I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each community is going to be different—each state is going to be different. I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers—and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out. It’s not going to be perfectly smooth, and it turns out that the President—I’ve discovered since I’ve been in this office—can’t dictate precisely how this process moves.”
—at a White House press conference on the passage of marriage equality in New York State, in June 2011.
Yesterday Barack Obama became the first American president to support same-sex marriage while in office. He’s undergone a very public and protracted (and somewhat convoluted) “evolution” from his days as an Illinois senator, when he held a more liberal stance on marriage equality. On the road to the White House he backtracked (clinging to his faith) but eventually the President came forward to stand on the right side of history.
Click through to look back at Obama’s statements that lead up to his historic announcement on marriage equality.
bruce
Oh, how convenient. Six months before the election and Obama has suddenly “evolved”. Must need the donations….
As to what he actually achieved, can someone fill me in? What is actually going to come from his statement?
jason
If I could caption that photo of Obama at the top of this article, I would say “Suckers, got the gays sucked in again”.
Me
Uh, read between the lines. Did you all miss the part about how Obama believes marriage equality should be “up to the states to decide”? How does that make him any different than any other segregationist? If “the states” had their way, Obama’s white mother and black father would not have been legally recognized as married in many of them when Obama was a child. Also, separate lunch counters and public swimming pools would be the rule for blacks and whites. What was Obama thinking (as a so-called constitutional legal scholar) when he stupidly said that?
Now, the proponents of Prop 8, as well as other state anti-equality movements, have more fuel to fire up their justification for constitutional amendments to ban our marriages. Marriage is a federal right (not just a state right), as the US Supreme Court decided very clearly in Loving v. Virginia in 1967. What is wrong with Obama to have remarked so foolishly that “the states should decide” who is popular enough to have equal rights? What a fucking moron.
ScaryRussianHeather
@Me:
Ahhh finally. How many threads here on this? About 6? And FINALLY someone states the conveniently overlooked reality. Even Queerty editors have posted excuses for him. “he’s not a God”.
Then again, since Obama’s fans operate by crystal ball, they’re going to say he’ll be ~evolving more, after his re-election.
ScaryRussianHeather
@jason:
Or “Heh heh, gotcha by the short hairs, WERQ!”
Sean
@Me:
Read between lines? At least you got to do with Obama. With Romney, you don’t need to read between lines. He is clearly No! Is that better!?
Are those who are actually hating Obama for coming out to support gay marriage for real? Or are they self-hatred gay republicans??
Sean
@bruce:
What he actually achieved is that now you officially have a choice between two presidential candidates when you are considering which one will back your right as a gay man.
tjr101
It is very obvious those on this thread still hating on Obama are of the worse kind, gay Republicans.
Dagrlzrd
WELL EXCUSE MEEEEE !!!!!
Certainly a couple of fair points were made,but the fact remains that Obama made a very public statement in favor of an unpopular and controversial issue.Did he do it just to win votes and support? More than likely. But I was going to vote for him anyway,because frankly the alternative is scary as hell.As a Gay man who has been on this crazy planet for 52 years I have seen many politicians come and go,no pun intended.However I did and still do love Bill Clinton.The key issue is equality,as a Gay man with HIV who has been with the same man for 23 years and has no living relatives,should I become ill,or heaven forbid,die. I shall more than likely have to do it alone,since my lover has no legal right to be with me as would a spouse.As long as our world is over-run with overzealous,right-wing,knuckle dragging,religious morons,then we are all screwed. Aretha Franklin said it best with RESPECT. So get out there and vote for the lesser evils people.Our collective butts are on the line and not in that happy,sexy fun way. [email protected]
midnightsnack
@Me: Whether Loving v. Virginia applies to same-sex couples is murky at best. Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute was invalidated on the basis of race, a “suspect” class deserving “strict scrutiny” under Equal Protection jurisprudence. Unfortunately, it remains unresolved as to whether sexual orientation should enjoy the same level of protection as race, national origin or religion in American jurisprudence.
Such esoteric points aside, I would argue that it is time for the gay community to stop quibbling about the “evolution” of President Obama’s stance on marriage equality and any purported emotional hurt caused by his belated awakening. It is time to get in line and help defeat Romney. One can only shudder at the potential nominees he would forward to the Court. Just remember we are still paying dearly for the legacy of Reagan and Bush 1&2 in the form of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito.
Oh, ok
I love how morons scrutinize the hell out of Obama when they got ZIP, ZILCH, ZERO, NADA from presidents before him.
Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. You can lead a whore to the free clinic…
Steve
The documents that were recently released from the anti-gay NOM, include an agenda of things they intend to do. One of them is, to post massive amounts of anti-gay spam on gay-friendly web sites, so as to ruin usefulness of those web sites for the gay community.
See, http://www.hrc.org/nomexposed/entry/must-read#.T6vr879htGH
By the number of new “anti” posts on queerty, it seems they are following through on that tactic.
As for the news from Obama — Better late than never. His endorsement will help us, and will not harm his reelection campaign. It will be just one more item in the list of differences between the two parties, in an election that will certainly hinge on economics.
B
No. 12 · Steve wrote, “The documents that were recently released from the anti-gay NOM, include an agenda of things they intend to do. One of them is, to post massive amounts of anti-gay spam on gay-friendly web sites, so as to ruin usefulness of those web sites for the gay community.”
The web site Steve cited – http://www.hrc.org/nomexposed/entry/must-read#.T6vr879htGH – showed a series of documents. These mentioned advertising, but did not mention spam nor did it mention an attempt to ruin the usefulness of gay-friendly web sites. At least, I didn’t find anything saying that (but the documents were hard to read due to font-size issues). If someone has a more specific link or indication of where to find that statement, please provide it (a mere comment by a reader is not a reliable source – I want to see an original document).
Tam
It’s not “evolution” when it happens right before an election.
he’s playing us, as he does every voting block!
Tam
@ Dag: the alternative is scary as hell???? really?
Wanna see our rights and the rights of women, of ppl in other countries… disappear as Sharia law becomes the “norm”? Vote for a president who sidles up to the Muslim Brotherhood!! Vote for a president who supported Odinga! Vote for a president who DID NOT EVEN MENTION LET ATTEND THE FUNERAL OF DONALD YOUNG!!
Ronbo
If only “gay Republicans” are on this thread, do you cliam that citizens who like Social Security are “gay Republicans”? How about people who don’t like assassinations…”gay Republicans”? Citizens who prize their right to legal recourse – habeus corpus…”gay Republicans”? Citizens who want less militry and more peace…”gay Republicans”? Cizens who don’t want government mining their private phone conversations and email…”gay Republicans”?
Obama, like his personal hero Ronald Reagan, is clearly a moderate Republican. It’s sad that people can’t remember and don’t study history. Except… “gay Republicans”
Misty
First, I have to ask why is there so much mistrust of the guy in a way I’ve never seen any other president on thi issue from the gay community.
Sean
@Ronbo: “Obama, like his personal hero Ronald Reagan, is clearly a moderate Republican.”??? You should encourage moderate republicans to vote for him then. lol
Sean
@Tam:
Really? See what I meant? You really want people to take you seriously?
Tam
@Tam: should read: let alone attend Donald Young’s funeral…
Cam
Give me a break.
Romney asked Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to outlaw gay marriage.
Romney said he would NOT have signed the DADT repeal.
Romney said that he is even opposed to Civil Unions.
Obama signed the DADT repeal
Obama Told the Justice Dept to STOP defending DOMA in court which could lead to it’s being overturned.
Obama just stated he supported gay marriage.
You may not think he is perfect, but the choice is between somebody who has not stood in the way of our rights moving forward and somebody who wants to take away the rights we have.
There is no comparison.
Thomathy
Obama has turned out to be a transparent, neutral, pandering turd. He’s not helping and he doesn’t appear to even be an ally.
Quoting Obama, “What I’m saying is different states are coming to different conclusions. I think it’s important to recognize that folks who feel very strongly that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman, many of them are not coming at it from a mean-spirited perspective… A bunch of them are friends of mine, pastors and people who I deeply respect…”
He DEEPLY respect people who fight against gay marriage (more broadly gay rights)? These people are not oppressing gays from a ‘mean-spirited perspective? What the fuck is that? If someone comes along and shits on your ice cream, how is it NOT from a mean-spirited perspective?
How anyone could be deluded into thinking that Obama has done anything short of a bit of non-committal political pandering is beyond me. Fuck that noise.
jeff4justice
Queerty: quit feeding us the 2party illusion. There are 4 alternative parties and at least 6 Presidential candidates who are both 100% pro-equality and do not come with the Obama/Romeny baggage of supporting NDAA, internet freedom attacks, environmental destruction, the drug war, the evil needless wars of the 2party system.
LGBTIs who refuse to learn about alternative parties are stubborn as people who only want to get news from Fox News. Both refuse to take in new information to challenge their lazy acceptance of how things are.
LGBTIs who refuse to leave the 2party system are as senselessly fearful and on the wrong side of history as the gays who rejected Gavin Newsome when he instigated marriage equality and then later rejected Ted Olson & David Boise Prop 8 law suit.
There is nothing evolved about Obama and the 2party system. They have acclimated lazy people into accepting a country where 15 trillion in debt and half of the country in poverty while our government fights needless wars is acceptable. That’s radical! Comparatively, there is nothing radical about voting for an alternative party. It’s life-saving.
Since you won’t objectively inform people of their options to emancipate from the 2party system I will:
YouTube search:
2012 Presidential Debate Of Alternative Parties.
Presidential Candidate Roseanne Barr On LGBT Issues.
Presidential Candidate Rocky Anderson On LGBT Issues.
Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein On LGBT Issues.
Presidential Candidate Stephen Durham On LGBT Issues.
Gary Johnson Defends Gay Marriage.
Marriage Equality USA Chart On Presidential Candidates & Equality.
(page 15)
Proof Obama & The Dems are as evil as the Republicans:
Look up online:
Romney Obama the Same?
Bush Obama, Same Old Drama.
21 reasons I will not vote for Obama in 2012
billy-joe gray
@bruce:
and or the votes
nashkan
I do not believe some of these comments! HAVE YOU ALL HAD THE “SAME” THOUGHTS OVER THE YEARS on issues? Nothing changed and nothing evolved? My father was a religious zealot…A Baptist bible thumper…when he found out I was gay, I was removed from his will and I was not welcome in his home, he would barely speak to me for 25 years…a couple years ago, my father started doing research, & reading…He also noticed my SS relationship, which is now 29 years STRONG was more stable & the only one that has lasted of ALL my siblings. I got a call from him and he was crying, and begged my forgiveness, HE HAD BEEN WRONG, and was so sorry for the way he treated me… PEOPLE DO CHANGE… For a person to come out and say HE SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE, BEFORE AN ELECTION… has balls. Was it to win votes? Probably, as many, he will loose…Since Obama has been President, my life is certainly NOT worse… I, too, wish things would change over-night…but that will NEVER happen… Are there better people qualified for President?, perhaps, BUT lets face it, IN ALL HONESTLY…Obama or Romney WILL be our next president… if the latter is elected, things WILL get a lot worse and so much of what Obama HAS managed (with opposition) to put through will be reversed… Neither party has all the answers…BUT I WILL PROUDLY PUT UP MY SIGN, IN MY FRONT YARD, “OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT” (and I live in rural Kansas!!!)
jason
Obama hasn’t evolved on gay marriage. This is just simply his gay-for-pay moment. As in “give me your pay and I’ll pretend to have a pro-gay moment”.
Sass-zilla
BUT he really didn’t do anything!! He said: “I like gays. Gays should be able to marry, but I won’t be proposing any legislation – that’s up to the States” And he is a HERO!
Ron Paul says: “I don’t understand it, but if 2 men want to get married, it should be up to the States” and he is ignored. We really are just sheeple.
Sass-zilla
@jeff4justice:
PS @jeff4justice you are so right!
jason
Sasszilla,
The problem is that Gay Inc is falling in behind the President for partisan reasons and not for any other reason.
Gay Inc is short-changing the ordinary gay man and women.
jeff4justice
@jason: Gay Inc is often party of the same corporately controlled 2party system. Look at their mega group’s donor list. The same people donating to them are donating to the 2party candidates.
It’s appalling how HRC endorses Obama with no mention of alternative party cnaidates who are 100% pro-equality and then the HRC head goes on to work for Obama.
jeff4justice
@Sass-zilla: Thanks.
jason
The other interesting thing is that blacks voted 2-1 in favor of the amendment banning gay marriage in North Carolina.
Andy
@Steve: Yeah, anyone who disagrees with self-serving Obama must be a Republican or anti-gay. Give me a break.
Andy
@jeff4justice: They did this in 2008. They originally invited all the Democratic candidates to an HRC discussion, except for Gravel and Kucinich who unequivocally supported gay marriage.
jeff4justice
@Andy: Andy they did get Gravel and Kucinich back in 08 on that HRC panel but Logo/HRC resisted.
The mega LGBT groups and corporate media condition voters who to vote.
nashkan
@jeff4justice …I admire your zeal, there does seem to be several running for President, that, EVEN in my humble opinion, would be better presidents… BUT IN REALITY…the USA is a TWO PARTY SYSTEM…that WILL NOT change this election, maybe down the road, but NOT now…average JOE, will only know TWO NAMES… OBAMA & ROMNEY… Voting for someone else is like “spitting in the wind”… or as they say here in Kansas, “that dawg won’t hunt”… bottom-line I would put $$$ into someone that has come out and SAID “I stand behind SS Marriage” Then someone who has stated he “WILL FIGHT AGAINST IT” and try to make it a “CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT”….@jason 32, What was it,(I maybe wrong)only 1/3 of the registered voters in NC went to the polls? Shame on people who did not vote, I am sure many sat back and said “LOGICALLY it will not PASS”…Sad thing is the ones that REALLY hit the polls were egged on by their “back-water preachers”… I think this says a lot about AMERICA in general… and mostly the GLBT community…”the band played on” I see this same thing here in Kansas…We have wonderful advocates for GLBT rights, but so many in our own community can not be bothered…red, yellow, black or white….sometimes we ARE OUR worst enemy…
Barefoot Accountant
I have become very disenchanted with President Barack Obama even though I voted for him in 2008.
1. He did not even propose the public option healthcare system: he had campaigned on that system, promising to propose it. (Wikipedia: ”President Barack Obama promoted the idea of the public option while running for election.[3] After becoming President, Obama downplayed the need for a public health insurance option including calling it a “sliver” of health care reform,[4] but had not given up pursuing the idea before the health care reform was passed.[5] The preceding statement is disputed by evidence that the Obama administration had agreed to drop the public option from the final plan in the summer of 2009[6] in a back room deal with representatives of the for-profit hospital lobby[7]“)
2. He has appointed countless Wall Streeters to his top economic team, failing to appoint labor voices like Robert Reich.
3. He has bailed out Wall Street instead of Main Street: remember TARP? And then the banks dispensed $6 billion in bonuses in that year to its executives.
4. He failed to attack the mortgage crisis, leaving an elephant still in our “room”, with one-third of home mortgages now underwater.
5. He failed to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, doing away with habeous corpus, allowing the government to arrest and detain indefinitely without a trial or hearing.
6. He agreed to an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and on top of that, he agreed to an egregious reduction of the estate taxes on the rich, exempting as much as $10 million from any estate taxes and lowering the estate tax rate down to a ridiculous rate of 35%, when our country has a $15 trillion debt. That alone saved the Walton heirs $17 billion in taxes.
7. He has failed to indict and imprison any of those banksters involved in all of that fraud on Wall Street from the subprime mortgage, including robo-signing, and selling shit-backed mortgage securities known to be worthless.
8. He appointed Jeffrey Immelt to head his Jobs Council when GE has been saying “China, China, China,” and shipping all jobs overseas while closing plants here in the US.
9. President Obama is now considering and proposing to lower the corporate tax rate to 26%, when corporations are not only at a low-time rate of paying taxes but getting billions in tax subsidies from our government and opening up offices on the 19th floor of one building on the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes altogether.
10. President Obama spoke in favor of PIPA and SOPA, when the internet is the last vestige of free speech and the availability of free information to the general public.
11. There were no indictments by President Obama of all the contractor fraud reported on by Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul in a Congressional Report released over a year ago. Whenever the rich and big corporations are caught in fraud, Eric Holder adopts a policy of “looking forward”, instead of holding them accountable.
12. President Obama agreed to the “grand bargain” (thank, God, Boehner did not accept it) to cut over $2 trillion in spending, including social security, medicare, medicaid, and other social safety-net programs merely in return for hypothetical “revenue increases” of $800 billion relying on “dynamic scoring”.
13. President Obama has done nothing to level the trade treaties, where corporations are shipping labor to Cambodia (22.5 cents per hour), China, Philippines, etc., where labor is paid 25 cents per hour. This is exporting slavery to other countries. Where is the level playing field for Americans?
14. President Obama in 2009 only proposed $140 billion in infrastructure spending when Paul Krugman and other economists predicted that $1.5 trillion was needed for our economy to recover. And last year only proposed a paltry $108 billion in infrastructure spending.
15. President Obama praised the recent JOBS Act, which allows corporations to go public and raise capital without audited financial information in their public presentations for the first five years, allowing them to present fictitious numbers and defraud investors?
16. President Obama has failed to propose the return of Glass-Steagall, separating commercial and investment banking, which will soon plunge us back into another mega-bailout of Wall Street.
17. President Obama has failed to propose the break up of the big banks and corporations. What ever happened to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?
18. President Obama touted a $25 billion robo-signing settlement when a trillion dollars of our pension and retirement funds were stolen.
19. While campaigning, President Obama promised to put on his walking shoes for labor, but failed to even show up in Wisconsin and walk the picket line against Governor Walker.
20. President Obama has not declared war on the Supreme Court, as President Roosevelt did, to oppose the corporate/rich posture of Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, and Roberts. Why not take them on?
21. President Obama has arrested and raided more marijuana users in less than four years than George Bush did in eight years. Why is President Obama proposing cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid while spending more on marijuana arrests and raids, especially when a majority of Americans are for legalization of pot and for the open sale of marijuana for medical use?
Time and time again President Obama did not fight the good fight for working Americans, who are losing their jobs, health insurance, homes, dignity, etc.
I am tired of the lame excuse of how we must vote for Obama because of the Supreme Court. How can anyone believe that Obama would not disappoint progressives on that issue after he failed to undertake a recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a position to which she was more entitled to direct than any other American?
I am done with President Obama.
jeff4justice
@nashkan:
Thank God you did not advise MLK when he stood up to LBJ on the Vietnam war.
All your fear-based reasons for sticking with the 2party system are refuted in a great youtube vid titled: Stop voting for Democrats & Republicans
In summary, here’s a rebuttal:
1. There’s no such thing as no chance of winning. They used to say woman and blacks would never be allowed to vote. They used to say we’d never elect a black President or openly-gay candidates. They used to say we’d never have marriage equality anywhere. Electing an alternative party candidate in the media age is a far easier task than all of those things.
2. We are supposed to live in a multiple choice democratic republic – not a 2party rotation.
3. The 2party system is turning this country into a third world nation while taking people’s civil liberties. The 2party system is not worth defending.
4. The onus is on all people to do the right and ethical thing even when it’s hard – just like we wanted Obama to support LGBT equality. MLK stood up to LBJ on the war. We should stand up to Obama on the war.
5. If we give up before putting up a fight then I guess I should not have worked to fight Prop 8 here in CA?
6. All of the Occupy grievances are caused by the 2party system. That’s enough momentum to un-occupy the 2party system.
Barefoot Accountant
For a more complete list, see Hugh’s list at http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/table-of-contents.html:
1. Reneged on pledge to filibuster FISA Amendments Act (July 2008)
2. Lobbied for $700 billion Paulson TARP bank bailout
3. Pushed for no sanctions against Lieberman despite his support for John McCain
4. Nominated healthcare company lobbyist Tom Daschle as Secretary of HHS
5. Had neoliberal Robert Rubin as his chief economics adviser
6. Then had the equally neoliberal Larry Summers assume this role
7. Chose the failing upwards Timothy Geithner to head Treasury
8. AIG bonuses and money to Goldman under Obama
9. Doubling down in Afghanistan
10. Delay and reduction of withdrawal from Iraq
11. Moving Guantanamo activities to Bagram
12. Military commissions for some detainees
13. Support for indefinite detention
14. Refusal to release torture photos under FOIA
15. Refusal to investigate and prosecute Bush era criminality
16. Geithner’s DOA economic rescue programs: the PPIP and TALF
17. Minimal help for homeowners and no cramdowns
18. Treatment of Chrysler and GM with bankrupcy compared to bank no fail “stress tests”
19. Kabuki of TARP repayment by banks while still dependent on government credit lines
20. Extra-Constitutional use of the Fed by the Executive for fiscal policy
21. Credit Card bill without usury caps and with 9 month delay for other reforms
22. Business friendly Mary Schapiro named to head SEC
23. Gary Gensler who helped deregulate derivatives named to head CFTC
24. $787 billion stimulus: too little, too late, poorly structured
25. Use of financial crisis to attack Social Security and Medicare
26. The great healthcare non-debate
27. Continued use of state secrets argument in ongoing Bush era cases
28. Use of signing statements, including one to punish whistleblowers
29. Vetting process problems, especially tax related ones
30. Leaving Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head OLC twisting in the wind
31. Eric Holder, failure to reform DOJ, not removing worst of Bush USAs
32. Failure to move against new oil bubble
33. Retention of Bush Defense team: Gates, Patraeus, and Odierno
34. Continued missile strikes inside Pakistan
35. Keeping Bush’s domestic spying programs and adding a new one, cybersecurity
36. Choice of Elena Kagan who favors expansive Presidential powers as Sollicitor General, her subsequent nomination to the Supreme Court
37. Leaving EFCA (to help counter anti-union companies) to wither in Congress
38. Welcoming Arlen Specter who brings nothing to the Democrats into the party
39. Weak ineffective proposals for financial reform
40. Obama wanted John Brennan at CIA but settled for making him his counter- terrorism adviser
41. Chas Freeman with broader Mideast perspective done in by AIPAC
42. Dennis Blair made DNI; failed to act to stop atrocities in East Timor
43. Choice of McChrystal involved in torture in Iraq to head Afghanistan command
44. Obama threat to suspend intelligence cooperation with UK over Binyam Mohamed case
45. Efforts to keep Bush and Obama White House logs secret
46. Playing games with “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
47. Filing a brief to overturn Jackson (access to lawyer) in the Montejo case
48. Not withdrawing Bush brief in Osborne DNA case
49. Egregious brief in challenge to Defense of Marriage Act
50. The Supplemental which made Iraq and Afghanistan Democratic wars
51. Choice of Rahm Emanuel as the President’s Chief of Staff
52. Choice of Dennis Ross as Iran envoy and then his move to the White House
53. Politically embarrassing processes to fill Obama and Clinton’s Senate seats
54. Choice of Bill Richardson, then Judd Gregg to head Commerce Department
55. Reneging on pledge to re-negotiate NAFTA
56. Obama’s throwing his pastor Jeremiah Wright to the curb, then reaching out to religious conservative Rick Warren
57. Continued challenges to habeas corpus petitions over indefinite detention, the Janko case
58. The Obama White House website
59. Continuing an ineffective program that Iran can exploit politically
60. Going slow on climate change when there is no time to
61. Not withdrawing a Bush-era amicus brief in the Ricci v. DeStefano reverse discrimination case and supporting a rollback of Title VII
62. Appointment of a CIA General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
63. Appointment of a DNI General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
64. CIA delay in a FOIA request concerning torture
65. The influence of Goldman Sachs in the Obama Administration
66. Attempt to keep secret the Cheney interview on the Plame affair
67. Mountaintop removal under Obama
68. Attempt to restrict Congressional notification on intelligence matters
69. Opposition to a second stimulus
70. Another egregious attempt to fight a habeas corpus petition in the Jawad case
71. Continuing charter schools and standardized tests
72. Holder’s decision to support a weak, narrow review of torture
73. Re-appointment of Ben Bernanke as Fed Chairman
74. Continuing renditions
75. Politically dubious company was used to vet reporters in Afghanistan
76. Judge vetoes a too weak SEC plea bargain with Bank of America
77. Justice’s argument for making Bagram a new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case
78. Defense to turn over databases to poorly controlled fusion centers
79. Obama changes but keeps Bush’s Star Wars program
80. Failure to win an Israeli freeze on settlements
81. White House refuses to back its own staffer environmentalist Van Jones
82. Politicized US Attorney in the Siegelman case cleared by Office of Special Counsel
83. Criticism of Iranian nuclear program; support of Israeli nuclear weapons
84. Support for a weakened reporter’s shield law
85. Use of the Zazi case to retain broad Patriot Act surveillance provisions
86. Wilner v. NSA, continuing the coverup of warrantless surveillance of communications between attorneys and detainees
87. Attempt to spike the Goldstone report on Israeli-Hamas war crimes in Gaza
88. Slowness in filling federal judgeships
89. Inadequate aid to overwhelmed state budgets
90. Attempting to dodge the Supreme Court deciding whether innocent Guantanamo detainees can be resettled in the US
91. Allowing drilling in the waters off the north coast of Alaska
92. Keeping detainee accounts of CIA torture secret
93. Current FBI manual allows for widespread domestic spying
94. Securitization invalidates most foreclosures
95. Geithner wanting unlimited powers to save large banks
96. Another state secrets defense to conceal domestic spying
97. Circuit Court dismissal of Maher Arar suit
98. Weakening Sarbanes-Oxley and calling it financial reform
99. Unemployment
100. Inspector General for Fannie and Freddie ousted for investigating fraud
101. Gaming courts to convict Guantanamo detainees
102. White House counsel removed for his principled stands on torture and Guantanamo
103. US seizes mosques claiming Iranian connection
104. Howard Dean removed as head of the DNC
105. Scientist with close ties to Monsanto put in charge of all governmental agricultural research
106. Pesticide lobbyist nominated as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for trade
107. Effort to let some government contractors avoid paying taxes
108. A bad US Attorney nomination for Northern Iowa
109. Hunger in America
110. The breast cancer recommendations fiasco
111. Ongoing confusion and disorganization in the military commissions process
112. Phillip Carter another official in closing Guantanamo resigns
113. Refusal to sign anti-land mine treaty
114. The Ghizzawi case and the legal limbo of “cleared for release”
115. Black prisons at Balad and Bagram
116. Delay in declassifying historic documents
117. Max Baucus’ conflicts of interest in healthcare and with his girlfriend
118. Major security breach at a White House party and a ridiculous assertion of “executive privilege”
119. Dana “Pig Missile” Perino nominated to the Broadcasting Board of Governors
120. Cass Sunstein, an anti-regulator in a regulatory position
121. Warrantless for profit electronic surveillance by telecoms and search engines
122. The government sides with torture lawyer John Yoo and attacks Bevins actions again
123. The TSA publishes its security manual online
124. Toxic legal arguments in al Zahrani v. Rumsfeld, yet another Bevins action
125. The Nobel Peace Prize and a neocon acceptance speech
126. Blackwater’s involvement in military and CIA assassination and drone programs
127. Congressional Research Service censorship in the firing of Morris Davis
128. AIG writes off $25 billion in debt and sticks taxpayers with the bill
129. The Administration plays hardball to kill an amendment that would lower drug costs
130. A poorly considered blank check to Fannie and Freddie
131. Continuing a Bush botch in the Nisoor Square massacre case
132. Jonathan Gruber, a major defender of Obamacare was also a paid consultant for it
133. A Geithner related cover up of the AIG at par payments on swaps
134. Adoption of stealth signing statements
135. al Bihani, more bad legal reasoning in another Guantanamo habeas case
136. Cutting Medicare and Social Security by deficit commission proposed
137. A 3 year non-freeze budget freeze proposed
138. NASA flights privatized
139. OPR report on Yoo and Bybee watered down and its relation to the Padilla case
140. Government targeting of US citizens for assassination
141. Abuse of informants by ICE agents
142. Obama leaves Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board empty
143. Obama backs firing of teachers in Rhode Island
144. Irish human rights advocate Edward Horgan has US visa pulled
145. Threatened veto of 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act over Congressional notifications
146. Obama Administration intimidation of whistleblowing site: wikileaks
147. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to ignore science on endangered species
148. Senate vacation more important than jobless benefits
149. Government seeks to compel turnover of emails without a warrant
150. Obama goes after an NSA whistleblower: the Thomas Drake case
151. Obama goes after a CIA whistleblower: the James Risen case
152. Weakening Miranda rights in national security cases
153. Advocating the privatizing of public housing
154. Another step in making Bagram the new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case, the appeals court edition
155. Massey mining disaster, 29 die because of corporate greed and poor regulation
156. Obama proposal for a line item veto
157. A military commander allowed to use military forces for intelligence operations without Presidential approval
158. Political pandering in sending 1200 National Guardsmen to the Southwest border
159. A sad record on resisting Guantanamo habeas petitions
160. Israel attacks an aid convoy for Gaza; Obama punts
161. A further erosion of Miranda: Berghius v. Thompkins
162. Naming James Clapper, a Bush appointee, to be the next DNI
163. DOJ seeks to protect Vatican in sex abuse scandal
164. Yahya Wehelie, an American exiled without charge
165. Failure to replace National Labor Relations Board members means hundreds of decisions must be reviewed
166. SCOTUS opts for overly broad definition of material support to terrorist groups
167. Speaker Pelosi backstabs Social Security
168. Complaints by government scientists of political interference at Bush era levels
169. Flip flop on free trade agreement with Colombia
170. SEC declares major victory but lets Goldman off easy
171. Private contracting of intelligence continues under Obama
172. Two Guantanamo prisoners to be deported back to Algeria against their will
173. The Shirley Sherrod affair: trumped up charges of racism and a bungled response 174. Whitewash report on Bush era US Attorney firings
175. Despite its record, Blackwater still gets big US government contracts
176. Wikileaks releases government files showing Pakistan involvement with Taliban and admission that things are going poorly in Afghanistan
177. Obama seeks to get access to everyone’s web histories without a court order
178. Teacher funding sacrificed to keep Education Secretary Arne Duncan happy
179. State’s top Iran hand resigns over Obama’s Iran policy
180. Citizens United: validation of unlimited corporate political funding
181. Push to expand US arms sales around the world
182. Project Vigilant, Infragard and “volunteer” corporate spying for the government
183. Obama’s approval hits Bush levels in Arab world
184. Effort to pre-empt state environmental lawsuits involving green house gases
185. Justice’s Anti-trust division asleep at the wheel
186. Kagan’s recusals render her even more ineffective on the Supreme Court
187. Poverty level highest since 1994
188. Courts run interference for corporate violators of international law
189. Warren named to set up but not to run Consumer Financial Protection Board
190. Chief economic adviser Larry Summers leaves; Obama looks for someone even more pro-business to replace him
191. DOJ IG report goes soft on Bush era surveillance against peace groups and other activists; meanwhile the Obama Administration conducts raids against similar groups
192. Move to put backdoors in the internet to facilitate spying and more requirements on banks on international money transfers of any size
193. HHS Secretary Sebelius delays for at least two years required insurance coverage for contraception
194. Americans on Medicaid increased to 48.5 million in 2009
195. Big home lenders suspend foreclosures as their documentation gets challenged in court
196. HR 3808, a bill passed by Congress, to facilitate the acceptance of false documentation by banks in foreclosure proceedings
197. ICE raids and deportations increase under Obama
198. Social Security COLA frozen for second straight year; no action taken
199. Waivers for military aid to countries with child soldiers
200. Big and deserved losses in the 2010 elections
201. 42 million Americans on food stamps at the end of FY 2010
202. No indictments for those involved in the CIA destruction of the torture tapes
203. The Bowles-Simpson Cat Food Commission proposals
204. $3 billion in aid for Israel for a 90 day settlement freeze
205. No change in Democratic Congressional leadership after 2010 election disaster
206. Forced proselytizing still prevalent at US Air Force Academy
207. TSA harassment and violation of the 4th Amendment
208. More TSA idiocy: full body scans and invasive pat downs
209. The response to the 2009 coup in Honduras
210. Use of diplomatic personnel to spy at the UN
211. Fed proposes rule change to Truth in Lending Act to protect bank fraud
212. FCC head Genachowski takes an axe to net neutrality
213. Lieberman and Amazon.com seek to censor wikileaks
214. Pressuring the Spanish government into dropping torture prosecutions against 6 high level Bush officials
215. Neoliberal free trade deal with South Korea at a time of high unemployment
216. Hamfisted banning access to wikileaks by government departments
217. Massive screwup in printing $100 bills
218. Extending tax cuts for the rich in a poor compromise on jobless benefits
219. Dancing boys of Afghanistan paid for by US contractor Dyncorp
220. EPA backtracks on smog standards
221. Former OMB director Peter Orszag goes to Citigroup
222. Obama breaks the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to supply Israel with nuclear fuel
223. DREAM Act for children of illegal immigrants done in by Senate Democrats
224. DOJ drops investigations of corrupt members of Congress
225. The FBI’s Guardian database, another useless, intrusive surveillance program
226. Pentagon weakens rules on contractor conflicts of interest
227. Investigation by state Attorney Generals into foreclosuregate: no criminal charges
228. Obama names Mr. NAFTA Bill Daley as his new Chief of Staff
229. Obama names neoliberal free trader Gene Sperling to replace Larry Summers
230. Executive Order to make regulations more business-friendly
231. Gulet Mohamed: Detention and torture of US citizens by proxy
232. Nelson v. NASA: government can demand intrusive, unnecessary information about its employees
233. Choice of GE’s outsourcing CEO Jeffrey Immelt as Obama’s Jobs Czar
234. Failure to weaken or eliminate the filibuster
235. Corporate targeting of Wikileaks and liberal organizations
236. Reaction to the popular revolution in Egypt
237. HHS Secretary Sebelius helps states cut Medicaid rolls and funding
238. Petraeus accuses parents not US attacks for burns to children in Afghanistan
239. US general in Afghanistan sets up illegal propaganda program targeting Americans
240. Obama plans to devastate small block grants program for the poor
241. Silence on the Wisconsin labor protests
242. Former Senator Christopher Dodd quickly becomes lobbyist after promising not to
243. Obama reinstitutes sham review tribunals at Guantanamo
244. DOJ colludes with Bush era official Scott Bloch to keep him out of jail
245. The treatment of Bradley Manning
246. State Department spokesman PJ Crowley forced to resign over Manning comments
247. Massive conflicts of interest in David Stevens at HUD and soon to be head of main lobbying group for the mortgage industry
248. Mild reaction to bloody anti-democratic repression in Bahrain and Yemen
249. Torture psychologist appointed to White House task force
250. FBI program which allows them to investigate anyone doesn’t work (surprise)
251. In his Libya war, Obama has completed the unconstitutional process of Presidents’ usurpation of Congress’ power to make war
252. Obama accepts award for transparency in secret
253. Democrats create PACs to receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors 254. 2011 government shutdown threat as Shock Doctrine
254. The 2011 “great” biprtisan budget deal
255. The OCC deal to cover for banks in foreclosuregate
256. Reshuffling neocons at DOD and the CIA
257. Leak of Detainee Assessments shines light on the weakness of cases against many Guantanamo inmates
258. Geithner shields foreign exchange derivatives from Dodd-Frank regulation
259. Crazy new application for some US passports
260. DOJ wants SCOTUS to allow for GPS tracking without a warrant
261. An industry stacked panel to study fracking
262. SCOTUS attacks small claim class actions
263. SCOTUS okays fraud in financial presentations
264. SCOTUS attacks large class actions and Title VII
265. DOJ’s non-investigation of torture produces few results
266. Department of State threatens participants of Gaza flotilla with terrorism charges
267. Detainees now held on ships to avoid judicial scrutiny
268. CIA operating a black site prison in Somalia
269. SCOTUS and DC Appeals Court torpedoing detainee habeas petitions
270. SCOTUS greatly expands warrantless searches; Obama DOJ approves
271. Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the 2011 spike in gasoline prices
272. Christine Varney, head of DOJ Anti-Trust Division, goes to law firm that had case before her
273. Senseless 2011 debt ceiling crisis, budget cutting, and attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
274. TSA closes US airspace to Mexican human rights activist
275. DHS guts its unit monitoring right wing terrorism in US
276. “Recovery” benefited corporations, not workers
277. Harassment of a government scientist Charles Monett because his work clashes with drilling in the Arctic
278. African Americans and Hispanic wealth took hardest hit from financial crises
279. Cass Sunstein sitting on labor rules to protect child workers
280. Oil leasing in Gulf resumes
281. Administration pressures NY AG Schneiderman to go along with bogus mortgage settlement
282. DOJ dumps responsibility for its bungled gun running sting on handy US Attorney
283. US ranks 41st in the world in infant mortality
284. White House engages in selective prosecution of Dan Choi over DADT protest
285. COBRA extension ditched
286. Obama spikes EPA ozone limits
287. 2011 Obama fictional jobs plan
288. Contractors cost twice as much as unionized federal workers doing the same work
289. New EPA greenhouse gas limits also being drawn out
290. CFTC proposes ineffectual limits on commodity speculation
291. State Department targets career officer Peter Van Buren for writing critical book
292. Secret Law and the OLC legal justification for killing a US citizen abroad
293. US incomes fall more after recession than during it
294. Another Afghanistan fail: torture rampant in Afghan prisons
295. Bank of America dumps derivative exposure on to the FDIC with Fed approval
296. New rule to legitimize government lying in response to FOIA requests
297. Cronyism and the Keystone XL pipeline
298. Despite pledge, Obama still taking money from lobbyists
299. Secure Communities and deportation as a business
300. The Occupy movement and the attacks upon it
301. DOJ prosecuting financial fraud at the lowest rate in 20 years
302. US stops funding of UNESCO
303. 42% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck
304. The Post Office facing cuts because of unnecessary prefunding mandates
nashkan
@jeff4justice… I AGREE with you,on most parts,I even applaud your energy …however election 2012…will be between TWO PARTIES…The USA is still evolving too… I hope ONE DAY we WILL be able to vote for several people,we can today, BUT, realistically,today,it is throwing away your vote…We are NOT in an IDEAL society…hopefully we will evolve more, but that day has NOT yet come… It is SOMETHING to strive for… I am 60 years old, you would not believe HOW much has changed over the years…as a gay man, I can remember bars being raided, or your picture being taken by the police when you came out of a GAY BAR…(People’s lives were RUINED by those pictures) I live in a state that being gay is STILL NOT LEGAL (Kansas)…even THIS YEAR they refused to take those laws off the books! ……I do not disagree with what you say…I applaud you, but it is not happening THIS year…I assume you are a YOUNG man, and YOU MAYBE a leader someday… Some of us OLD FARTS have been fighting for years…just to go “ONE BABY-STEP FORWARD”…THOSE VERY IMPORTANT “FIRST” STEPS…so maybe we are conservative…and slow, but,as MOST, we have been fighting ALL THE WAY… 40 years ago I NEVER IN MY LIFETIME WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT A PRESIDENT WOULD SAY “GAY MARRIAGE IS OK” …40 years ago, I would have been happy to have a president say “just being GAY is OK” …and not a “sickness”….things CHANGE over time…THEY EVOLVE…. Hopefully our nation will evolve too…in the mean time … do what is best
Genevieve Ali
I live in Sydney Australia & I would put a sign on my front lawn supporting Barack Obama as President.!! His response to the gay marriage debacle was honest & real.
He is the best thing thats ever happened to America & Americans.
I’m Australian, so my opinion is not biased, it’s not even politically relevant,it’s more of a personal opinion, based on my bizarre fetish for human behaviour, I observe, therefore I see. Barack Obama’s a keeper.
Edward
I dont normally put my opinion on sites but, the democratic party has been “for’ gay rights for years. its one thing to say you support it but something else to actually make a change. the younger generation coming up now. (ages 15 to 35 really dont care as a group) who you sleep with or have a relationship with. things are changing, just not quickly. its costing my partner and i 1,00 bucks each to legally have the legal rights handed to straight married couples. power of attorney and wills. that sucks, but i am patient and feel like change will come and not by a one politician trying to get election money but because it is RIGHT.