The Greatest Civil Rights Achievement of Our Lives

If you're younger than 50, you don't remember the great civil rights bills of the mid-'60s: the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. Most of us grew up knowing those as settled law, and have no idea what the world was like before they became law.

But we know what the world is like for those of us who are gay, and our gay friends and family members, who have to lie and hide to protect their jobs, to keep their homes, to serve our country.

If, as I believe, Barack Obama will be remembered as the 21st-Century LBJ for prolonging the Afghanistan clusterfuck, he should also be remembered as another LBJ for repealing DADT.

Rachel Maddow called the president "elated" during the signing ceremony; watch and see for yourself:



Full transcript here.

And don't miss Chris Hayes' segment on this during Countdown, including an interview with a Korean War veteran who fought in combat while have to hide that he is a gay man.