It boggles my mind that in the year 2010 the US Senate still has 41 people in it who see nothing wrong with prohibiting an entire class of their fellow citizens from serving openly in the US Military, at a time when their talents are obviously needed.

Well, that’s the case:

Senate Republicans blocked the attempt to move ahead with the bill that would have repealed the ban on gay troops serving openly in the military. The vote was 57-40, almost entirely along party lines, and three short of the 60 needed.

You know what really strikes me as idiotic? The Republican demand that they control the process by which the bill is debated.

In an impassioned, impromptu speech, Ms. Collins complained that she wanted to vote in favor of the overall bill, including the repeal provision, but could not do so without an agreement on the process first.

So process is more important than substance to Senator Collins and her fellow Republicans. The fact that the entire Defense Authorization Bill just died because of their overarching concern for how many amendments they’d be allowed to offer tells you all you need to know about them.