The Democrats do have the votes to advance the gay civil rights legislation Obama has promised to sign. And they have a serious responsibility to do so. Let’s not forget that “don’t ask” and DOMA both happened on Bill Clinton’s watch and with his approval.

I agree that the Democrats should act on repealing DADT as well as DOMA. But to say that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was designed to bar gays and lesbians from military service is flat-out wrong. It's an idea that has somehow worked its way into the conventional wisdom. But it's not true.

Consider the situation before DADT. Recruiters routinely asked recruits questions about their sexual activities and sexual orientation. The military spent a lot of time and resources in identifying and outing gays and lesbians who were serving in the military. It didn't matter if they were exemplary soldiers. It didn't matter if they were closeted; it didn't matter if they were discreet. Witch hunts against anyone even suspected of being gay or lesbian were commonplace.

DADT was designed to get the military out of the business of looking for gays and lesbians to throw out of the service. The policy stated that as long as you did your job and were reasonably discreet, you wouldn't get bounced out.

Looking back from today, DADT might seem like a trivial and mealy-mouthed change from the old policy. But make no mistake: Bill Clinton paid a heavy political price for DADT. The Republicans never missed an opportunity to bash Clinton for his reckless policy of "letting gays into the military" -- it was one of their ginned-up central grievances against the Clinton administration, along with the ginned-up Whitewater controversy and the ginned-up White House Travel Office controversy. The bogeyman of Adam and Steve canoodling in the foxhole while America burned was dangled in front of the right-wing base like raw meat in front of a starving dog.

And it worked. The "gays in the military" issue helped rev up the wingnuts and was partly responsible for the GOP takeover of the House and Senate in 1994.

There is no question that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is outdated and should be replaced. But to suggest that it was designed as a cynical anti-gay measure is a cynical misreading of history.