Reply #21: START is not "political theatre"

[karynnj]

Both issues are extremely important - and neither would have a good chance next year.

The fact is that on DU the question is obvious - DADT is an emotional issue and it is right to end a bad policy. START is an issue that I didn't bother to post anything on hearings - because I doubted that I would get more than 10 readers - and more likely zero.

But, between the administration and the Senate, a huge amount of work has been done on START. Failing to pass it will have a huge negative impact on Obama's foreign policy. Russia has worked with us on sanction for Iran (an alternative to stronger action) and North Korea and Russia has been allowed access routes for troops into Afghanistan.

The point is this doesn't have to be either or - and in fact the debate on START began yesterday and is happening now - why waste the hours already tallied on this. It might make more sense to announce that rather than the budget, they will temporarily fund the government with a continuing resolution. The budget has yet to be addressed and it not START is the real competitor to DADT.