I am sorry guys, for voitng for Obama in the primary. I am sorry he and congress have ignored you

[Taverner]

I wish it weren't the case - but it is

It seemed like right vote for human rights

It seemed like the right vote for all of us

I guess fellow townie Jello was right when he said "If voting made any difference, it would be illegal."

[DeSwiss]

1. Apology accepted.

"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." ~ Emma Goldman

[Taverner]

3. Oh - Jello was quoting Emma...

That makes sense...

Emma is my #1 heroine btw...

[RandomThoughts]

2. They want you to feel that way.

To make President Obama feel worse, and to make you feel bad.

The reason you voted for him were for best intents and best reasons, and anyone else would have been in the same or worse tough situation, and might not have done worse or better.

Don't let it get you down.


It does actually make a difference, but it is really tough.

[readmoreoften]

4. Oh it's the evil gay bringing Tavener and Obama down, huh?

[Taverner]

6. I think we all have to stop fighting each other for a change

We aren't the problem

[readmoreoften]

11. I'd agree with that. But we also have to understand who the "we" are.

There are some people (thankfully few) who are not our friends or allies and do not share our interests or support our survival. Some of these people are on this site and they don't deserve our consideration. I don't mean people who don't want to let go of Obama despite criticisms. I mean people who oppose fighting to end the war, for LGBT rights, who are anti-union, and who fundamentally oppose not conceding to the banks. They're not part of the "we". That doesn't mean they can't change their hearts (and they might when the austerity measure hit them) that just means that we have to identify that they are not our political allies.

The above poster does not match this description. He's just not making any sense is all.

[Taverner]

13. I know - I just think we act better when rationally checked, than on spruious emotion

Not that emotion hasn't got the best of me ever...

[Bumblebee]

9. They -- who? I know everything about GOP and don't count on them for any

decent actions. So I don't blame them for it -- I blame Obama and Democrats for utterly mishandling it and giving even their supporters an impression that they do not really care all that much about it. Obama can still rescue it somewhat by Executive action and dropping appeals -- but I fear he won't.

[donco6]

5. Eh, join the club.

I supported him strongly in the primary, too.

[donheld]

7. Me too.

[readmoreoften]

8. No apology needed. But thanks for thinking of us and standing in solidarity.

Basically, a human rights advocate won't be hanging around the likes of Rick "funding Christian movements that murder gays in Uganda" Warren or refusing to be photographed with us during a primary. These things may seem a little obscure (maybe not the first) but we're very, very attuned to dogwhistle behavior. Our lives depend on it. We know when someone doesn't like us or is a threat or a false friend.

Any real candidate who could lead us out of this hell would never be allowed to win. Jello is correct.

[emulatorloo]

10. The people that killed the bill were Republicans.

Be happy you didn't vote for McCain for AZ Senator, because he has been a real barbaric asshole on the effort to repeal DADT. Mr I-Will-Lead-The_Filibuster

[readmoreoften]

12. And it was Obama's blocking of the repeal of DADT that made the vote necessary in the first place.

Talk about failure to lead... or at least lead the correct party.

[Bumblebee]

14. DITTO.

[Taverner]

15. Exactly. That was my problem.

Holder on Obama's orders, blocked it

[Tx4obama]

16. President Obama has NEVER blocked the Congress' effort to repeal DADT.

Obama has done all that he could to HELP 'Congress' including even making many calls to senators over the past few days.

[Taverner]

19. He did - When it was shot down in the courts nt

[saracat]

33. Wow. Guess you forgot when right after the SOTU Obama privately asked Senators to

put DADT on "hold". And they did. That is why it only came up now.

[emulatorloo]

17. When did Obama block the repeal of DADT?

"Blocking the Repeal" would indicate Obama actively interfered with the bills in the House and Senate. I haven't seen any reporting like that, have you? The reporting I saw was that he was making calls and pushing hard on the Senators to get it done.

Or are you referring to the appeal of the decision in the Log Cabin Republican case as "blocking repeal of DADT?" If so i think that is a strategic thing, they wanted the repeal in congress. From the testimony the military seemed "afraid" of it happening judicially. May not make sense to you and me, but they seemed to draw a distinction there. some kind of "protocol".

If this Liebermann/Collins standalone Repeal of DADT doesn't fly, I sure as hell hope they give up on "protocol" and withdraw the appeal.

[Taverner]

18. When it was shot down in the courts nt

[emulatorloo]

20. Military seemed to want repeal of DADT done in Congress rather than in the Courts

Military Brass brought that up several times in their testimony the other day, They Seemed to suggest court order would be "chaotic" while congressional repeal would go smoother (WHATEVER - but that's what they said)

So i assume that was the logic behind of the decision to appeal the courts ruling.

At any rate, if this Hail Mary by Liebermann and Collins fails, I hope they will drop their appeal

[Taverner]

21. Doesn't matter. Was shut down in courts,

I'm sure the Military wouldn't have wanted desegregation done in the manner it was.

[Creideiki]

26. I honestly don't care what military brass want

Please understand that we have a military under civilian leadership. We do not have the military as a co-equal branch of government. Their job is to take orders, salute, and say, "Yes Sir (Ma'am)." Their job isn't to say, "We would choose this way over that way."

[justiceischeap]

29. And the reasoning for that is...

If the courts shoot down DADT as unconstitutional, then the repeal goes into effect immediately. If Congress repeals, DADT, part of the Bill is to allow the military 1 year to "integrate" the forces. That is why the military brass want it to pass through Congress instead of the courts. They know it's inevitable that it will be repealed by the Courts as unconstitutional and that is why they are pressing so hard for Congress to do this.

[dennis4868]

22. Obama is the most progressive dem president....

We will ever have....in this political environment you can't get a more progressive dem president. By the way, if obama's tax deal does not go through my taxes go up from 10% to 15% and I will be in big trouble and my son has a peeexisting conditin. Therefore, I thank you for voting for Obama!

[texshelters]

24. That is a sad statement

because Obama is NOT very progressive. On foreign affairs, he is downright regressive, like all Presidents.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[Taverner]

25. Military Industrial Complex has significant power over the prez

That joke Bill Hicks used to tell, where when Clinton got elected, they brought him into this room, and played a video of JFK being shot that was shot from an angle no one had ever seen before...and then after it ended they asked "Any questions?"

[Creideiki]

27. Other than Carter, LBJ, Kennedy, Truman, FDR, etc., etc.

If the most progressive the Democrats can get is well to the right of center, then we have a problem with the party. Or, at the very least, a hostile takeover of the party.

[texshelters]

23. People apologize as if we had much of a choice.

I don't apologize for voting for Obama, but I now wish he stood for something.

I supported Kucinich, but the two party monopoly had taken away that choice by the time we voted in Arizona. So, I could have voted for Hillary "obliterate Iran" Clinton, or Obama. Not much of a choice as far as I am concerned.

And I have always stood up for rights. Obama and the lame Democrats and homophobe Republicans need to apologize.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[NorthCarolina]

28. Same for us here in NC

Kucinich had folded his campaign tent before we held our primaries. The MSM had successfully whittled the field down to the two DLC candidates, Clinton and Obama. So, the only remaining option:

[Corkey Mineola]

30. Hillary seemed liked the devil we knew

may have been no better on our rights but at least...

[RetiredTrotskyite]

31. S'Okay....

we all had hope when he ran for office. You couldn't have known.

[Gregorian]

32. I wanted Dennis, I voted Obama.

I know what you mean. And I hate the term "imperfect". It could be better. If Congress were all progressives, it probably would be better.

[JuniperLea]

34. So...

How's it feel now that Obama signed the bill into law?

[racaulk]

35. Has the President already signed the bill?

I didn't think he was signing it until Wednesday? :shrug:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/12/obama-likely-to-sign-repeal-of-military-gay-ban-on-wednesday/1