In a new op-ed in the Huffington Post, Michael Keegan, People For’s president, asks why the GOP spent so much of Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings defending the nearly-dead Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The answer? They just can’t seem to quit gay people:

We were once again given a strong reminder of this at Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, when Republican senators hosted a four day-long attack on the nominee based on one issue–her opposition to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the anti-gay policy that is not only overwhelmingly unpopular across the political spectrum, but is unlikely to even be on the books by this time next year.

This line of attack was catnip for the GOP because it provided a too tempting mix of three Republican stock favorites: provoking resentment of gay people, accusing Democrats of being anti-military, and insinuating the existence of an Ivy League East Coast Elite Conspiracy. With so many critically important issues facing the country and the world, this Republican obsession came off as a ridiculous hot mess of intolerance and irrelevance.

Read the full piece at the Huffington Post.