Hope and Hesitation in Obama's Sudden Conversion

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/hope-and-hesitation-obama-s-sudden-conversion-1336743400

Once again President Barack Obama has come tantalizingly close to being terrific. But his failure of courage on the gay marriage issue, in the end, undermined the point he hoped to make Wednesday. As with his prior rhetorical flashes of principle in denouncing torture, commiserating with the victims of Wall Street fraud and resolving to end unjustifiable wars, he quickly waffled and the result was a continuation of that which is fundamentally wrong.

There is only one essential point to be made about gay marriage: To acknowledge one’s own sexual being and to define the relationships that follow is a basic human right. How dare anyone intrude on a life choice that is not his to make for others? Whether the president’s family knows gay couples who are monogamous and nice to their children has no more to do with the issue than the old argument of enlightened racists in the American South that there were many fine Negroes who were not at all uppity.

Uppity as in the case of gays who were not satisfied with Obama’s prior endorsement of civil unions: “I had hesitated on gay marriages in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient.” As in knowing your place and being content with the bone you are tossed rather than demanding the full meal you’re entitled to.

There is enormous condescension in Obama’s assertion that “I’ve always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally.” He had not been adamant enough to push for an amendment to the Civil Rights Act to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. Nor did he issue an executive order banning government agencies from contracting with businesses guilty of such discrimination.

[madrchsod]

1. one of the problems that i see is that he has no intelligent republican agreeing with him

he has no intelligent republican leader that is willing to stand up and face the voices of hate.

looking back during the beginning of the civil right movement from the forties it was one step at a time.

integration of the army,the civil rights actions under truman and eisenhower.behind them all was lbj slowly moving the process into the mainstream when kenndy took over. by the time lbj came to power the issue was finally set into law.

will obama be able to find anyone who will work with him to bring to the table full rights for the gay community? a lot depends on this election.
we know what will happen if mittens wins and we know that we should gain the same rights for all our citizens if we elected barack and marginalize the teaparty in the house and senate.

may this will be the real beginning of change in this country

[just1voice]

5. No such thing as an "intelligent republican", only bible-thumping whores

who care way way way more about the money they collect that keeps them in power.

[polichick]

2. imo it's about civil rights, and that means it must be a federal issue...

When the prez talked about handling it in the states, I was disappointed.

It's either a civil rights issue or it isn't - does the prez believe it is? I don't know.

[dbackjon]

4. Exactly. Leaving it to the states does nothing.

[obxhead]

3. I hope everyone reads the entire article.

Thanks for posting.

[William769]

6. I can honestly say I have more hope than hesitation now.

For whatever reason, it been done.