Sec Def To Announce End of DA/DT Today

Secretary of Defense Panetta is expected to announce today that the Department of Defense is ready to end the military's gay ban.  The next step will be certification by President Obama, then Don't Ask/Don't Tell will be officially dead in 60 days.  The DoD still has to make decisions regarding military benefits since the other bankrupt anti-gay law from the Clinton years, DOMA, prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages.  Troops have undergone training for the past five months.  Former Secretary Robert Gates said that people had been "mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training."  In other words, the troops are cool with it, this is not a big deal, let's move on.