Thank You, Mr. President
Thank you, Mr. President.
Obama: Same-sex couples should have right to marry
President Barack Obama said in an interview with ABC that “it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
You did this at a time when you had nothing to gain. Gays were going to vote for you anyway. You did it because it was the right thing to do. Your decision shows courage and leadership.
You not only have my vote, sir, you have my respect.
Thank you.
I agree, Juanita Jean
1I’m not willing to give him a cookie for this. He ‘s played politics with this one for years, saying repeatedly that marriage was one man and one woman but that he was “evolving”. I don’t think anyone ever believed that, neither his supporters nor his opposition but he just couldn’t bring himself to say what was in his heart and what he knew was right. Naw, I’m not going to congratulate him for anything other than not being a coward about it anymore. Good job on that…finally.
2What a lot of the R-W church people don’t understand is that their church can refuse to conduct a marriage ceremony for anyone they please. The government recognizing same-sex marriage is a secular matter. Marriage, besides being a religious sacrament, is also a civil contract. The government deals only with the civil contract side of it.
For example, in my church, The Church of OldMayfly, we refuse to allow anyone to marry who doesn’t produce a background check. But any couple that don’t have ’em can easily get married some place else.
3I agree with Juanita Jean. I think in his heart he knew it was the right thing to do, but just needed a little more thinking about it. There’s nothing wrong with that; I want him to give consideration to everything he decides concerning the country and people.
4I’ve been saying forever, if marriage is a church, then government needs to get out of it. If marriage is a government thing then it should be open to everyone.
I have a gay pal who has a shirt – Don’t worry my gay marriage won’t mess with your straight divorce!
5Someone said something along the lines of the first obligation of a statesman is to get elected. (daC? someone?) The President is obliged to pick his fights because there are times when being discrete to achieve good things and to prevent bad things is the right thing. Now the President has decided to take a position that will be unpopular with many, and we should applaud his courage, not take him to task for the timing of his decision. The good news, President Obama has an advantage over Romney in his ability to say why he wants to be president, and this is an advantage he should press.
6he actually had something to lose and he said it anyway. now it is our turn to do the right thing:
GET OUT THE VOTE FOR OBAMA 20112
7The “Church” can’t run the country. The Government has to do that.
If your church has other beliefs……. fine.
In the matter of “civil unions”….. where you go to the Courthouse to be married….. anybody who wants to….. should be able to marry anybody …… regardless.
It’s just common sense.
Keep your church out of everybody’s bedroom and business…… and maybe government might stay out of your church’s business. Otherwise….. who knows?
8I have a feeling the Joe Biden ‘kerfuffle’ was no accident — but a well-designed, calculated weather balloon. When the reactions weighed in and the dust settled, Obama was cleared for landing his courageous statement today.
Well played, Obama-san, well played.
9All I can say is that it’s about danged time.
10IT SHOULD be of no concern to anyone what anybody else does Re. the marriage thing. One thing is absolutely clear! Marriages between men or between women will not affect the population, the economy or anything else that comes to mind; other than the over inflated values of SOME on the religious front.
11It is truly shameful that those who hold different values cannot shut the hell up about things that absolutely do not affect them.
I suspect we are about to see a major tantrum from the wingnuts. I hope they hold their breath until they turn blue.
12This will energize the Democratic base, but it will also energize the wingnuts for sure.
Because of that, and my admiration for President Obama, I just went to barackobama.com and made a donation. I hope a lot of other people do too.
13Gaymancipation Proclamation
Obama’s slow roll (a poker term) on marriage equality is VERY similar to Lincoln’s slow roll on slavery. Old Abe’s views on the matter also “evolved” and were nowhere near as radical as some members of his own party in Congress. And the same neighborhoods on the map were resistant to him as are to Barack, pretty much.
But when the time came, he decided to do it, he had his surrogates lay the groundwork, then he waited for a propitious moment to announce it.
The sequence of events this week was no accident. Biden’s trial balloon went up on purpose. Barack is, as always, 10 moves ahead of these guys, like he was on contraception.
Now he’ll let the shock waves resonate, the Rightistas fulminate, and Romney prevaricate and when all the sound and fury, signifying nothing, have passed, he will have put more poll distance between himself and Romney, especially in key states.
One more observation: all Obamas moves of late have been like a boxer’s body blows to an opponent, stealing his wind and making him drop his defenses. While Romney’s gloves are down near his magic underoos, Barack will deliver a knockout punch to that jutting glass jaw, then it’s good night, sweet prince, and flights of angel Moronis sing thee to thy rest.
14Thank you Mr. President. We must let folks know that to give equal rights to all does nothing to other folks’ rights. Romney opposes even civil unions.Big surprise. His church has spent millions to defeat marriage equality.
15I know that a sexy women is more of a threat to my marriage then two gay people getting married.
Joe and I have been married for over thirty years.
I am glad that POTUS Obama finally came out.
16I wish he had done it sooner.
THANK YOU Mr. President.
SomedayGirl and others who wish he had done this sooner: You do NOT want to play poker with this man. He knows when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.
17I see one of the Obama campaign strategies is not to let something fester via the pundits either left or right. Biden might have been setting the stage, but what I saw was Obama saying it was “evolving” became the talking point of people nattering about him and saying he should take a stand. So now, i think they aren’t about to let another birther type distraction gain any speed.
Wow, a politician that can learn and, oh my, even change from their past. Whoda thunk it.
18I am so proud of our President and so proud to be a Democrat!
19Bravo!
20Bravo!
What I appreciate about our President is that he takes his time and gives thoughtful consideration on issues like this. Granted, it frustrates many of us who want changes “right now”, but it makes good sense to give the general public time to assimilate the change. I know that many wanted DADT to go away NOW, but doing it the way it was done pulled the teeth of all those who disagreed, and the result has been that there has been little if any fuss from the implementation of saner policy. Funny thing about patient and thoughtful attention to issues. The fanatics on both sides just can’t get up a big enough head of steam to mount a campaign to oppose it or make it a huge deal.
21Stolen, oops, I mean borrowed from Daily Kos:
“Rick Santorum just divorced his wife and married his dog. Are you happy, Mr. President?”
22Love will always trump hate. Well done President Obama.
23All the rabid folks, who were never going to vote for any Democrat, can jump up and down on their pogo sticks for a week, for all I care. Good on our President.
24Proud of our president. Ballsy move.
25As soon as I can get married in Texas, you are all invited. One step closer.
26I’m still trying to wrap my mind about what has occurred in my very own lifetime. We have gone from it being absolutely necessary to stay in the closet or, worse, marrying and being untrue to oneself and one’s spouse. Stonewall happened when I had graduated from High School and had no vocabulary or experience to deal with it. Then, I moved to LA and met a whole bunch of gay men and had my eyes opened . . . enough to realize that my Uncle was one of them. I moved into the building I have lived in since 1976 and met a middle-aged gay couple who had been together for decades. They were more “married” and certainly more committed than Rush Limbaugh has ever been, no matter that his 3? 4? marriages were all recognized by the government and civil society.
Maybe by the time I close my eyes for the last time, the “civilized” world will realize that we come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and orientations and that we are all equally deserving of happiness. And, to be left alone to determine who we choose to love.
27Peggy, I’d love to be among those who sing, dance, and celebrate at your wedding. The sooner the better!
28RA and Barb in DC…LOVED your comments!
I’m so proud of our president and have not once wavered in my commitment to and trust in him.
And, Barb, you aren’t the Barb who’s friends with Rita in New Mexico, are you? (Yeah, I know it’s a big place.)
29Mileage varies of course but for myself I don’t think it’s okay to play poker with your morals. I believe the President’s moral position has always been support for marriage equality and it was wrong for him to dissemble. I don’t think it’s okay to play poker with other people’s civil right to equal protection before the law. He waited until the polls tipped because it was good politics. Nice he finally came out but it doesn’t make the game he played up to now okay with me.
30The US should adopt a model that is commonplace in many European countries:
civil marriage for all; a second, religious service for those who wish to have one.
Even heads of state are married that way. Last summer Prince Albert of Monaco and his fiancee were married in a civil ceremony Friday evening and married in a Catholic ceremony the next day.
I think the “a statesman needs to get elected” quote is from Sam Rayburn.
President Obama is reminding me why I voted for him on a regular basis these days.
31SomedayGirl. What could the President have done, that he did not do, that would have changed anything? This is a state thing, except for the military.
Judging by the election results in every state where the R’s got anything about same sex marriage, or civil unions or whatever you want to call it, 1 man, 1 woman wins big every time. The young folks don’t vote and the old folks do.
Now everybody who supports the president better take 10 people who have never voted to the polls with them. This is like LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act.
Obama knew it and did it anyway. Good on him. It is time for us to put our money where our mouths are.
32Did anyone think Romney’s comment was odd? He said he has been for traditional marriage since…since…he started campaigning. So, what did he think before he became conservative?
33Somedaygirl, you are, in many ways, right. Unfortunately the painful and harsh reality is that politics IS a game. And life is a continuing series of compromises. The very founding of this country happened because men who owned slaves and those who thought it very wrong to own a human being compromised. Was that right? Apparently the Founders thought it important to achieve something rather than nothing. Yes, it hurts to learn that the founders I idealized had feet of clay. They played to the politics of their time. And yet, and yet we have this beautiful, flawed country.
Very unfortunately conservatives always have to be drug kicking and screaming to the next level of progress. A good politician knows when the dragging will work and when it will likely backfire. So, when should an issue be forced, and they almost always have to be, to make the most progress and do the least damage to the cause? Is there EVER such a time??
Sadly we are still feeling the backlash of the Civil Rights movement. Mr. Obama has had to deal with discrimination and hate all his life. He has learned in the school of hard knocks when to make a move and when not to. Yes, it is a game with our very lives. It has ever been so. My broad brush take on it, knowing full well there are always exceptions, is that liberals see EVERY life involved, conservatives see only what will immediately concern them.
Please don’t give up on your dreams of the ideal, just remember to temper them a bit with reality.
Oh, and I repeat my definition of conservatives: people fighting like hell to preserve what progressives fought like hell to achieve in the first place.
34All the chest beating, huffing and puffing is coming from folks who weren’t going to vote for Obama anyway…. look at the Texas Republican Party Platform. Homophobic, once again…. except this year they include support for Tom DeLay….ain’t that a kick in the arssss?
Allegedly only 14% of the Hispanic population will vote Republican, yet many of the Hispanic and African American males, if you believe the nightly news analyises last night, are very strong supporters of the 1 man/1woman stuff. Obama’s coming out on this issue is a crap shoot, but he’s been extremely good at rolling the dice. I’m proud of his decision to support marriage regardless of gender, but I don’t expect any movement toward marriage equality in Texas in my lifetime, unless a whole lot of wingnuts are removed from office… I’m an old Panhandle Princess. I am constantly appalled and amazed at how Conservative my former high school friends are. I went to college in Atlanta and London, lived in Denver for 35 years, and Cabo San Lucas for 5+. It is like they’ve lived in a damned bubble, and were given mind control drugs in the oxygen supply. I have a relative with a bumper sticker that simply says “VOTE”… the T is a cross. Message received. “Would you like sweet tea or Dr. Pepper with dinner, Honey?” Mas cerveza, por favor. “Speak English, please.” Ugh.
35@Lynne: Thanks for your kind words, but I don’t know a Rita in New Mexico; in fact, I only know one person who lives there and she was originally born in El Paso a couple of years after I was.
36Excellent history/sociology/psychology lessons from DaChipster, RA, Barb and others. You just about had me in tears. I am so glad to find others who really care about our nation and actually the whole of humanity. It is so draining to be constantly on guard with friends, associates and family for fear of setting them off on a right wingnut tirade!
37crone, he could have made what was in his heart clear a month after assuming the office. He would have still played “the game” thru the election and diffused this three years ago. Instead he sat on it and even now continues to defer to states rights arguments.
Funny, he doesn’t seem very deferential to states rights when it comes to enforcing federal laws on state sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries…but marriage equality? Punt.
I love the guy. I’ll work for him. I’ll vote for him. But sometimes he pisses me off. This is one of those times.
38@SomedayGirl: I hear ya; but, I also remember what happened with the whole abortion issue. It had become legalized in several states (NY, CA, etc.) and then came Roe v. Wade and that set off 40 years of completely unnecessary turmoil. The issue of gay marriage is exactly the same. Only, this time, we are all a whole lot smarter. As painful as it is going to be for who knows how long, the alternative will be a whole lot worse. The Prez is completely aware of this. My guess is that the next move will be for the Feds to recognize such marriages in the ranks of the Civil Service and then to have these marriages, performed in states where they are legal, recognized everywhere. It’s going to take a while, but will give cover to the wingnuts.
39Barb, I hope you’re right. Doesn’t stop me from being disappointed and wishing that the long “game” had started a couple years back…which means we’d be farther down the road. I’ll content myself with knowing even my kids’ conservative friends view being gay on the same order of magnitude as being left handed – an notable oddity but unimportant when assessing the worthiness of a person’s character.
40Checking in briefly everybody, but I think the Prez wants to make this an eight year game, and I have been arguing from the get go with my sweetheart (who feels much like you Someday, ask him about Guantanamo Bay and watch the balloon go up!) that this is what his restraint is all about. Y’all can keep up the poker analogies, I wouldn’t play chess with him for anything. I still smile when I think of him boxing in my idiotic (insert swear words here) bishops. THAT was good for some skirt wringing 😀 !! Also, the way he brought about the end of DADT was masterly. He is an excellent person!
Furthermore, consider that only some 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement we have a man of color in the Oval Office! We HAVE come along way, baby – but we still have a long way to go! And nature will thin those who continue to wail about “our way of life” – I was born after the 50s and my own MOTHER never had their way of life, never mind me! The glass is half full, not half empty!
And here’s another reason why I love him:
http://media.talkingpointsmemo.com/slideshow/maurice-sendak/1-265147
I loved Maurice Sendak, too. Little Bear was MY favorite though. Hope him and the Flying Spaghetti Monster are working up new templates for fantastic and wonderful creatures together somewhere…
And I hope all of you in Texas are enjoying the return of rain as much as I am! 🙂
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