Ever get stuck between political reality, and political idealism? That's where I am with the Obama Administration and the whole topic of gay rights, same-sex marriage, and all that has to do with the LGBTQXYZ community. While I think the administration is a bit too timid and behind-the-curve on the American public's acceptance of the subject, I also recognize political realities and perceptions. Other left-wing and pro-gay bloggers (and what have you) web sites are not so forgiving. In fact, they are openly hostile to the President and his spokespeople.
I'm a bit--maybe a LOT--more forgiving. I'm frankly sick and tired of even my very favorite liberal/progressive/Democratic advocates trashing and thrashing Obama on every goddamn little thing that doesn't line up 100% with their ideals. For f**k's sake, the other side is so odious, so sometimes evil, so 180-degree opposite from everything I want/need/desire/require, they are out of the running from the get-go. I don't consider myself an Obama-bot. I am also not a defender of everything Democrats do, or a proponent of every prominent liberal.
Right now, the President and his spokespeople are tippy-toeing over his past comments on same-sex marriage. The topic is a political landmine field (though it by all rights shouldn't be). Most of us know that Obama probably doesn't give a rip if gay people get married. He's probably either indifferent or supportive. But our political climate doesn't allow that acknowledgement, either from a liberal, or a conservative. Obama is in effect forced to lie, or waffle. Divisive topics force both sides to lie to appease their base. This sucks, and is very frustrating for the reality-based community.
You see evidence of these sort of things on countless political and/or news programs. You'll get the "official" quote from a politician, and then endless discussion of what "he really meant." It sucks. I've said that already, but it bears repeating. There is so much artifice in this process--on both sides, it again bears repeating--that it just freaking sucks. So, newbie politicians give their honest opinions to survey questions, and then that same politician--years later--has to give a more measured, nuanced, poll-tested and squishy answer later. He has spokespeople sprinkle some half-assed back peddling answers to his contradictions. And then people who should be allies shit all over him for it.
I started this blog due in large part to my admiration for John Aravosis' AmericaBlog, Arianna Huffington's Huffington Post and Markos Moulitsas' Daily Kos. But it's really pissing me off that much of what is coming from these progressive sites is an automatic nuclear attack on Obama, for any transgression. It is self-defeating. It is possible to be critical while also being constructive. What I'm reading seems to be destructive, right out of the gate. I quite simply don't get it.
[Excerpt]
NETROOTS: White House Rep Denies Obama "Filled Out" 1996 Marriage Pledge
In an interview conducted in front of an audience at the Netroots Nation blogger conference early Friday in Minneapolis, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer claimed a 1996 questionnaire favoring gay marriage, which bears Barack Obama's signature, was "actually filled out by someone else. . ."
Found at: Joe.My.God.
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