Obama Defends DOMA

Read this article and tell me if you still think Barack Obama intends to deliver on his promises to the gay community. I personally have heard quite enough of this, "for the time being it is the law of the land," BS, and other such crap like, "Stand with me and I'll stand with you." Say whatever you have to in order to get elected...

Obama Makes Light of Prop 8 Protesters

At a California Democratic fundraiser, Wednesday, May 27th, with hundreds of Prop 8 protesters outside, President Obama openly dismissed them by making a joke about not knowing "what promise" they were talking about. See the video here. He later backpedaled a little bit and spun out some generic rhetoric about "standing with him." How about you stand with me, Mr. President?

Someone pointed out to me the other day that Obama's tepid stance on GLBT issues may in fact be supported by the idea: What are you going to do, vote for Palin in 2012? Tell you what, I just might. I came within a moment's hesitation of voting for John McCain this time. And if I have another president who doesn't care about my civil right, why should it matter if I vote for a different one who doesn't care? In fact, having a president who openly despises me just might inflame the community enough to get a unified movement going, instead of this half-baked "wait and see" and "stand with me" crap that just keeps people hanging on a thread.

I just can't get over the hypocrisy of it. The first black man to be President of the United States won't come within striking distance of the last legally sanctioned discrimination in America. And, while he was in California-- California for God sake -- with Prop 8 protesters outside, he has the chops to make a dismissive comment like that. As I've said before, and likely will say again, one of the reasons people hate Conservatives is because they're not ashamed of what they believe. So called "liberals" need to dodge and spew out empty crowd-pleaser rhetoric and make off the cuff offensive jokes that they can later deny. So, come 2012, unless there has been substantive progress on guaranteeing full civil rights for gay Americans from the White House.... You betcha! I just might vote for someone else.

The War On Some Drugs: Hypocrisy From The White House

Yesterday, April 2, 2009, the House passed a new tobacco bill, giving the FDA sweeping powers to regulate the industry, including the contents of cigarette products, including nicotine. A battle will ensue in the Senate now, with the tobacco lobby as well as the economic lobby of states like North Carolina that have over 10,000 high-paying jobs in the tobacco industry.

According to the New York Times, President Obama "strongly supports the legislation." First of all, President Obama smokes, making such a claim the ultimate hypocrisy. And second, in related news, it is a major campaign promise broken (not to raise taxes "one dime" on anyone making less than a quarter million a year.) I bet you that quarter million he would deny that tobacco taxes have anything to do with personal taxes, but that is precisely what they are. In just 3 weeks here in Florida, cigarette prices have risen nearly $2 a pack. It's the highest sin tax this country has ever seen.

How about we tax the hell out of McDonald's? Coke-a-Cola? How about we tax Guitar Hero? Isn't that rotting the minds of our nation's youth, making them slaves to short attention span media, and ruining their depth perception? I know, how about we start taxing fat people pound-for-pound over their ideal BMI. That's as fair as taxing smokers for personal choice. Talk about pay to play. What I was really hoping to see was Barack Obama saying, "Yep, I smoke. And nope, it's none of your damn business." Instead he fawns and demurs and acts like it's some great mea culpa and feigns guilt. Sure, Barack. When you're sucking down that Newport Light behind a dumpster out of sight of the cameras, I'm sure all you feel is guilt and remorse.

Rick Warren Pick In Baste Taste

As a gay man, and a concerned activist, I find the pick of Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California, to deliver the invocation at Obama's inaugural, to be in extremely poor taste. It feels like a singular insult to the LBGT constituency. An outspoken anti-gay preacher, in an anti-gay ministry, in California, after the Prop 8 human rights fiasco. This is not dismissing partisan poisons of the past, it is a bungle; I will say, it was probably not an intentional insult, but it should not have taken too much 2 + 2 to think this one through and maybe make a more neutral pick. In fact, I would rather separation of church and state, as mandated by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, were observed, and that no state-sponsored religious ceremonies were part of the Inaugural. Regardless, the pcik of Rick Warren is in poor taste, and hopefully the President-elect will privately encourage Warren to reconsider. I don't want an apology, I would rather see action.