More Reax on the Great Betrayal

Mountain Cabin by John W. Hill

Americablog:

Yesterday, a Democratic President of the United States of America, in the year 2009, and an African-American child of inter-racial parents no less, gave his lawyers the go ahead to compare our marriages to incest on the same day that 42 years ago the Supreme Court ruled in his parents' favor in Loving v. Virginia. And these people, along with our President, are suggesting that the appropriate response is to shrug our shoulders and go home, since, after all, the law is the law?

So, yes, I am advocating that we push the envelope and demand new and creative thinking on legal issues, on our civil and human rights. That's how change happens (there's that pesky word again). That's what we expect from our President who promised change, who promised to be a "fierce advocate" for our rights. Yesterday's homophobic brief would have met the expectations we had from George Bush (or Jerry Falwell). From President Barack Obama, it was an appalling betrayal of our humanity, and his own.

I'm sick of being separate, but equal. And it's now clear that many of you agree. We demand our rights, and we expect this President, who promised them in exchange for millions of our votes and millions of our donations, to deliver. And so help me God, we will continue to hold this President accountable for his broken promises and his betrayals, to hell with the lawyers.

Queerty:

The only reason we can think of that Obama would have the Department of Justice lobby on behalf of DOMA in Smelt v. United States is to keep the law's fate out of the hands of the court system. That might be a worthwhile strategy. But the White House is not telling us about that plan, if it even exists. And if that's their ploy, they should share it with the public. And yet, if that scenario were really true, and Obama really was serious about repealing DOMA via Congress, wouldn't he be simultaneously lobbying Congress to, uh, do that? No wonder WhiteHouse.gov no longer even acknowledges Obama's supposed support for DOMA's repeal.

The man is a liar, and his actions are despicable. He's risked every ounce of credibility among gay Americans. The man who championed hope has given us every reason to lose it.

ABC News blog:

Appearing at a presidential candidates forum in August 2007 sponsored by the gay and lesbian rights group the Human Rights Campaign, then-Sen. Obama said it “is my strong belief that the government has to treat all citizens equally. I come from that, in part, out of personal experience. When you're a black guy named Barack Obama, you know what it's like to be on the outside. And so my concern is continually to make sure that the rights that are conferred by the state are equal for all people. That's why I opposed DOMA in 2006 when I ran for the United States Senate.”

Not a reaction, but this is how I feel right now - from The Dentist of Auschwitz, about how after the camp was evacutated near the end of the war, and SS guards shot or burned alive the last remaining prisoners in the infirmary:

The people in the nearby villages must have known what was going on, yet no one came and stopped them. Finally, after the SS men left, a few of the villagers came to extinguish the fires. German soldiers in passing looked at us and said to them, "Don't bother, those are only stinking Jews."

Only stinking Jews. Only stinking faggots. Twice in one week: first Obama has his lawyers argue against repealing DADT, and now the filthy hatchet job in support of DOMA. Man, this is a real punch in the gut.

And here's a clue for all you boys who've been waiting for the President to break his silence and reveal his plan for enacting gay equality: there is no fucking plan. It's not happening. Get over it, you and me have been royally screwed.

So where do we go from here? Hell if I know. Not sure I have it in me to care much anymore after this betrayal. I'm an old man, getting older all the time, what difference would it make in my life if all this stuff gets passed or not. Fuck it, let the young people fight it out.

Like I said the other day, I'm at a stage in life where I can't really picture an ideal existence on a tropical island anymore. But I can sure picture a little cabin in the mountains with a big old dog sleeping on the porch, and me in a rocking chair with my shotgun across my lap.

Maybe that's all that life has left to look forward to, who knows. What I do know is that the majority rules, and the majority hates the gays, so there you go. I don't see it changing, not in my lifetime, not in a hundred years.

I'm tired of trying. Think I should just go find a patch of ground and be a long-bearded hermit, and the rest of the world can go fuck itself. You youngsters can keep playing the game, though, and I hope you have a lot of fun with that.