Even though the White House was the last group to the DADT repeal party — and did so only after Obama’s camp realized it would be moving forward with or without them — the email-happy tiggers at BarackObama.com are already writing history to make sure everyone believes Barack built this altar. He did not. But let’s see him convince America!
From an email signed by Organizing For America director Mitch Stewart:
This is big news: Yesterday, the full House of Representatives and the Armed Services Committee in the Senate voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
In his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to end the law that denies gays and lesbians the right to serve their country. Now, we are closer than ever to making good on that promise.
The full Senate will soon start its debate on repeal. But some Republicans are digging in their heels. Senator John McCain said, “I’ll do everything in my power” to block a vote. And Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker called the repeal bill “a major mistake” — announcing that the GOP plans to filibuster.
We can defeat those who’d stand in the way of history. But we must show our senators that Americans — in every state — overwhelmingly support repeal.
From the Recovery Act to health reform to Wall Street reform, one by one President Obama is delivering on his campaign promises. And, now — if we can overcome Republican obstruction — we have a chance to deliver on another: bringing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to an end.
As the President has said, this is about more than just living up to his word. We must end this law because “it’s the right thing to do.”
Any policy that punishes brave men and women who step forward to serve their country simply for being who they are isn’t just misguided — it’s discrimination.
That’s why President Obama didn’t just campaign on ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; he made it a priority. And it’s why it’s now a matter of how and when — not if — we will repeal this law.
But as the Republicans prepare to block a vote on this historic legislation, we must do all we can to help deliver on the President’s promise.
Living up to his word? Misleading.
Delivering on his campaign promises? Spin.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Made it a priority? Lie.
This shadow advocate was actively pushing to delay the repeal. He was not fiercely advocating for DADT’s end. He was stalling, hopefully at least until November, when it may have been too late to push this thing through.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, from your commander in disbelief.
EARLIER:
Obama Deserves No Credit For DADT’s Eventual Passage. None
punky
shame on you gays! I don’t want a limp-wristed queer fighting for my country – I’d rather live under a taliban regime!
D'oh, The Magnificent
The day a politician doesn’t hog credit for something positive is the day that use cell phones as feet. Hello, you had the Republican Congress members who voted against funding in their district later show up to claim credit for the funding. As hogging credit goes, Obama is bad, but not the worse amongst politicians.
Lanjier
Let’s spread the wealth around. I would hope the Administration understands that repeal is a strong political asset, not a liability. So grab away, Barry.
I want the president to succeed, but that does not mean I won’t be critical if he deserves it. But a skilled pol is good for America, and Obama has been good for America.
But they better watch out for gays, when we get mad, a storm is coming.
SteamPunk
He certainly doesn’t deserve ALL of the credit, but it seems like Queerty is giving him NO credit. I am not 100% certain, but I feel that if President Obama hadn’t ordered the procedure to begin by putting it in his first State of the Union Address, then we’d likely be in the same position we were in a year ago. (And yes, I agree that a compromise is a silly idea.)
Also, by putting it in his first SOTU, Obama may have drummed up even more public consciousness of DADT. This isn’t scientific, but most straight people I’ve talked to support a repeal of DADT already. However, it wasn’t something they actively thought about on a weekly, or even monthly, basis. With the new mainstream media coverage that came from the SOTU address, it’s been in the news consistently for weeks – often on the front page of mainstream news sites.
Don’t give Obama all the credit; he doesn’t deserve it all. But Queerty saying that he had absolutely no good influence in moving DADT along is total misinformation.
gaylib
Obama is a shameless liar. Fuck him.
timncguy
Sorry, but NOBODY gets credit until the discharges come to an end. This process isn’t complete with the votes in congress. It won’t be complete even when the “gang of three” (Obama, Gates and Mullins) sign off after the unnecessary study is completed. And finally, it won’t be complete until the military finishes implementation. The first day that a gay person can go into a recruitment office, tell the recruiter they are gay, enlist with no problem and enter the military being treated EXACTLY like everyone else including no separate facilities like barracks or showers and including spousal benefits for a legal spouse, only then will IT WILL BE COMPLETED. Then someone can take credit.
Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
Credit for what?
NOT the repeal of DADT … because that has happened yet and there is NO certainty it will. Mullen finally admitted what some of us knew all along…the “study” could just as easily conclude they should’t repeal. And now, thanks to Sen. Byrdshit, even if ObamaGates shock us by saying the want to, Byrdshit and his bigoted pals can still stop it next year.
NOT the end of discharges … because repealing DADT THIS way contains NOTHING to prevent the Pentagon from continuing to kick gays out under some update of their OLD policies that existed for over 60 years and dumped OVER 100,000 gays.
NOT leadership because … as you noted … he was trying to lead AWAY from repeal.
For now, what he DOES deserve “credit” for is a dizzying, recordbook-setting achievement of fooling most of the people and an act of ruthless triangulation that must have had that troll Dick Morris choking somewhere with envy on an old Clinton cigar.
The main difference between 1993 and 2010 is that Clinton came in against the bigots and ended up caving to them and Obama came in having already surrendered to the bigots.
So what just REALLY happened? In a NUTshell:
[img]http://leonardmatlovich.com/images/258_The-Gates-in-the-Band.jpg[/img]
D'oh, The Magnificent
@SteamPunk: The public supported DADT repeal to the tune of 70 percent since 2001. Unless he has a time machine, he didn’t affect public sentiment. Rather it affected him.
delurker again
good. if it makes queerty all more unhinged, even better.
Justin_Activist
Meanwhile DAN CHOI is fucking STARVING.
We know who the real hero is. Oddly enough, Choi could succumb to starvation by July 4th – Independence Day. This is even better than Broadway.
Pray for Dan. We NEED our heroes. I mean like Dan Choi, not the sandwiches. (sorry Dan).
alan brickman
WHAT A BITCH!!!!!
delurker again
@Justin_Activist: hahahaha!
Jon
Really Queerty???
I am sure that when Sarah, or Rand, or Ron, or Rush is in office THEY are going to be listening to your problems so much more adeptly. Your ever increasing anti-Obama sentiment in the past few months does nothing to increase the credibility of this horribly laid-out internet backwater. It DOES however further the misconception that being LGB or T is the only and very centerpiece of every “queer” person’s life. Just because a leader does not come into office, wave his magical politico wand and clear away 50 years of discrimination is no reason to condemn him as someone who is lying about his priorities. Furthermore, do you present any evidence to suggest that people within the President’s administration are NOT responsible for this legislation moving forward? I do not see any. Are you perhaps really complaining about the fact that this issue is receiving relatively little fanfare?
Grow up folks.
Bill Perdue
Meanwhile Obama’s wars for oil go on and on, killing and maiming GIs and countless civilians.
Don’t be stupid. Don’t enlist. Don’t fight. Don’t translate. [img]http://tacomasds.org/files/images/GI%20SPECIAL%205G28-5.jpg[/img]
concernedcitizen
What is this blogs antipathy toward Obama, you should consider the position of presidency similar to that of a coach of a sporting team. In so much that a coach may actuate his players credit or lack thereof is usually assessed.
This blog just seems dissatisfied with Obama no matter what he does! I could have swore one of the reasons he won overwhelming support from the gay community was because of his support for gay rights!
I can only wonder where we would be with this issue had John Mccain won the presidency…
In short QUIT YOUR B*TCHN!
reason
People always seem to fail to understand all of the hard work that goes into a victory, i am well aware this thing is not over. Obama has been working his fingers to the bone to form a good relationship with the military, learning from the harsh lessons of the Clinton administration. To have the chairmain of the joint cheifs and secretary of defense come out and say something positive about repealing dadt in a uniform manner shows that he has been working hard. Things are not exactly rosy over there with more than one member of the joint chiefs not very happy including an angry bigoted marine corps general desperate to derail this thing, it’s obvious that the study came out of a negotiation with the white house in an attempt to calm the storm at the pentagon while allowing the pentagon to save face. I know some of you think oh he is the president just steamroll over them, a lot of good it did Clinton not only did it deliver DADT but lead to an ugly relationship with the millitary with real concequence in Somalia and else were with people in the millitary activley working against him. It is no suprise Mrs Obama made millitary families one of her top priorities.
This whole thing reminds me of when my mom served on a jury and was the lone person that convinced everyone to give this guy some of his settlment when the thing was over the guy angry that he hadnt gotten everything that he wanted gave her a nasty look when she passed him and stormed out. It was lost on him that if she hadnt worked her tail off convincing the others he would have walked away with nothing. No good dead goes unpunished especially when queerty is the judge.
Jeffree
It’s too soon to assign credit or blame. We know the INPUT but not the OUTCOME. History, historians, Queerty & @Waivering Davey will be the final judges.
@JustinW_Activist: JustinW, since you have joined Saint Dan in his heroic hunger strike, please realize that your electrolytes are becoming imbalanced & you are starting to become disoriented. Expect hallucinations, angina, palpitations and parasthesias any time.
Oddly enough yr spelling & grammar remain intact despite the logical lapses that predominate.
The key risks are: Potassium, Magnesium & Calcium levels. They should be measured every 6 hours if not more often, as i heard in my own ACTIVIST training.
Please do let us know how Dan is faring,
[We already can tell your mental status is slipping. ] Fare thee well.
You are so brave! I’ll pray you come to your senses….
D'oh, The Magnificent
I note the obots continue to use the rating system to try to hid comments they don’t like. Almost every comment that’s critical of the president is being hidden.
One sign of your fanaticism is how you choose to drown out dissent from the party line.
OrchidIslander
Yawn,
Another day, another Queerty knock on Obama.
The poor man’s Fox News. You want to be taken seriously, but something called facts gets in your way. This post, and the presented take on Obama, is full of conjecture, supposition and way weak on actual substance.
Nothing this administration does satisfies you. I say, who the frick cares about satisfying you?
You’re Queerty. Your writers ain’t the cream of the crop. Hell, they aren’t even good enough to be the dregs.
And I guess that’s pretty much all anyone needs to know.
Bill Perdue
@OrchidIslander: Another tired obot heard from. ^^^^^^^
Now you can get back in your closet until the next time the DNC calls.
OrchidIslander
@Bill Perdue: @Bill Perdue: Perdue, I read your posts about Obama’s wars for oil. Sure you’re not getting the conflicts confused with the Bushs’ war(s) for oil? Obama inherited those wars. Remember, when he was a Senator he voted against the Iraqi War. When he took over as Prez, that war was waiting for him. Or do facts make any difference whatsoever to wingnut paranoids??
Bill Perdue
@OrchidIslander: You’re a little confused about history. Bush 1 began the oil wars, attacking Iraq for annexing Kuwait, historically part of Iraq and separated by the English to get at its oil. The US attack on fleeing Iraqi soldiers, mainly conscripts, in the infamous ‘kill box’ was the first of many genocidal attacks on Iraq.
Clinton then took up the war for oil, ordering air and missile strikes that given the ineptitude and bloodthirstiness of the Pentagon, created large scale civilian causalities. But those, horrific as they were, we a drop in the bucket to his genocidal, or should we say infanticidal embargo on Iraqi imports of food, medical and sanitary supplies. The UN and international relief NGOs estimate that he killed about half a million children.
Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.
–60 Minutes (5/12/96)
Here’s the 60 Minutes clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIX1CP9qr4 Read it an weep – for the children.
Then Bush 2, rehashing the same tired WMD lies Clinton used to murder children launched invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan to gain oil hegemony. They’ve resulted on roughly a million more civilian casualties.
Now those wars belong to Obama, especially his mindless escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, based on the same policy of ‘defended hamlets’ and winning the ‘hearts and minds’ that failed in Iraq, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Not only is Obama a military and diplomatic idiot but lots of GIs are going to be killed and maimed because of it. “The US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who was boasting of military progress only three months ago, confessed last week that “nobody is winning”. (PBS)
Really, OrchidIslander, this isn’t about the Punic wars. This is all pretty recent and very well known. So which is it? Have you been off planet the last couple of decades or were you simply lying trying to excuse Obama’s role in these filthy wars.
FJNC
I am extremely confused as to why so much hate on Obama. This is probably the most LGTB-friendly President the United States has had and he’s getting heckled and put down by so many, including Queerty’s inconsiderate and uninformed writers.
In 17 months, the Obama administration has done far more for the American queer community than ANY other administration in the history of the USA. Tell me, what good did Bush do? Wasn’t he supporting a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage? How about Clinton? Oh, yeah, that’s right, he’s the one who implemented DOMA. How about Reagan? Oh, wait, didn’t Reagan’s Defense Directive 1332.14 have something to do with the implementation of DADT?
In 17 months, President Barack Obama’s administration has:
1)Agreed to sign the United Nations declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity which calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality and which the Bush administration refused to sign arguing that the document contradicted US law. (March 2009)
2)Extended some federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers.(June 09)
3)Posthumously awarded the President Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk. (July 09)
4)Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. (October 09)
5)Ended a ban that prevented people with HIV from entering the United States. (January 10)
6)Issued new rules aimed at granting hospital visiting rights to same-sex partners. (April 10)
7)Calls and initiates process of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. (October 2009 – current)
Is it enough? No. Is it something good? YES. He can’t take ALL the credit for these accomplishments but please open your eyes and recognize what he HAS done. I am perplexed at how impatient and demanding people are getting. I am confident that, by the end of his term, whether reelected or not, President Obama and his administration will have advanced LGBT rights in many ways but patience and support (keep Democrats in congress) is needed. That doesn’t mean everyone should just sit back arm-crossed. Keep Obama on his toes but don’t heckle him or insult him or accuse him of not doing anything. The man wasn’t elected to ONLY look out for the gays. He’s been working on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting you against international and domestic terrorism, healthcare reform, financial reform, fixing a broken economy, global warming, an oil spill, mid-term elections, Iran, North Korea, relations with the Middle East…should I continue?
I know this is a blog and I should expect opinions and not unbiased news, but shame on Queerty for hating on Obama with such ignorant passion while claiming it supports and tries to advance the gay agenda.
Once again, it demonstrates the level of disengagement that Queerty’s writers have with their readers who, if I recall correctly, have been asking them for thumbnails for Morning Goods, the abolition of that Davey Wavey person and no more wellness and fitness columns by some pseudo-nutritionist fame whore. Way to run a media property folks!
Sincerely,
-A 25-year old gay foreigner from Honduras who wishes Obama was the President of his f-ing third world country.
gaylib
Obama is a shameless liar. Fuck him.
richardporter
Queerty Already Denying Obama Any Credit For Moving DADT’s Repeal
In a related story Queerty Says Truman Didn’t Deserve Credit For Desegregating the Armed Services
punky
to the 25 yr old hunduran queen who wants Obama for President,
Take him (and keep him), he’s all yours! Besides he doesn’t belong in this country!
DR
@FJNC:
Allow me to answer some of your points with history and fact:
1)It’s a meaningless piece of paper. When he calls for sanctions against Uganda and Malawi, then I’ll believe he has a real interest in ending the decriminalization of homosexuality
2) Actually the Secretary of State started that ball rolling, remember?
3)medals are meaningless gestures meant to placate people
4)fine he signed a hate crimes act which Congress passed.
5)Bush the second laid all the groundwork for ending the HIV travel ban, it just wasn’t signed in time.
6)The issuance to hospitals only apply to those which are publicly funded via Medicare. Private hospitals still get to discriminate.
7)This DADT movement has no teeth and all the important stuff like non-discrimination clauses and repeal by force of law were “compromised”.
Michael David
Finally, Americans seeing some truth in the spin they themselves created about their Messiah Obama 😛
Stevious
You need to put these events in perspective, yea, it took longer to get to where we are now, and it took a lot more effort than it should, and it’s not done yet. But imagine if John McCain had won the election as he promises to filibuster the Defense Authorization bill in the senate.
delurker again
@D’oh, The Magnificent: hey idiot, my comments are frequently voted down and hidden by the suffers of the mental disease known as obama derangement syndrome. you don’t see me complaining in every damn opportunity.
get over your pussyhurt that some people may not like your comments. i know i do. :p
whatever
@D’oh, The Magnificent: my comments are often voted down by the rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth obama haters. but you don’t see me crying about at every opportunity like you are.
man up and get over the fact that some people don’t like what you have to say. 🙂
whatever
@DR: You’re not a bright person.
The president has to sign a bill before it comes law. You are begrudgingly giving the president credit for signing a bill? Bush threatened to veto the same hate crimes bill. The president signing a bill is a big f-ing deal.
Hillary lost and will never, ever become president. Get over it. Her husband, the great gay savior signed in to law (remember, that’s what a president does-Civics 101) DADT and DOMA.
Tim W
See many of you have been suckered in. Actually read what this bill does and doesn’t do. It repeals it legislatively but it still is not repealed until Obama, Gates, and Mullin sign off and Mullin is already waffling. This was just something to make the GLBT community feel better and many many of you have fallen for it. What is going to happen is after the study in December is over we are going to get some bullshit from Gates and Mullin about how it will affect recruitment so we can’t repeal it with 2 wars going on. But I’m sure you’ll all give Obama a pass again. Unreal.
Bubba
Bush is starting to look better every day.
whatever
@Bubba: well i guess so. all these gay people want to fight and die in his illegal, imperialistic wars, supposedly.
Chitown Kev
The lion’s share of the credit should go to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (provided DADT is eventually repealed).
She actually said on a umber of occasions that “controversial bills” would not move out of the House unless the Senat moved on them first.
It was Nancy Pelosi’s words and the actions of the House that has moved the President to compromise on these steps.
(Of course, with 78% of the public supportng DADT repeal and 67% of Tea Partiers supporting repeal, just how “controversial” is this, really?)
And with all that Republican and Religious Reich Wing blather, we know who’s running the Republican Party, fo’ sure.
That being said, I think Queerty’s position on this as it regards the President is absurd and ignorany. He deserves a little bit of credit and pending the release of the study how much credit he deserves will rise.
Hilarious
I’m sure McCain would’ve done so much more for us.
You morons really make me sick.
DR
@whatever:
If you’re referring to the Hate Crimes law, get over it. That was easy legislation. Who cares what Bush would or wouldn’t have done (notice you refuse to acknowledge what he did), the fact of the matter is that we get lots of pretty words and lots of compromises on GLB issues form this guy.
This isn’t about Hillary versus Obama. It’s about making the GLB community open its eyes and see what’s going on around them before we’re compromised out of existence.
Sorry that reality bothers you, but you either recognize it or wake up one day with nothing. Your call, I know where I stand on our rights being compromised away.
whatever
@DR: The president signed a law. It matters what Bush would have done because he would have vetoed the same law. Again, you don’t seem bright at all.
Did a bunch a gays just recently start paying attention to politics yesterday? Newsflash: The history of any legislation is necessarily a history of COMPROMISE.
Any law is based on consensus and horsetrading between disparate and often opposing groups, even the Civil Rights Acts. MLK and the other civil rights heroes didn’t get everything they wanted but they got most of it.
Pick up a book once in a while. It will prevent you from coming across like a fool.
Brutus
“Living up to his word? Misleading.” No, true.
“Delivering on his campaign promises? Spin.” Also true.
“Made it a priority? Lie.” You don’t know what goes on in the back channels of Washington.
“This shadow advocate was actively pushing to delay the repeal. He was not fiercely advocating for DADT’s end.” Competent strategists may have believed that was the best way to actually achieve the goal in the end.
concernedcitizen
this blog clearly is ran by incompetent neophytes with no real grasp erudition of any kind concerning politics or otherwise… I feel sorry for our community if this lack of insight is a microcosm of who we are. I for certain will no longer be party to this blog as I now officially view it as nothing short of an anathema!!!!
Finis!
Bill Perdue
@concernedcitizen: And don’t come back… [img]http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PkOVg70Farp9fM:http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/crying-baby-0509-s2-99576567.jpg%5B/img%5D
Brutus
@Bill Perdue: I love your self-portrait.
Bill Perdue
@Brutus: Witty, for a year old. And expected from a radbid Obot.
Otherwise: Fail.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@DR: And let’s remember that the WH wanted to jetison all DADT movement at all. It was only public pressure and push back from Congress that forced their hand as the parties holding up reform. Now, its all on their hands, and they can not use Congress, as they were previously trying to do (before Pelosi said no to the sheenigans). The only politicians right now deserving of any real credit here are a) Nancy Pelosi for pushing this in defiance of the WH (when Gates gave his speech saying DADT shouldn’t pass) and ) Murphy of PA. The bill is a long ways from being good, but they at least fought throughout to get it done. Right now, both of them deserve credit along with gay rights activists for saving this bill. The fact that Obots like to swoop in after all the work is done claiming they were there are along is not surprising. BUt what is surprising is that they expect people to not know the history of how these things really went down.
Obots- feel free to down rate this comment, and continue to demonstrates why you are are just a bunch of extremists.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@DR: Hate crimes was another bill that had much of the work done in a previous congress. The one thing that Obama gets credit is signing it. Not being there to do the work of creating the legislation or the hard lifting of getting the votes through wheeling and dealing as President’s normally do when they want something.
By the way, Obots, GOogle is your friend. It took me about oh 2 minutes to google the subject to refute the claims being made here by you. Again, you insult the people to whom you are talking by rewriting history and assuming we won’t call you on it.
Feel free, with your fanatism to down rate this comment as well.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@whatever: Your comments are voted down because you make shit up like calling anyone who disagrees with you Puma, and claiming all gays are PUMA.
Or don’t you remember half the crap you post here?
I had a run in with you in another article in which you were schooled as to your fact challenged postings about how gays never supported the president. Both Chi Kev and I illustrated you were patently wrong.
What did you do? You moved on from that article after you were embarrassed, and continue to make the same statements as if you did not read the prior responses. Its typical. So, while you whine that you are equvailent, the truth is that you aren’t.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Chitown Kev: I agree completely. Pelosi deserves a lot of credit for the DADT bill moving forward. her and murphy worked really hard to get his through even as the president tried to under cut them through gate’s speech- remember that? Just as they thought they had the vote for full dadt repeal, gates gave a speech that undercut that bill. They had to scramble along with gay activists to pressure the WH to not blindside them on the bill. This is actually very typical of what has happened behind the scenes with the WH on several issues. Typically however the congress has had to push the presdient to be more liberal rather than less liberal, but with the exception being that often he will position himself in public as liberal while behind the scenes the reports indicate from sitting Senators and House members from the Democratic Party that he is actually the one breaking break with conservadems and conservative interests.
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: Your comments are voted down because you make shit up like calling anyone who disagrees with you Obots.
Or don’t you remember half the crap you post here?
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: “It took me about oh 2 minutes to google the subject to refute the claims being made here by you.”
Then why not provide the sources you collected instead of talking out of your ass?
Bill Perdue
@Brutus: Do your own research, Obot.
Brutus
@Bill Perdue: I do plenty, Puma. But nobody can read everything. Much better to pool resources.
Bill Perdue
^^^^^^^
One of the reasons people think you’re an imbecile is that you can’t distinguish between a Clinton supporter and a socialist.
H. Clinton is the Margaret Thatcher of US politics.
She sat on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mar for six years and, like Obama is an anti-SSM religious bigot. Supporting her is just as delusional and unprincipled as supporting Obama, B. Clinton, the Bushes or McCain. All are poison for our agenda.
It’s insulting to say that I’d ever support any Democrat or Republican for any office from chief dogcatcher to Bigot in Chief.
Lanjier
Brutus: I found YOUR self-portrait. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoA8DsZWcFw
DR
@whatever:
The President signed a law started under a previous administration which was an easy sell. Every pundit agrees with me, kiddo. DOMA, DADT, ENDA, immigration, those are the tough sells. Hate Crimes? Not so much since a good number of states have hate crimes legislation already. It was a no-brainer. The hard stuff he hasn’t done well with at all. Just because I’m not creaming myself with glee doesn’t mean I’m dumb, it means I’m not easily impressed. There’s a difference.
This compromise led to absolutely terrible results. Non-discrimination is gone. Affirmative protection for GLB soldiers is gone. Go listen to Dan Choi’s comments about compromise… it entails something of value for both sides, and this has no value without the affirmative protections the Democrats were willing to flush down the toilet.
The only fools are the ones dancing in the streets over having their civil rights systematically stripped piece by piece like yourself. Reality sucks, but you better learn to accept it now or pay for it in the future.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Brutus: a) When Chi Kev and I provided sources to whatever, it did not end his posting claims here that anyone who disagrees with him must have been Puma. Whatever simply moved from that article comment section to a new one (including this one where you have agreed with him) making similar assertions.
That suggests to me that like most of the Obot/OFA types, you are uninterested in facts. Indeed, others have posted links here, and you are attacking them. The lesson is that links don’t matter to you. Facts don’t matter to you.
Indeed, one of the basic techniques to anyone who has dealt with Obots on other sites is that you will ask for links, attack the links, when that doesn’t work attack the sources as unreliable, and on and on and on. The same sources are reliable when it says something positive (the NY Times comes to mind) but are unreliable when the say something negative about the president.
So, its cute that you are asking for a link. But the problem is that you aren’t to be trusted as far as this being more than further derailment.
For example, the discussion about DADT regarding gays can be found in a google news search. As can the subsequent comments by Pelosi and Murphy in the House. The time line regarding the president’s action, including his SOTU speech, followed by back peddling can be found on sites like Pam’s House of Blend, which provide links as well.
I can indeed provide the links- but given who you are- what would be the point?
You aren’t interested in analysis or links. You are interested in derailing.
Again, the proof is in the fact that multiple others have attempted to link you to information- what was your response to those links?
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Bill Perdue: They aren’t interested in research. The fact is people will post research, and people like whatever who just make shit up, will move on from the article in which the research is provided to a new article making the same assertions as before. Thus, illustrating that this is not about evidence or facts or analysis or anything other than their own fanatical support of not just the Democrats, but instead, one person- the president. They are not even protecting the Democrats at this point given there are examples like Pelosi who actually can be pointed to has fighting for equality, however imperfectly, while the WH fought against them.
What does Brutus do in response to all of the links and information provided to him in the past? He goes on the attack against the person posting the information and provides no such actual analysis of his own. The best they can do is to provide events without any contentualization. The discussion of Hate Crimes comes to mind. But there are others- the president declaration on hospital visation happened, for example, because of the pressure he was receiving from gay rights activist. These activist according to Brutus and others are not a fact, but that the president was doing this out of the goodness of his heart. Nevermind the set of circumstances that form the timeline of what is the actual context of each event.
One other example- last year, when the president announced he would try to give extremely limited rights to federal employees due to the uproar over the DOMA brief that compared being gay to bestiality, etc. The response of the Obots was to pretend he did that out of the kindness of his heart rather than response to activist uproar.
Finally, there is a reason why he responding to us that goes unmentioned:
We are growing electoral power, especially given our voting pattern for the Democrats. Its why Pelosi fought so hard. If you look at the demographics, sel identified LGBT voters represent something around 5 percent of the voting public, and 70 something percent of that goes to the Democrats. Within the next decade that number will rise to 7 percent of the population or so.
Neither party is moderating their position on gays out of the goodness o their heart. We represent a growing voting block that can potentially start swinging close elections. THis data is out there and known.
So, they increasingly can not afford to piss this block off. Its never out of the goodness of their heart.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Brutus: I believe you and whatever are the same poster.
Thanks for illustrating my point. Perdue is many things, but anyone calling him a Puma is pretty clueless. Bill hates both the Democrats and the REpublicans as right wing parties.
You also illustrate why I don’t bother posting links. Bill has actually provided proof of his claims here. You simply ignored them, and continued to attack him anyway.
That’s why you are obots. Its not your support of the president that’s the problem. Its how you choose to do in a very crazy way.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@DR: I think you are being overly pessimistic. While this bill is not great, it can lead to further pressure to achieve more. Strategically, the president of the US was fighting through surrogates like Sec. Gates to prevent DADT from happening this year. The question was how to move the ball forward under the circumstances. The activists were able to live to fight another day with the ball moved slightly forward. The added advantage is that they can now do so with only one target- the President- to pressure on the elements you mention.
Mark Kraft
Maybe it would be worthwhile to point out that while Obama is obviously willing to compromise in order to help move legislation forward, well over 90% of all the Republicans — and several Democrats as well — are willing to vote against your equality, even if it means cutting off funding for soldiers in a war zone.
It seems to me that Queerty’s outrage is largely misplaced.
Throughout the course of the whole DADT fight, President Obama has been clear that in order for DADT to be overturned, there would have to be legislation passed by the Congress first.
http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/picture-1.png
What he has done regarding DADT is basically what he has said he would do since day one. You may not agree with his strategy to accomplish it, but to suggest betrayal overlooks the obvious: President Obama is the first and only elected president of the United States ever who would sign off on such legislation, even as damn near 50% of this country’s legislators wouldn’t put their necks out on the line to support your equal rights without them being attached to a bill authorizing war funds.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Mark Kraft: Here’s why obots are liars:
The reality is that the previous legislation, as pushed by gay rights activist, would have allowed implementation AFTER review by the president, and unlike the compromise now, would have required affirmative acts. In other words, the proposal already included the president’s reservations. Your lie is pretending that someone else was blocking this when in fact the president through Sec Gates was seeking to block the bill. Indeed, we know that virtually says after the State of the Union Address that the administration was trying to take DADT off the agenda for the year. We know that, as per reporting here and other sites, that gay groups such as HRC were caught with their pants down when it was discovered that the administration was trying to push the bill (indeed all “controversial” issues including immigration off the agenda this year). We know this because HRC as much as stated this.
You are taking these facts like a good little bot,and contorting the recent history to claim the president was with us all a long. Except, that’s not what Pelosi said when Gates, who serves under the president, gave a speech. Of course, to get the compromise, and because the WH was facing increasing public pressure, Pelosi and company said “the president helped.’ THey are good Democrats. What else were they going to say. However, as Pelosi said when the president tried to block here “if you don’t want congress to address the issue, then use stop loss or act alone.” She did this because the president through gates was trying to block all the efforts she and others had put into this.
Saying all of this- You know what- I don’t care. The games you are playing are now meaningless. this is now all on him. He will either do the right thing or not, and he can’t use the GOP or Democrats as an excuse.
Another reason I don’t care what you say: You will be back here under some other screen name in a few months (like Obots do on quite a few sites) defending whatever he does next as gay rights advocates will have pressure him to do the right thing.
By the way, were I so inclined I could pull up a timeline of events with links of what has went down since Nov 2008 with this president on DADT repeal, including the back tracking by his Press sec, his study that he did last year that turned out not to have been done last year, and on and on an on regarding gay rights.
None of it matters-the proof and pressure is now on him with this issue. No more excuses.
Black Pegasus
Silly of me to think that ALL Gay Men (regardless of Race)
wanted the same things in Life; such as Equal Rights, Equal Access,
Equal Opportunities, and a Progressive Society for everyone.
Coming to Queerty over the past several months have taught me that
I was living in a FANTASY LAND! Obviously, some Gay Men don’t
share my optimism about a Progressive Society for all. Some want things to remain the same , while others want to incite HATE, DIVISION and DISTORTION! Queerty obviously has an agenda aimed at
promoting the stands I stand against in life, and I will no longer
be a part of this conservative, racist, shit rag of a blog!
I’m removing Queerty from my bookmarks!
You won’t make a damn dime from my clicks any longer!
Jon
I think Sen. Levin and Rep. Murphy should get about 90% of the credit and Obama can get 10%.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Black Pegasus: No one cares what you do, and your ramblings about equality, wherein you ignore the person denying you equality certainly indicates you have nothing to add of substance to achieving the goals you claim to be interested in achieving.
D'oh, The Magnificent
Oh, and Obots, please continue to down rate and hide all dissent here. You are telling us more than all the posts you write who you are in what you do.
Bill - Las Vegas
@D’oh, The Magnificent: Hi. After some one made the hurtful comment that I was a Democrat, and believe me I havn’t stopped crying yet, they flagged me so I couldn’t reply.
Sooner or later Queerty will free up the comments.
In the meantime I’ll continue to post about the Bigot in Chief.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Bill – Las Vegas: I am not hurt by the behavior if by hurt you mean emotionally. However, I don’t like being censor for comments that are not trollish, racist or in general designed to disrupt. The Obots like 3 or 4 main stream blogs that I visit and where I see them tend to use the site system as a way to shut down dissent of the president rather than for narrowly tailored reasons that such systems are designed. Since I call them Obots, I can theorectically see them wanting to hide my comments, but there are other people such as DR who are being perfectly nice while disagreeing with them, and they are taking the same approach with his comments.
Bill Perdue
@D’oh, The Magnificent: I was joking. I could give a rat’s ass what Obots think of me. I don’t post to convince them because they don’t have the best interest of the movement at heart. They front for the Democrats.
On one site anyone who disagrees with Obama or the Democrats is immediatley branded a racist.
They’re a real piece of work if, after all this time, they still defend Obama.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Bill Perdue: The only part that I disagree on is that they aren’t even interested in the Democrats. Its far worse. They are motivated by one man. Obama. You will notice, whether you agree with me or not, that I said that at least on can say that Pelosi, however , imperfectly was fighting for DADT repeal even Obama is not. These comments were also down rated. They don’t give a rat’s ass about the Democrats either. They are here sadly for something far worse- a cult of personality.
Bill Perdue
Pelosi has to push DADT. There are lots of GLBT people in her district who are politicized and radicalized as never before. But even she has limited weight in a party of bigots and bigot panderers.
Part of it is Obama’s open contempt for us and an even bigger part is a general radicalization because of economic collapse.
Before the radicalization Pelosi had it made. It was understood that whoever the Republicans nominated, if they even bothered, was a sacrificial lamb. Now her job is on the line so she’ll make plenty of noise.
Obama will continue to pander to the religious right, tossing us the occasion easter egg bash.
princess.johnsonXIV
@Justin_Activist:
urp.
princess.johnsonXIV
@FJNC:
haha
tell it!
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Bill Perdue: Whatever Pelosi and other Democrats motives, there are Democrats who are by far in alignment with gay rights activist than the president. My point is that it is telling that they ignore her and Murphy of PA to prop up someone who has been at loggerheads with our equality. If they were truly concerned with the Democrats, you would think they would be supporting those elements of the party supporting us, but their choice of support to the exclusion of others, is quite telling that its not about even the Democratic Party. We are faced with a dangerous combination of Clinton (in terms of triangulating with the crazy right) and Bush (in terms of fanatical supporters) trolling the internets for any conversation that threatens (in their mind) the President. They could not give a shit about the Democrats, gays, liberals or anything else. Its all secondary to protecting him. Indeed, they are so fanatic that even when I make the relatively nuanced argument that the president can redeem himself on this issue by actually following through on the trigger by really repealing DADT and implementing affirmative protections based on sexual orientation, they call me PUMA. Its the level to which the fanaticsm of his supporters are willing to go. I
whatever
Uh oh, I see the feral Obama haters are out in full force voting down any comment that doesn’t align with their group-think. Tsk-tsk. What a shame.
Jason_Activist
You fellow queers misunderstand me. I hate Obama, the Democrats, the Republicans, I have politics, I hate HRC and GLAAD, I hate people who have money or priveleges. I hate people who are afraid to demand our rights. I hate bologna.
I could go on, but I hate people who post really long comments.
Demanding = Victory
Jimmi
@Black Pegasus: Terrible when we find that other Gays are just like everyone else. Assholes.
Jimmi
Meanwhile, 7 years later, a Trillion Dollars and 1000 lives later–the longest American War goes on. Where’s the Plan?
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: Why am I to be condemned for the actions of another poster?
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: “What does Brutus do in response to all of the links and information provided to him in the past? He goes on the attack against the person posting the information and provides no such actual analysis of his own.”
I don’t recall having ever made an unprovoked ad hominem attack here, and I have certainly provided my own analysis. I can’t speak for others, but at least as far as I’m concerned, when I say that just because event A happened before event B doesn’t mean that event A caused event B, I’m not simultaneously arguing affirmatively that event A did NOT cause event B.
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: “@Brutus: I believe you and whatever are the same poster.” Rest assured, we’re not. If you have any way to do an IP trace on the posts here, I’m sure it will confirm that.
“Thanks for illustrating my point. Perdue is many things, but anyone calling him a Puma is pretty clueless.” It’s pretty ridiculous that I’m consistently labelled an “Obot” when all I try to do is inject some counterpoint into the discussion in the service of intellectual honesty.
“You also illustrate why I don’t bother posting links. Bill has actually provided proof of his claims here.” I scrolled back up through and the only post I saw with links was a direct response to another poster regarding historical matters. Where is this proof?
Brutus
@D’oh, The Magnificent: “I make the relatively nuanced argument that the president can redeem himself on this issue by actually following through on the trigger by really repealing DADT and implementing affirmative protections based on sexual orientation”
If this happened, would you stop calling him a gay-hating bigot?
Tipster
Hey Queerty!
If you’re looking for a bombshell Obama-bashing post for tomorrow’s edition, here’s one I could pitch you…
“Obama invited 13-year old Susie Sherman of Appleton, WI- winner of the National Spelling Bee- to the White House.
However, Ms Sherman has never made it clear about her position on gay marriage. When asked by a Queerty reporter outside her elementary school if she supported gay marriage, Ms Sherman simply started to cry. And her mother had the gall to tell the Queerty reporter to go away.
Are these the kind of people our President should be inviting to the White House? Appauling! But not surprising from Barack Obama!”
Cam
@Tipster:
The fact that you would brush off civil rights so lightly pretty much tells me you aren’t gay.
Derrick Mathis
@Tipster:
Are you serious? About this 13yr old story? Girl, you’re stark raving mad.
Derrick Mathis
Of course Obama deserves all the credit. He’s the president. Without his participation there would be no discussion of repealing DADT.
I don’t understand why his role in the matter is even being questioned.
nyc10023
@Jon: Jon, you are so right. I’m new to this site but am shocked by the anti-Obama sentiment expressed here. You would think that Obama had signed DADT into law, rather than preparing to sign it’s demise. These folks need to learn which side is buttering their bread. Maybe they are angry Hillary supporters. I hope they don’t think they would have done better under McCain, who said that gays are causing Marines to lose limbs, right before he voted No.
nyc10023
Wow, and I thought I’d seen everything. This is my first, and last, time coming here. It is clear to me that the writing/readership on this blog is very much channeling Fox News. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s run by an anti-gay Republican. That’s the only way this makes any real sense. And if the readership is really gay, I don’t know who these gay people are. I don’t know any gay people – and I know a lot – that share your opinions on Obama. The fact is that he is the best LGBT president we have ever had. No amount of ranting on this site is going to change that. And specifically on DADT, without Obama’s quiet leadership behind the scenes, this repeal would never have happened. So goodbye all, and good luck with your hatred and bitterness. The rest of us will continue to work constructively with the president to achieve even more successes for the gay community, even if we have to drag you along with us kicking and hysterically screaming.
jacknasty
@nyc10023:
Are you insane? You’re posting replies to an article that hasn’t been responded to since the beginning of July it is now the end of December.
I am not a big Obama supporter personally, though I am a loyal democrat. Could you please try and explain or provide some evidence of what you think Obama did to get DADT repealed? It is something he campaigned on doing, but his office has actively worked to delay the repeal and he had nothing to do with the Senate finally voting to repeal it. Again, I don’t think he is a bad president overall, but he most certainly is not the GLBT advocate he pretended to be back in 2008.
Derrick Mathis
Now isn’t that convenient? I just love how some white gay folks (and if you’re not white you’re gonna be for this comment) for the past two years every three minutes hurled out in comparison to Obama what a hero Lyndon B. Johnson was legislatively due to his role with the creation of the Civil Rights Act.
But in terms of repeal of DADT, Obama didn’t do a damn thing. He did the same leg work y’all white queens have been flaunting ad nauseum that Johnson did for the Civil Rights Act.
Yea, you just insert whatever you think Johnson did in 1965, and put Obama’s name in the spot where Johnson’s went. That’s what Obama did.
Jive bitch.
ILoveDudes
Ya dopes (maybe me included). Queerty doesn’t care even if you come here just for fighting. As long as you come here. That’s $$$$ for them. Sometimes I think that was David Hauslaib’s plan when he said Don Imus deserved getting cancer.