Rep. Frank: Conservatives know they have no chance of restoring DADT

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said conservatives know the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy is gone for good. 

Frank pointed to last month's House debate over a continuing resolution funding the government, noting that no Tea Party-backed Republicans offered an amendment to reinstate the policy that banned openly gay service members. 

"It was, it turns out, a good sign," said Frank in a speech to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) on Saturday night. "Even the bigots ain't stupid, at least tactically, perhaps morally. They know they have no chance of reinstating 'Don't ask don't tell,' even with the majority they have in the House.

"Not a single amendment was offered to repeal this policy," Frank said

President Obama signed the DADT repeal into law late last year, and the military is working to implement it. 

Frank punctuated his point by taking a shot at Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) for mistakenly identifying the historic towns of Lexington and Concord last month as being in New Hampshire rather than Massachusetts.

“They understand they have no more chance of reinstating 'Don't ask, don't tell' than achieving some other of their prize right-wing causes like Michele Bachmann's effort to move the battle of Lexington and Concord from Massachusetts to New Hampshire,” Frank said to laughter.