how bout that obama?
May 10th, 2012 | Uncategorized
Very refreshing indeed.
I am on day 10 of my book tour, heading today to LA.
Our blog pal June Thomas just put up a conversation with me about Are You My Mother? on her nonfiction books podcast over at Slate, The Afterword.
14 Responses to “how bout that obama?”
Indeed. Time to put the bumper sticker on the Subaru.
Refreshing, true, but. From:
I was going to include another link, but I see only one per message? Next message, then…
Also:
Great talkin…. will there be more??? Hope so.
Great interview over on Slate. Had me laughing out loud at times.
I will be at the LA public library tonight to try and see your talk. Didn’t get tickets in time, but crossing my fingers for standby!
Good luck.
I am having a hard time parsing his statement. On the one hand, good for him. On the other hand, wtf? I may be seriously cynical about him, but I can’t believe he said that out of the goodness of his heart. But he’s still got us in serious war, and the states are tramping all over his agenda, what with my own state legislating against Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, and adopting the Arizona anti-immigrant legislation. It’s a long way to November, and this country is going the way of the fascists.
Anyway, I thought you were anti-marriage, AB. It’s all about property rights and transferring the ownership of daughters to the father’s advantage.
I’m thrilled about Obama coming out and saying he supports same sex marriage. I think it’s great.
Of course it’s about politics… if he thought he’d absolutely lose if he came out and said he supported same sex marriage he would never have done it… and how much can you actually “trust” some public figure you don’t even know? But, him making this statement is indicative of change and that change is monumental.
The fact is either Mitt or Barack will be President for four years. That in mind, I’m going to do everything I can to rally the vote for Obama. I’ll give my measly contributions to the campaign and volunteer my time and urge others to do the same. I’m not going to abstain from voting and wait for the revolution… this country elected Ronald Reagan, TWICE!
It’s not about complacency on my part… it’s gratitude.
you can make the best of what you have before you
while you keep striving for more…
Obama is far from perfect but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate.
honestly, whether we believe in marriage or not, it exists in the minds of many… and it has power. there it is, right in front of my face, shaping the landscape… whether I like it or not…
I’m not a believer, just a realist.
a realist who wants affordable healthcare and all of the benefits my straight friends can avail themselves of because they’re able to marry.
and while I’m on a rant, iCloud… oy frikkin vay! It took three hours to backup my kid’s iPad… well, yeah, she had never backed it up before… still… I had to buy that external drive to backup my iMac, still can’t access email on the desktop, the iPod is fine but I had to buy two OS upgrades so the desktop will be compatible with iCloud… yet, I still believe in Apple… I trust Apple… I want to marry Apple… I wonder if Apple has a good benefits package…
See if you can get through this without tearing up -http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/steps-to-help-you-evolve-your-views-on-gay-marriag.
I really am hoping he wins in November. I have a feeling he was playing it cool with the issue until now specifically to avoid mobilizing the fundamentalists even further. One thing that scares me, is if the Republicans win in November and ban gay marriage: I’m not sure they would be satisfied with stopping there.
I am definitely glad he took this step, cynical or not. I think it’s the position he’s favored for quite some time, but he’s a politician before he’s an activist and politicians by definition rarely stick out their next for any cause. It’s a risk he’s taking, but it can also get him rewards as well. And, most importantly, it’s the right thing to do. I’ve been tough on Obama for many things, but he’s right to stand up for equal marriage rights and it’s one of several reasons why I’m voting for him this November.
I was pleased by Obama’s announcement. Unlike many people, I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on the timing. I suspect that (like most other educated and moderately liberal people of his age) he’s been quietly pro- same-sex marriage for a while, but as a politician he knows that compromises have to be made with words as well as actions if you’re going to be leader of the whole country, not just a faction. On this interpretation, he’s being about as courageous as a non-demagogic politician can be: he’s taking a stance in opposition to the way most of the actual votes (as opposed to opinion polls) have fallen, in the run up to his own re-election race. He may have reasons for optimism about his own electoral chances, for other reasons, but this is still a significant move for him. From this side of the Atlantic, it doesn’t look as if he was “bounced” into this – rather, it looks like he’s been prepared to look at the reaction to Biden’s comments as a useful set of experimental results, and made his move accordingly.
Well, I feel like a real partypooper here. IMHO, it’s too little, too late, and will only serve to energize the GOP/right-wing/evangelical base that’s not too thrilled with Romney.
This could have made a difference earlier in Obama’s term, when perhaps the BS restrictions of DOMA could have been repealed (perhaps piecemeal if he couldn’t get the whole bill overturned). Nothing is going to happen in Congress until 2014, and if the GOP takes over the Senate and the White House, only bad things are going to happen.
It feels like he’s trying for LGBT cash, and he’s so politically tonedeaf that he doesn’t notice or care that he’s probably empowered his opposition more than he’s energized his base.
(… goes back to barfing up a REAL hairball of hope …)
LondonBoy is back! Hurrah!
And — HoH? — what you said. BHO’s balls finally dropped? After Joe Biden tugged on them as hard as possible, and in public? Way to lead, BHO. Way to lead.
@Alex K (#13)
I don’t think Biden tugging on BHO’s testes could ever make them drop, he’s got the most stubborn case of UDT I’ve ever seen in a politician. He makes his idol Neville Chamberlain look like a stud. I can envision BHO waving a useless piece of paper declaring “rights in our time.”
(… goes back to barfing up trichobezoars …)