Last ditch attack on DADT repeal fails, reveals Republican flaw

One thing is assured in politics.

When the Democrats take over Congress, they face criticism of not knowing how to govern. But when Republicans take over, they tend to overdo things, going too far with the tactics which got them into power to the point of either alienating or scaring folks.

We saw it with the Clinton impeachment trials and the case of Terri Schiavo. And we are seeing it again in the case of the DADT repeal. In an absolutely silly attempt to stop the repeal of DADT after the Senate voted, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell makes an ass of himself:

A last-ditch effort by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to complicate the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was blocked Tuesday night after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) objected, Senate aides said.

McConnell attempted to add an amendment to the so-called stripped-down defense authorization bill that would have required the consent of the military service chiefs to proceed with "don't ask" repeal. Under legislation passed by the Senate last week, certifications are required from the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. All the incumbents in those positions support repeal.

"It was a McConnell proposal," a GOP aide confirmed. "There was an attempted to get unanimous consent for it to be included in the defense bill and someone objected."

McConnell's amendment, which Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other GOP senators have been urging for months, called for certifications from the four service chiefs. All of the incumbents in those positions have expressed at least some reservations about repeal at this time.

Repeal advocates have long viewed such an amendment as a poison pill. Presumably, this is what prompted Lieberman's objection. A spokesman for the senator did not immediately respond to an e-mail query Tuesday night. The stripped-down defense bill is proceeding on a unanimous consent basis after most of the controversial aspects were stripped out. Even if such a bill somehow passed with an amendment that threatened "don't ask" repeal prospects, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would likely refuse to bring it to the floor.

Of course, any such amendment, or even the prospect of it, could be seen as an effort to upstage President Barack Obama as he prepares to sign the conditional repeal bill into law on Wednesday morning.

Geez guys. Can you wait to get into power before you mess yourselves up. At least that's what Republicans did in the past.