‘Don’t Scott, Don’t Brown’
Massachusetts’s Republican replacement senator, Scott Brown, is trying to develop a reputation for being conservative but independent. That’s fair enough.
Brown’s recent vote for a watered-down but still-welcome financial-reform bill attracted national headlines. It also prompted a barrage of brickbats from the tea-bag battalions who demand a neo-Stalinist style of political conformity and ideological purity.
The movement need not worry. Brown is back in the tea box again, saying he would not support a repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that requires gays and lesbians to remain closeted if they wish to serve their nation in the military.
Is Brown being moderately sneaky? Or is he being hypocritically moderate? Or is he being true to his own lights? In today’s fractious political world, it is hard to tell.
What’s not hard to figure is that the armed services protect us all — gay and straight. And barring those whose sexual preferences are dedicated to their own gender prevents a sizable cohort of citizens from fulfilling their wish to put their lives on the line for their fellow Americans.
Related:
The Big Ligotti, Burn Baby Burn, GOP Know-Nothings: Hard-right Congressional candidates complicate Charlie Baker's run for governor, More 
- The Big Ligotti
Like his homeboy Scott Brown, Boston's elephant in the room is poised to make noise beyond Massachusetts
- Burn Baby Burn
Last Thursday afternoon, moments after I posted on Facebook about the death of the climate-change bill, I got a message from a surprised and disappointed Laura Everett.
- GOP Know-Nothings: Hard-right Congressional candidates complicate Charlie Baker's run for governor
With a strong anti-incumbent mood at their backs, Massachusetts Republicans should be able to make significant gains this year, simply by keeping the focus on Beacon Hill Democrats.
- Seeing things
Early last week, US Senator Scott Brown claimed to have seen pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden, which he implied were shown to him in briefings. Hours later, his office put out word that the photos Brown had seen were not "authentic."
- Where's the outrage?
Holy hell broke loose six months ago when a self-appointed truth squad sponsored by a right-wing propagandist broadcast an Internet video that appeared to show African-American employees of ACORN counseling a white pimp and his equally Caucasian hooker on how to dodge a variety of laws.
- The Cultural Caucus's big gamble
The recently formed Cultural Caucus, a loose, formal coalition comprising a dozen arts-friendly state legislators, appears poised to christen its political life by inserting itself into what could be the most intense statewide political battle of the spring legislative session: the move to allow casino gambling in Massachusetts.
- A black leadership silent on abortion fabrications
Last month, controversial anti-abortion-rights billboards appeared in Georgia hinting that abortion is a tool of black genocide.
- 'Tea' is for terrorism
A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) produced a memo outlining the growing threat posed to this country from right-wing extremists. It compared the situation to that of the early 1990s — which culminated in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168.
- Gifts of the magi
OK, so math isn't Poliquin's strong point. And he's a little shaky on consistency. But are those minor flaws enough to convince Santa to leave coal in his stocking?
- Dropping the ball
At last, the golden moment has arrived.
- Ready to rumble
Last summer, the upcoming race that got most Bay State politicos salivating was the run for governor.
- Less
Topics:
The Editorial Page
, Barack Obama, Op-Ed, Scott Brown (Politician), More
, Barack Obama, Op-Ed, Scott Brown (Politician), Government and Politics, oil spill, BP, Oil Spills, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Politics, Less
