OBAMA REALLY NEEDS THIS - AT 11:46 P.M. ET:  Looks like Barney Frank feels "empowered," and his empowerment can give the White House another headache:

Repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” will likely be included as part of next year’s Department of Defense authorization bill in both chambers of Congress, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Wednesday.

“Military issues are always done as part of the overall authorization bill,” Frank said, insisting that this has been the strategy for overturning the policy all along. “'Don’t ask, don’t tell' was always going to be part of the military authorization.”

Frank said he has been in direct communication with the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and other Congressional leaders about the strategy for ending the 1993 ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Though some moderate Democrats have recently expressed concern about repealing the policy during a midterm election year, Frank said resolve at the White House has never wavered. “The Administration is totally committed to this and has been from the beginning,” he said.

COMMENT:   Right in the middle of an election year?  I won't get into the merits or lack of merits of the policy here.  It's part of a complex discussion regarding rights versus privileges. 

But there is an image here of liberal Democrats, most from the California and Massachusetts delegations, who want to ram through every personal wish.  We saw it in the health "reform" bill.  An issue like this should first be sent to a blue-ribbon commission for study.  To Frank, it's just another notch in the pistol.

November 11, 2009