Newly elected Illinois RINO Senator Mark Kirk faces a conundrum: Does he jettison his GOP Immaculation immediately during the Congressional lame-duck session by voting for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," or does he buck the homosexualists and risk being "outed" from his closet?
UPDATE 12/18/10: Mark Kirk joins with other Senate RINOs voting for military sexual experiment
-- From "Mark Kirk on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell:" Will Study Report" by Lynn Sweeton, Chicago Sun-Times 11/30/10
Freshman Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)--a Navy reserve officer who has declined to give his views on gays serving openly in the military--waiting for a Defense Department survey to be completed--will study the report released on Tuesday. Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Tuesday called for the Senate to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," ban, based on the report.
"Senator Kirk will read every page of the DoD/Joint Chiefs of Staff report and will seek a meeting with the Chief of Naval Operations to discuss his findings before making a decision on this issue," his spokesman, Lance Trover, said in a statement.
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From "Mark Kirk Says He's Undecided On DADT Repeal, Will Study Report" by On Top Magazine Staff 12/1/10
Republican Mark Kirk, who'll serve the remaining weeks of President Barack Obama's unexpired term, was sworn in on Monday. Democratic Senator Roland Burris was appointed to the seat after Obama became president but didn't run for the post. Kirk's full term begins in January.
As a representative, Kirk, a Navy reserve officer, voted against a measure that would repeal the law that has ended the military careers of over 13,000 service members.
A Senate committee will begin two days' worth of hearings on the Pentagon report on Thursday.
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From "Mark Kirk Has No More Excuses For Voting To Keep 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'" by Edward McClelland, posted at NBC Chicago 11/30/10
During October’s WTTW debate with Alexi Giannoulias, Mark Kirk suggested he might vote to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell if the Pentagon’s Working Group Study showed that allowing gays to serve openly would have no effect on morale.
“I think we should wait for the Joint Chiefs of Staff to report,” Kirk told moderator Phil Ponce. “This was actually the recommendation of Secretary Gates and the President, but Speaker Pelosi wanted to move forward anyway. The problem here is that when you remove the policy, you got to have a new policy….I’m going to read every word of that study.”
“I understand that he’ll have time to read the report and that it is, in fact, what’s he's asking for: a roadmap,” [Winnie Stachelberg, senior vice president of the Center for American Progress] told Metro Weekly. “Losing Senator Burris as a known vote in favor [of repeal] is a challenge, but, as I understand now-Sen. Kirk’s concerns, I feel we haven’t lost a vote there.”
“I think we should make a very limited set of decisions, and then let the new Congress, that has a fresh mandate from the American people, take office and make the bigger decision,” Kirk said [Monday, nebulously].
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