections, which is an improper call for homosexual and Hispanic voters. They are threatening the Democrats with a filibuster.
Among the supporters who swept all American newspapers’ front pages, there is Lady Gaga. She thrust herself onto a stage in Maine in a fierce argument to defend sexual equality in the Army and in a vibrant calling out of the two Maine Republican senators who are undecided on the issue: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. During the week, she got ex-soldiers who had been fired from the Army because of their homosexuality to come to her show.
On Twitter, and also on YouTube, she attacked the Republican senator McCain in a special video. We all pray, on our knees and brooms, that it will work out. *
*EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a direct translation of the original sentence, which is neither an idiom with a comparable expression in English nor a phrase which is commonly used in the original language.
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