Senate Votes Down Debate on Repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

[agzg]

Seems like we haven't had a good opportunity GreekChatters to completely flip out on each other lately, so here we go:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/...ex.html?hpt=T2

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic bid to open debate on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service, possibly killing any chance for it to get passed in the current congressional session.

However, a bipartisan group of senators immediately said they would raise the issue again in a separate piece of legislation. It was unclear if the bid to separate the repeal provision from a larger defense authorization bill would increase its chances for approval.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called Thursday's vote without an agreement with any Republican senators to support the motion, ensuring it would fail. The vote was 57-40 in favor of the cloture motion that required 60 votes to pass.

A Republican filibuster forced Democrats to seek a deal that would get them the necessary GOP support to get the 60 votes to proceed. The Democratic caucus has 58 members, meaning they needed at least two Republicans to join them to overcome the filibuster.

More at the link.

So what do you think? Should they have voted to debate it, even if it doesn't pass? Or, if it wasn't going to pass is it a good thing that they didn't waste the time debating it?