DUMBASSES!
So Vice President Joe Biden just endorsed gay marriage on Dancin’ Dave Gregory’s show this morning:
Biden: The good news is that, as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about is a simple proposition: who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out what all marriages at their root are about, whether they are marriages of lesbians, or gay men or heterosexuals.
Gregory: That’s what you believe?
Biden: That’s what I believe.
Gregory: And you’re comfortable with same-sex marriage now?
Biden: Look. I am Vice President of the United States. The President sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties, and quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that.
And within minutes the dumbass White House spin machine was trying to walk back Biden’s remarks, but doing so with all the schizophrenic, cowardly logic and the use of weasel-words that they’ve always brought to the discussion of gay marriage.
And the reason it’s a dumbass move is because all the walking back does is piss off the gays and the Liberals and doesn’t win a single conservative over to Obama’s side because they all think he already supports gay marriage.
There is absolutely no upside to walking back the Veep’s statement.
Look, here’s the one single thing every gay needs to know about Barack Obama — he DOES NOT have “evolving” views about gay marriage as he’s claimed before.
What Obama has is a case of the icks because he finds gay marriage icky and would just as soon the whole thing — and us — go away.
And even though polls now show that more than half of Americans support equal rights for gays and lesbians {including an ever growing number of republicans} Mr. Hope and Change is not gonna hop on the equal rights bandwagon until the percentage of Americans who support our right to marry is closer to 70, if not higher.
And he’ll never, ever, ever do it in an election year, regardless of the number of Americans who support equal rights.
This from a guy who wouldn’t even be alive today were it not for the equal rights protections afforded to his white mother and black father who were allowed to marry thanks to the federal repeal of anti-miscegenation laws in this country.
His entire fucking existence owes itself to a change in the laws of the land that granted equal rights protections to his parents that he’s only just now having “evolving” views on when they concern others.
Standing up and doing the right thing in spite of your personal feelings or prejudices, or in the face of vocal opposition from others, is the hallmark of a true leader.
Refusing to do so out of political calculation is the hallmark of a fucking coward.
And refusing to do so when there is absolutely no downside to doing it is the hallmark of a dumbass.
I’m tellin’ ya — these Obama people are not half as fucking smart as they all like to think they are.
May 6th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Ya know come November I could care less if I vote or not, especially seeing what pussies these Obama administrators are over this topic and others as of late. Maybe if they grew some balls I would feel differently, I doubt that is going to happen though.
May 6th, 2012 at 9:39 am
Even from outside the US, it’s been so frustrating watching the Obama administration squander opportunity after opportunity to make the US a better place. What the fuck are they waiting for? This could have been a renewal of the democratic process, a renewal of your whole country, and instead it’s gotten worse. They’ve been a placeholder administration, when they should have and could have been transformative.
May 6th, 2012 at 10:21 am
It is indeed appalling that the President doesn’t see the parallel to his own parents’ story. But they didn’t owe anything to federal repeal of anti-miscegenation laws. That didn’t happen until 1967. Hawaii simply never had such a law. (And the federal government then, unlike now, was quite happy to recognize any marriage that was legal under the laws of any state.)
May 6th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Here in Alberta, even the far right conservative Wild Rose party was forced to have their ‘dear leader’ Danielle Smith publicly state that she was pro-choice and for same-sex marriage. The latest reliable opinion poll done by Lethbridge College found that over 73% of Albertans favor same-sex marriage. And for anyone who has actually been here, that is an amazing fact.
I’m forced by practicality to vote for Obama when I turn in my Washington State ballot, but I have not donated to the campaign. I got an email asking me why I haven’t “yet contributed”, and I told them I wasn’t happy with Obama’s “evolving” stance of same sex marriage which puts him to the right of Dick Cheney and Laura Bush.
America respects bold action, even when some personally disagree with it. Weaselling is not respected in the US of A.
May 6th, 2012 at 11:10 am
I remember a few years ago when the HRC was having one of their big “pat ourselves on the back for bein big, rich, & gay dinners” that Obama showed up & gave this big speech that ended in tumultuous applause. I wasn’t impressed. I watched the speech with my big ‘ol lesbian friend at the time & she got all excited about him, & how he’d do SO much for us. I just laughed at her. It turned into a debate where she basically fed me campaign promise lines & brainwashed drivel & I fed her facts. It was like talking to a brick wall of hope & change. I voted for him, because I am no way conservative & for a brief moment in ’08 I fell for him. But within a year I realized he was more moderate & pandering than I’d first thought & while I’m glad I helped keep McCain away from power, I wish Obama wasn’t such a douche.
May 6th, 2012 at 11:24 am
They have made the U.S. a better place, and will continue to do so if they are granted a second term. Scott, it never ceases to amaze me that even in the face of this bold and audacious move by one of the most powerful men in our nation, you still manage to turn it into an opportunity to bash a man who has done so much for our community just because he’s not doing it fast enough. We get it: you think Barack Obama is a coward. Now get over yourself. Do you want progress to happen or don’t you? Is it more important to you that Barack Obama endorse gay marriage (as he will eventually), or that he do it right now rather than waiting until after the election? God, I’m sick of armchair critics.
May 6th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Obama has been a disaster in almost every way (& I say that as someone who contributed money to his campaign). Most frustrating of all is that he seems incapable of learning from his mistakes. He’s still trying to get the Jerry Falwell /James Dobson/KKK crowd to think he’s a Great Guy. And to accomplish this (absurd, impossible) happening he continues to screw his own supporters.
So far I see no substantive difference between him and Romney.
May 6th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
And I, Patrick, am sick of kool-aid drinkers like you who would rather give Obama a pass, praise him for “bold audacious moves” {when the reality couldn’t be further from that if it tried} than hold his feet to the fire.
You’re an HRC Democrat if ever there were one Patrick — and that’s definitely NOT a compliment.
If you act like republicans — which is what you would seem to have us do — and not criticize your own team when they act too slow or not at all then you’re no better than them. In fact you’re worse than they are, because you’re giving cover to weakness, ineptness and craven politics at its most base simply because its the guys you voted for who are perpetrating that kind of shit.
Geez! You’re sick of armchair critics like me?????
I’m sick of go along get along weak kneed dipshits like you who blithely accept whatever Dear Leader is doing just because he’s supposedly better than the alternative. Its people like you who let our Democratic politicians get away with broken promises and lies and slow walking stuff that they should be focusing on simply because you’re afraid of what the alternative might be.
And frankly, its people like you who are largely responsible for making the sorry fucking contributions that come from our side of the political spectrum that have brought our nation to the abjectly pathetic state its presently in.
You’d rather say nothing to a president, or even pathetically cheer him on for his “bold audacious moves” who was violating human rights every day, shitting on the constitution, ordering the drone killings of civilians in Yemen, spying on Americans on American soil, expanding the war on terror without the permission of congress and yes, even moving too slow for my own personal taste on gay civil rights, than call him on his lies, misfeasance, and violations of the constitution just because he’s one of your own.
Patrick, you’re the kind of Democrat that makes me truly sick to my stomach and ashamed to call myself a Democrat.
Thank God, given the responses to this post in the comment thread, you seem to be in the minority.
May 6th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
You’re right Jeff. What I meant to say was that at the time of their marriage in 1961 they would have been precluded from marrying in many states by many of the anti-miscegenation laws then on the books across the US.
Its what happens when you’re not paying attention to what you type.
May 6th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Oh, and Patrick — I was a Barack Obama for President supporter and PCO {Precinct Officer or precinct captain as its known elsewhere} in the Washington caucuses during the 2008 primary season. And this blog raised over $35,000 in contributions for Obama via its Act Blue page and the blog’s more than 2 million readers per year.
So I may be a lot of things Patrick, including being a vociferous critic of this president. But “armchair” critic of the president is not one of those things.
May 6th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Scott, You are waiting to move forward with what candidate? Obama may be the lesser of 2 evils, but in the place we are now, that’s a hell of a lot. If the right wins this election, we wind up with more conservative judges on the supreme court, and if the economy takes off with the right stopping doing all they can to keep it down, we will see at least 8 more years of republican rule.
If you can’t see the utter folly of throwing your vote away and encouraging others to at this critical point, god save us all.
May 6th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
@Patrick. Why shouldn’t he bashed for not doing it fast enough? In 2012 do you think its acceptable to not be able to marry the person you love? Whats the delay? There’s no reason for it. And Im sure if there had ever been a referendum on whether to abolish slavery or not it wouldn’t have been 70% in favour of doing so. Would it have been acceptable to keep slaves in chains until the majority of whities came round to the idea? B.O is a coward on this subject and if you think thats acceptable then you’re just a republican cocksucker.
May 6th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Thank God at least 1/3 of Colonists were anti-Britain is 1776 or we would still be Royal Subjects. Thank God Abraham Lincoln stood up to the South and MLK, Jr. to the US. If you’re not impatient for Justice/Equality, you must not really want/need it. “I’ve got mine; the rest of you just wait your turn(even if it never comes.)
May 6th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
@Scott, +1!!!!
May 6th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Who said I’m waiting for another candidate to come forward Bill?
Look, I’ve had this conversation with so many people that its gotten almost ludicrous. But I’m willing to have it with you since this is your first bite at the apple, but I’m only gonna give it to ya once.
And as a side note — at least you didn’t say that by simply not voting I’ve actually voted for the other guy — as so many dimwits have in the past.
Please Bill, why don’t you educate me — how is the act of not voting for someone {assuming that is, in fact, what I choose to do} the same as throwing my vote away?
If I don’t vote for Obama AND I don’t vote for the republican nominee, how is that “throwing my vote away”?
And if it is, in fact, throwing ones vote away, why then are write in ballots allowed and part of the rich tapestry that makes up our history of voting in this republic? I’d point out a couple of examples of write-in candidates who won their races and I’d positi the theory that none of them thought the people who wrote their names in were “throwing away” their fucking vote!
Dwight Eisenhower won the Massachusetts primary in 1956 with 52,000 write in votes. In 1954 Strom Thurmond won the U.S Senate seat from South Carolina on the basis of nothing more than write-in votes. He served until 2003. And Lisa Murkowski won the U.S Senate seat in Alaska in 2010 on the basis of write-in votes she got in the primary.
Also, I’m curious, but in your mind is a person who voted for Obama in 2008 but who died in 2010 “throwing their vote away” by not voting for Obama in 2012?
And if not how is that any different from a person who voted for Obama in 2008 but who chooses not to vote for Obama in 2012? And please! Don’t say because the person who chooses not to is alive and the dead person isn’t. Because that just tells me that you’re not capable of actually acknowledging that everything the vote is based upon is CHOICE!
What the vote is Bill, is a constitutionally guaranteed statement about what we as citizens think of the various candidates available to be voted upon in a particular election.
What the vote is NOT is a requirement that the voter hold his nose and be compelled to vote for someone — anyone — even if the lesser of two evils is still, in the voters mind, evil, just because others feel that he should. If it were we would have mandatory voting in this country and we’d all be forced under penalty of law to vote, regardless of how we felt about the various candidates.
Tell ya what Bill, you go fucking vote for Obama or whomever and make yourself feel good about not “throwing your vote away” and allow me to do whatever the fuck I want to do, and what the constitution protects my right to do, in private and without people like you chiming in about how I’m “throwing away” my vote. MMMMMMMKAY?
May 6th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
By “bold and audacious move”, I was actually referring to Biden’s endorsement, not anything that Barack Obama has done. I apologize if that was not clear from the context. And I stand by my opinion that you are an armchair critic. I never once said that it’s wrong to criticize Barack Obama for dragging his feet or failing to make good on his promises. I only said that when it comes to matters like the repeal of DADT (to name one example), it is less important that they happen when and where we want them to than that they happen at all. Are you really going to argue with me on that?
By the way, Scott, how hard is it to raise money for the Obama campaign when you’ve got a website this successful? I would never claim that you haven’t done a lot, but you could be doing more. And you damn well know it.
Lastly, I’d like to say that Democrats like you *don’t* make me sick to my stomach. You’re a good man, and you’ve done a lot for this country. Don’t call me a disgrace just because I look for the positives in the man that I fucking voted for. People like me aren’t in the minority, not even close, although it might look that way with all of the sycophants–sorry, “fans” that you have on hand to help you shoot me down. Go on spewing vitriol. I haven’t said anything half as harsh as the abuse that you’ve heaped upon me. But I won’t be cowed into submission. I don’t mean that I’ll keep reading, mind you, just that I’m not sorry. Good day, sir.
May 6th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Oh, and before you leap on me for telling you that you could be doing more, I don’t mean that you should sell your car or give up your livelihood. I just think you should step outside your comfort zone for a change.
May 6th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Patrick I admit that I was harsh in my comment and shouldn’t have called you names and for that I apologize.
We’ll need to agree to disagree on this particular subject. Especially the part where you say, “I only said that when it comes to matters like the repeal of DADT (to name one example), it is less important that they happen when and where we want them to than that they happen at all. Are you really going to argue with me on that?” Because I wasn’t talking about DADT, you were. And frankly, as a U.S. Marine I think Obama handled that atrociously.
To answer your question — its very easy to raise money with a site like Bill in Exile. As I said, I raised a lot of $ via Act Blue for Obama in 2008. He doesn’t need me in 2012 and, frankly, I’m not comfortable raising money for him in this cycle because I don’t like him. I can do a lot more for down ticket races by raising money for congressional candidates than for Obama and in doing so won’t make myself feel like a douchebag in the process.
Be watching Bill in Exile as we get closer to November for my Act Blue recommendations in congressional, senate and gubernatorial races around the country.
And again, I apologize for the bit of ad hominem I directed at you earlier.
May 6th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Patrick you don’t EVEN know what my comfort zone is. So PLEEEEEEEASE, don’t presume to lecture me on it.
The only thing you know about me is what you’ve read here for however long you’ve been a reader.
That limited insight doesn’t give you any ability to make a broad-based determination as to what you think my comfort zone {whatever the fuck that means} is.
Please don’t make me take back my earlier apology and bitch-slap you here in the comments.
May 6th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I totally applaud you, Scott, when you criticise Obama for the incredibly awful things he’s done about freedom. Once one steps away from US partisan politics and actually looks at what he’s done – the guy is a disaster.
Tony Blair did the same thing in the UK. He preachified freedom while destroying that concept on a day-to-day life.
All of that said, I don’t think you get to criticise Obama on gay rights issues. While he could have gone a lot further on equality politics, you can’t deny that he’s gone a lot further than any other President. If you’re gay in the USA today, you’re still better off than you were before Barack Obama became president.
I’m not asking anyone to vote for him – I’m just asking for balance.
Also, although gay/equal marriage is the big issue at the moment in the US, in real terms, the massive issue confronting America is equal treatment in terms of employment, housing and access to benefits/inheritance law.
Most gay men in America aren’t looking to get married. They just want to live their lives without suffering discrimination.
I get why equal/gay marriage is important, but if you look anywhere else in the world where gay equality exists, the argument is accepted that a gay man is the equal of a straight man. Marriage isn’t the issue.
May 6th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Lots of passion here. But at the end of my day, there are two words: Supreme Court. More words: Who is less likely to nominate an anti-choice, anti-marriage equality nominee? Certainly, Obama gives me little reason to expect certainty. But weighing the odds, and the influences…
I mean, who will Romney have as a VP? Someone more moderate – because that’s where he needs help? Will Romney pick someone who’d likely say what Biden said?
I love the passion. We need passion. We need more passion from our “fierce” advocate. We need more standing up for what is right rather than what only seems expedient. But there is something to be said for pragmatism.
May 7th, 2012 at 4:46 am
Manny,
Let’s not make Lincoln into something he’s not. Abolitionists were furious with him and found him lacking on the slavery question. Not trying to undercut his importance, but here is a great line from Frederick Douglass about him:
“He was preeminently the white man’s President, entirely devoted to the welfare of white men. He was ready and willing at any time during the first years of his administration to deny, postpone, and sacrifice the rights of humanity in the colored people to promote the welfare of the white people of this country.”
Not trying to make any connection between Obama and Lincoln here (I’m sure his campaign will do that….grin), but we don’t help ourselves when we smooth out history’s rough edges.
May 7th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
I think a lot of people, myself included, aren’t going to be voting for Obama so much as voting against Romney. Romney just fired someone he LIKED for being gay. Yes, technically, the employee resigned, but Romney dud nothing to stop it
Obama did help end DADT, and he isn’t seeking the endorsement of the tea baggers.
I’ll take “not perfect” over “actively homophobic”, even Obama does do occasionally cringe-worthy things. Think Guantanamo
May 7th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
As musch as i love this president, i gotta agree with YOU, Scott.
May 8th, 2012 at 5:37 am
Let this be a lesson to everyone… you should have voted for Hillary Clinton in 2008 Democratic Primary. She would not have showed this cowardice. I warned everyone, but no one listened!
May 8th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Hillary Clinton, in the primary, offered the same opinion about gay marriage. Against it, but supporter of civil unions. Let’s be critical of Pres. Obama, but no need to rewrite the past.