The Two Faces of Obama
This would be funny if it wasn’t tragic. Obama throws some more of his most loyal supporters under the bus:
This week, the Obama administration is facing the ire of gay rights groups after it filed a brief in California federal court defending the Defense of Marriage Act and calling it a “valid exercise of Congress’ power” that is saving taxpayers money.
This is an occasion where there is no pleasure in saying “We told you so!” Okay, well maybe a little – Kool-aid blogger John Aravosis:
We just got the brief from reader Lavi Soloway. It’s pretty despicable, and gratuitously homophobic. It reads as if it were written by one of George Bush’s top political appointees. I cannot state strongly enough how damaging this brief is to us. Obama didn’t just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn’t motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn’t be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other cases and battles). He argued that DOMA doesn’t discriminate against us because it also discriminates about straight unmarried couples (ignoring the fact that they can get married and we can’t).
Andy Sullivan is barely starting to realize he should have spent more time looking at Obama’s homophobic BFF’s and less time rummaging through Sarah Palin’s panty drawer.
——————————————————————————————
Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, NCLR, GLAD, the ACLU and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued a joint statement:
We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and obviously discriminatory.
We disagree with many of the administration’s arguments, for example that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress’s power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental.
We are also extremely disturbed by a new and nonsensical argument the administration has advanced suggesting that the federal government needs to be “neutral” with regard to its treatment of married same-sex couples in order to ensure that federal tax money collected from across the country not be used to assist same-sex couples duly married by their home states. There is nothing “neutral” about the federal government’s discriminatory denial of fair treatment to married same-sex couples: DOMA wrongly bars the federal government from providing any of the over one thousand federal protections to the many thousands of couples who marry in six states. This notion of “neutrality” ignores the fact that while married same-sex couples pay their full share of income and social security taxes, they are prevented by DOMA from receiving the corresponding same benefits that married heterosexual taxpayers receive. It is the married same-sex couples, not heterosexuals in other parts of the country, who are financially and personally damaged in significant ways by DOMA. For the Obama administration to suggest otherwise simply departs from both mathematical and legal reality.
When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections.
From CBS News:
In hindsight, perhaps, it should be no surprise that Mr. Obama is shying away from this front in the cultural wars. He broke faith with liberal supporters over warrantless wiretaps, the repetition of the Bush administration’s arguments on “state secrets,” and the continuation of the Bush administration’s indefinite military detentions of terrorism suspects.
The surprise should be that some supporters seem to have confused a politician’s campaign promises with his actual policies.
We all know how seriously Obama takes campaign promises. Arthur Silber:
It’s what I expected, because Obama lies. He lies all the time, on every matter of consequence. It’s what he does.
(cue Failbots mumbling something about “11-dimensional chess” and whinging “McCain would have been worse!“)
BTW – Just out of curiousity I dropped by the Failbot blog of “thebigotbasher” to see what his reaction was. He defended Obama – quelle surprise. I guess discriminating against homosexuals isn’t bigotry in his mind.
The rest of his blogstalking buddies were apparently too busy defending David Letterman and bashing Sarah Palin to notice they’ve been punk’d again.
.
Please — DIGG!! & Share!!!
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Filed under: Barack Obama, broken promises, DOMA, Gay community, gay marriage, General, LGBT rights | Tagged: Barack Obama, DOMA, gay marriage, gay rights |
The Confluence 
Is that “we told you so” banner available as a bumper sticker? I need that really bad to drive around my gay ghetto here in South Florida. Its hard to believe that so many gays think Obama has some super secret plan to get us our rights. I think that many on the DL can relate to Obama’s stance.
He must have had lunch with Colin Powell and Donna Brazile and then he went out and filed. It was no surprise after all he thinks women’s most pressing issue is to make sure we have Burka stores at every corner.
We missed the opportunity to have the best candidate that just happened to be a woman, Hillary R. Clinton. 😥
sickening!
I thought he would be bad, I just didn’t think it would be this bad…
thank you, myiq.. well written.
What amazes me is that people are so amazed that he is throwing gays under the bus. I’m laughing so hard that I’m crying. What a bunch of idiots.
All of the bots where chanting “He likes us, He likes us….” so often that it’s taken them forever to realize that he doesn’t. Again, what a bunch of idiots.
Well, I feel bad for them, because they worked on his campaign, we went into EXILE! I wonder if they will come here or set up some new blogs?
Any hoo, I feel for them, it must be a very hard betrayal and it must be painful.
I’m amazed at how many in the LGBT community are trying to rationalize this as okay.
“He has a duty to defend the Constitution, and he wants a legislative solution”
Yeah, that’s why he proposed a new law to repeal DOMA on . . . .?
Say do ya know if Newsweek’s copy (look at the photo here http://www.theroot.com/buzz/did-newsweek-cross-line ) is available with Oprah of ‘The One’ is still available? http://www.newsweek.com/id/200025
You know ‘The One’ was the biggest lie, and she didn’t support the best candidate that just happened to be a woman, Hillary R. Clinton. He didn’t have any crowds until she went to push him as ‘The One.
Yup. After skimming a few of the “A-listed” blogs, it’s still nothing but excuses, 11th-dimension chess-playing, and “we need to hold his feet to the fire” (ri-i-i-i-i-ght–as if he gives a rat’s a** about what you think).
I say this as a queer woman with great love and respect for her community. But those LGBT folk who voted for Obama were IDIOTS who bought the hype. They should have known better, after having been used politically for years. I expected so much more from my community, and it sickens me to think that my own community was complicit in this through short-sightedness and faddishness. I love my folk, but DAMN I hope they’re kicking themselves over this one.
I am a gay woman. I knew from the start that he was a homophobic jerk. I did not support him expecially after that line about “You’re likeable enough” to Secretary Clinton. That’s all I needed to know about his character. He was a jerk and would only be in it for himself. Some people looked but they did not see and some people just did not care what he said because he “must” be better because he has the D after his name. Again, what a bunch of idiots.
The Fourth Estate let us down, he only became a Democrat after 1997 and they threw over a woman who had decades of work behind her and it was all a marketing campaign. Even he said his experience was in running his campaign, but the problem was that someone else was doing that, he was reading that which became TOTUS!.
Oh the irony – a few weeks ago Obama proclaimed June as National Gay Pride month. At the time and under pressure from the beltway LGBT crowd – Robert Gibbs (press sec.) promised that Obama would soon be doing more, much more, on DADT and DOMA.
Watching the various gay websites and DU explode yesterday was unbelieveable. Many who had been holding on completely lost their faith yesterday. I had to be careful with how I phrased it but did manage to say “I Told You So” dozens of times. And today and next Saturday, all over the country many states and cities are holding their annual gay pride march. Those gatherings will only juice up the furor.
Also in gay news yesterday – the date for the march on Washington was announced as October 10th. The march is being organized by leaders on the west coast because the DC “leadership” and other gay activists were not supporting the idea. That seems to be changing as well as everyone is totally pissed. If Obama does not do something to bring down the anger level the march will turn into a protest.
When I went to the RBC meeting last May I told my much younger traveling companions that this would be my last protest, that I had done my bit, that it was their turn. Well, I now have a new event on my calendar in October.
What makes this so sad is that the LGBT community brought this to themselves. They had a far better candidate right in front of them but they were unable to get pass her husband’s signing of DADT and DOMA as Obama’s internet liars were able to rewrite history and make Bill an enemy of our community. F**k Obama and Axelrod and the so-called beltway leaders who went along with their lies about the Clintons and have done this to my community.
I wonder what Obama’s excuse for missing all the Gay Pride activities will be this year.
Last year he had to get a haircut.
The same excuse for asking that Gavin Newsom not be photographed with him, on TWO separate fund raisers for his SENATE bid…Taking gay $$$/donations that was OK, it helped him get to the White House, but actual support, that is not on his schedule. He has new friends now, on Wall Street, that need him and with more pressing issues, like tarp money and million dollar bonuses they are still waiting for (second helpings).
Wow, he didn’t want to be photographed with Newsom?!
Ugh!
I’m not a Christian but if I was… I would assume Jesus would be rolling in his grave at the concept of Obi-ONE Baloney representing himself as the messiah-
and the circus rolls to another town.
…he had to get a haircut.
…and play basketball…and work out….
This year, I hope his stylist is gay, pissy, and a Sweeney Todd fan.
I agree with all of this!
I will never forget the bizarre moments in the lesbian community this past year, in which I was often bullied into silence for my championing of Hillary. My gay women friends would deny the obvious Obama Inc. & MSM misogyny directed at Clinton and, in many instances, even become angry with my regret of her nomination theft.
There were many disappointing WTF moments, for sure!
Being in Seattle on Cap Hill last year was like being in No Exit.
I’m really sorry. I tried to point out that Obama was against gay marriage, that Biden had actually voted for the defense of marriage act. People just called me a racist and a bitter deadender.
I’m sorry it’s getting so crowded under the bus, but just the same, Kos, Aravosis, and Sullivan are not sitting next to me. They all reek of misogyny.
OT: I read in a previous post that someone was slowly trying to go back to Digby again. I’m here to tell you that Digby is still buying into so-called liberal sexism and somehow trying to blame Palin for standing up for her daughter (yes, Digby. Letterman DID mean 14-year-old Willow since she was the daughter who attended the Yankees game. Not Bristol.)
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-nuts-n-sluts-by-digby-i-wasnt-going.html
Warning: This video of KO will make you want to puke and punch him in the face:
I was just there and it was sickening. I was gonna pass on posting about Palin today but that stuff needs front page attention.
I read that Digby thread this morning. I also read your own post “When did misogyny become a liberal value?” and was deeply grateful for it, myiq.
But the TRIBE that frequent digby’s site were indeed, sickening. These are digby’s peeps, people. Her so-called “defense of Palin” was also pathetic.
Why Digby is still considered to be an edgy, brilliant leader of the progressive movement, I’ll never know.
She’s a coward and sell-out.
Period.
There are much better progressive/liberal sites than Digby. I never took a liking to her writing anyway. Corrente, Arthur Silber, Bob Somerby, and (despite her soured relationship with TC) Anglachel are better writers. They didn’t buy into the Obama campaign’s race baiting of the Clintons nor the sexism that was later aimed at both Hillary and Sarah. Shame on you, Digby.
I really do hope that this gets front-paged–it’s as incoherent and ridiculous as it is infuriating– and the very notion that Blobberman could accuse anyone else–much less Sarah Palin–of being sanctimonious, pedantic, self-inflating, insipid, and overbearing — just goes to show how completely lacking in self-awareness some overpaid media hacks truly are.
But the crap about Palin using her family as a “prop” while Obama didn’t is infiuriating–I guess that Obitememan forgot that they also appeared at rallies, not to mention speaking onstage to a video image of their father at the Democratic convention and, with their parents, giving an interview to “Access Hollywood.”
What a P.O.S. I’m so glad I cancelled my cable last year because of that a-hole.
But of course, Obiteme is a P.O.S.
Even Somerby has obliterated Obiteme as a frat boy appealing to his young, “hip” male audience, but with little true substance on any issues. Somerby calls Obiteme “infotainment,” during which Obiteme PERFORMS for his audience, with little nuance or understanding.
He’s right, of course, as he almost always is.
Obiteme appeals to a small fringe (his numbers are way down) of the still koolaid Obamanauts, while the more nuanced who supported Obama are actually drifting away and complaining now.
Obiteme, like Letterman, will always be the frat boy, showing off for the sake of his own ego.
Notice, that the Obama administration completely ignores him, as well they should.
Inky, I agree!
Ol’blowmyown’s lead-in description of Palin (“sanctimonious’, “pedantic”, ‘self-inflating,” etc..) were perfect descriptions of himself.
I wonder when MSNBC producers will start providing a mirror along with KO’s cue cards?
Oh the possibilities…
Would Olberwank run screaming from his own reflection?
Would he engage in an all-night make-out session with the mirror, finally prompting the camera crew to shut down the show in disgust? I have odds on the latter.
“Palindrone” indeed!
Calling the kettle black comes to mind…
Thanks for the attention. I read digby’s post and she just can’t get past the partisanship. Her commentors were mostly absurd.
No, she can’t, Ralph. She professes to say Palin’s not a slut, yada yada…..and then twists the entire post around into trashing “rightwingers” again.
She just ISN’T capable of seeing it clearly, or of separating her partisanship from common decency. Everything must be used to trash Digby’s opponents, whatever it takes.
It diminishes her. And she doesn’t even see it.
Sad, really.
Exactly true. She threw up a strawman and knocked it down.
“But Sarah Palin isn’t a liberal feminist!” …. um, Sarah Palin didn’t claim to be a liberal feminist.
Digby is still a member of the boy’s club, and she likes it that way.
YEP. She will never dare to jeopardize her invitation to Yearly Kos. She NEEDS to be in that Village.
I fear the new liberals have adapted very well to how to turn the perpetrator into the victim from the far right wing.
Big FIRE LETTERMAN rally is scheduled in New York on Monday. Whatdayabet it doesn’t make the news.
What kind of Department of Justice argues that DOMA is good because it saves money for the taxpayers? Is that the same kind of DOJ that would argue slavery was good because it saved money for the plantation owners?
Yes, I believe that would be the type of DOJ we have.
The Black community (church-goers, anyway) do not believe that gay rights are the same as civil rights.
In fact, most Black churches still preach that homosexuality and all the issues involved are Biblical abominations, even still. (closer to freepers, in this regard). Many of their members voted FOR Prop 8 in California.
Ergo, Eric Holden will NEVER consider gay rights to be the same as HIS civil rights.
Bottom line.
Actually, I wasn’t even thinking about Holder or views from the black church-going community. I was just thinking of how slavery–all slavery–is evil, and that particular evil can’t be rationalized away on economic grounds; and neither can denying any group of people their civil rights.
I agree with YOU.
But it was Obama supporters (7 out of 10) who voted FOR Prop 8 in California.
They tipped that vote to deny gays their civil rights because they don’t think “gay rights” ARE civil rights.
You and I do. They don’t.
When Barry said he was against ” the excess of the 60’s, ” many thought he meant, for example, the use of a fire hose on protesters…nah, he meant the protesters.
Funny, Barry was just a babe in the 60’s and spent a good share of it in elementary school in Indonesia. He has no ability to grasp the excesses of that decade.
The thing I don’t get is that he doesn’t understand is that gays have children and he is hurting children. My family member came out and thought that we would reject ’em , can you just imagine what that must be like and how daily they go about being subjected to abuse.
The suicide rate among young gays is shocking and Obama’s DOJ action is not going to help. History will show that he stood holding locked the doors to Gay Civil Rights. Have we not learned that they too were collected and given a pink symbol before they were killed by Hitler, and still people won’t accept them as Full Human Beings. When will this insanity of hate end?
The “excesses” of the 60’s and 70’s included his own 18 year old mother, who was UNWED when she became pregnant with him (the sexual revolution, you know)…….and therefore……according to Letterman/Olberman/Digby posters standards, is FAIR GAME for being described as a complete SLUT.
Not to mention that Obama’s Mommy married a man who , at the time, was already married. And it was shot gun wedding.
Now….none of that is something I would ever have posted before, even if it is true.
But it appears we “progressives” have new standards, as defined by A-listers.
Far be it from me, not to comply.
(yes, it’s snark)
Don’t feel bad. I qualify for slut status too.
I was 23 and unwed when I had my first child.
I’m unrepentant too. I’m quite happy I decided to wait until I fell in love to get married as opposed to marrying because I fell in lust.
Barney Frank took him down on that rhetoric quite nicely, actually.
New thread up for discussion of Olbermann and Digby re: Palin
Save this one for Obama’s betrayal on DOMA
Teh Stoopid! It burns!
From “thebigotbasher” (emphasis mine):
Yeah, we all really support DOMA and DADT and we’re just against them because Obama is for them.
That’s why we were against them last year before he flip-flopped on them. And by “we” I mean our front-pagers and readership, including those that are members of the LGBT community.
This is even stupider than your “Cinie is Brenda Lee” and “saying ‘them jews’ isn’t bigoted” idiocy.
Are they still harrassing you? How so?
I may have to write something even scarier than what I already have in my Summer must reads post. Something I should have written a year ago.
It’s obsessive-compulsive behavior – they can’t quit me.
PUMAs are the abused black women in the Black Panther Party. Pads it on. Read my post Summer Must Reads.
Pass it on. They want to think PUMAs are women so they harass you and Joe Cannon. To them, GLBT PUMAs are women.
Once again, whenever there’s a chance to smear Hillary on the basis of her husband’s record (while invariably disregarding the difficult political landscape that Bill had to work with during his administration), these a-holes will go for it, In this case they do it even though Hillary is on record opposing DOMA (and has a surprisingly good record of keeping her promises), and even though she went on record during her husband’s administration to call for the repeal of DADT.
As so many have already noted, you can’t fight stupid.
Oooh, another Failbot linking to us:
Dude, give it up – you ain’t getting a pony.
I love that actively turning your back on a topic and running in the other direction is a “stall” or “half-step”. I guess Richard Dawkins is just a “stalled” Christian, right? I guess Hugh Hefner is taking “half-steps” towards opening a convent, too.
Not One Nickel lays out the new voice of the LGBT Community in the face of constant betrayals by the Democrats, who want our money, our votes, our time, our energy and our support but force us to live as second-class citizens in our own country and refuse to support us on even those issues where we have public opinion behind us. We will not stand for these cowardly betrayals any longer. As we approach the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, a new radicalism is emerging. I, for one, think it’s about damned time.
No Gay Rights, No Gay Dollars!
No Gay Rights, No Gay Votes!
If you support the LGBT cause, whatever your orientation, please return any Democratic contribution requests with the words above or some equivalent written on them. If you have a web site or blog, please post this request or some version of it. Please help us send the message that human rights should never be sacrificed for political expediency.
If you wish, you may also like to participate in Operation DOMA Flip Flop. It’ll only take a few minutes and won’t hurt at all (unless you get a paper cut, in which case, it’ll hurt like a bitch).
They shouldn’t restrict it to just Democrats IMO. It would be a strategic mistake.
I think that it would be smarter to work towards moving both parties.
It isn’t like if someone like Cheney couldn’t be moved that it would be impossible to move the GOP party.
So I just posted the brief on my facebook with the headline, “When somebody tells you who they are, believe them.”
3 — 2 — 1 to me losing the REST of my friends.
Will y’all be my friends? : )
No problemo, amiga!
(I’m assuming you are chica because your post name ends in “a”…. Spanish linguistics marker of “feminine” … I apologize, if I was incorrect.)
Willkommen!
Bienvenida!
Huan yin!
Welcome!
🙂
Alert! Alert!
GLBT under the bus-
And more liberal road kill up ahead-
(Please avoid all zombie bus drivers as a safety precaution)
(and falling rocks from above, as Babylon is beginning to crumble)
Really,
I’ve never seen any candidate or administration (Republican, Independent, or Democratic) create such a successful sabotaging, dis-empowering, & scattering of party membership, as Obama’s Bandwagon Bus of death.
I should now be referring to Axelrod as “Ax job” for exceptional ability of slicing and dicing of liberals into a selection of hors d’oeuvres catered at an Obama & Wall Street marriage reception.
“Seconds anyone?”
No thanks! This Independent is not going under the knife for any more politician’s poisened recipes.
And as for the future…
I’m counting on the fact that eventually there will be so many people under the bus that…. we will finally have the strength and numbers to rise up and shove the damn bus overboard!