Today the US Senate repealed the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibited homosexuals from openly serving in the military. This is troubling not only because it weakens the nation's military, but because it exposes a deep incompetence on the part of our elected officials. The Senate did the wrong thing today, but perhaps even more concerning than what they did is why they did it.

Take Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, for example.  Lieberman sponsored the Senate bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). Today his website proudly displayed video of him speaking on the Senate floor before the vote. But in his speech, Lieberman shows no hint that he understands what is at issue.

Proponents of keeping DADT in place point to the distraction that openly gay soldiers would have on our armed forces. Having soldiers who are sexually attracted to each other bunking and showering together would certainly be a distraction and would affect morale. There is no question about that. In Lieberman's speech, he himself acknowledged that "a significant number of the Marines are worried about this change in policy".

But the reasons Lieberman offered for repealing DADT had nothing to do with a strong military; they had to do with "fairness". Lieberman - who has never served even one day in the military - declared "when a barrier falls for one group of Americans, the doors of opportunity open for all Americans". He went on to discuss equality for slaves, women, Jewish-Americans, Latinos, and European-Americans.

Lieberman wondered aloud if his immigrant grandparents "could have ever dreamed that he would be a US Senator" and "the First Jewish American to run on a national ticket". There was no hint of a clue in his voice that his immigrant grandparents have absolutely nothing to do with the effect homosexuals enlisting will have on the morale of our troops.

Did Lieberman and company ram this repeal through a lame-duck Congress without truly understanding what was being debated?

Don't ask.