In a sit-down interview yesterday with ABC's Robin Roberts, President Obama finally came out and said that he supports marriages between people of the same gender. "At a certain point." the President said, "I've just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." When asked why he didn't hold this view earlier, the President said "I had hesitated on gay marriage, in part, because I thought civil unions would be sufficient."
"I thought just the fact that we were giving them water would be sufficient."
(source)
So what does this change? In terms of policy, not a lot. The Obama administration has already showed support for the gay community by repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the military policy that said you can be gay but just don't talk about it, and also by ceasing support of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. To be fair though, that bill stupidly defined a lot of things, like how it says Resident Evil games are only really Resident Evil games if they're on PlayStation One.
According to DOMA, french toast has ALWAYS been syrup plus egg-bread
and that's the way it must remain.
(source)
This is ultimately a risky political move for the President, as Senator John Kerry's support of same-sex marriage may have cost him the presidency in 2004. Then again, the other thing that may have cost John Kerry the presidency is the fact that he was literally a frankenstein.
His anti-pitchfork policy hurt him in Ohio.
(source)
See, this is what's so fascinating about politics — the fact that Barack Obama, as a person, can so clearly support gay marriage but, due to the political realities, has to speak from a place that will allow him to win crucial votes in swing states that may not be as forward-thinking as he is himself. So is it a politician's job to hold true to his principles or to listen to the will of the people he represents and act accordingly, despite his personal beliefs? It's a fascinating balancing act, and one that alters the very political paradigm — oh, the Pizza Hut I ordered at 9:06 am is here!
I felt weird talking about politics for so long so I deflected by shifting
to how sad my eating habits are.
(source)
My first reaction to this story was to be angry with the President, wanting to know why he took so long to say it. I mean, I know why it took him so long, but I still had this emotional reaction, because supporting people who love each other is such a common sense position to take. But ultimately, what matters about the President's statement is that, for the first time in our nation's history, its most powerful office has said that it's not acceptable to place gay people in a separate category than the rest of Americans. That is a powerful thing for gay couples and the children of gay couples to hear from their President, and whether you agree with his politics or not, Barack Obama has done something that is unquestionably compassionate and brave.
His dog still kind of sucks though.
(source)
What do you think of the President's landmark announcement? Let me know on Twitter or leave a comment below!
Check out Tiny Barack Obama!
Comments
Post a Comment