Obama Responds to Gay Marriage Question

Ever the cautious card player, he doesn't actually answer the question directly.  But he does make a direct connection between this passage from last night's address and the "right thing to do" for gay Americans:

We abide by the notion that all are created equal, no matter who you are or what you look like. If you abide by the law, you should be protected by it. If you adhere to our common values, you should be treated no different than anyone else.

I suspected that was an oblique reference to the LGBT community; and now we have it from the horse's mouth, so to speak.  Though of course, it applies not just to us, but to all Americans.

At least while the Republic lasts.

Republic or Empire: If We Don't Fight, Who Will?

In addition to my earlier reflections on the President's State of the Union address, I was also struck by the spectacle of a third or more of our elected representatives sitting on their hands throughout the speech, refusing to applaud even the most nonpartisan points of the speech, or indeed even to acknowledge the President's courteous and sometimes humorous attempts to reach out to them.

I heard the TV commenters point out at the beginning of the event that the Republicans had been strictly charged by their party leaders aforehand that there were to be no Joe Wilson outbursts on this dignified (well, dignified for U.S. politics) occasion.  Well and good.  Even so, as the camera panned across row after row after row of silent but accusatory faces with gleaming eyes, it was hard to evade the thought of a wolf pack held momentarily at bay.  Silent, disdainful - and hungry for blood.  Hardened warriors ready for battle, eager to storm the ramparts.

A chilling scene at the heart of our republic.  And those faces were nearly all white, and nearly all male.  The kind that were the big jocks in school.  There were noticeably more women and more people of color on the Democrat side of the aisle.

The juvenile, assinine quibbling over which justice or general applauded or screwed up his face during the address is not worth commenting on, and misses the much more important point of a government brought nearly to a standstill by a reactionary minority party, convinced beyond a shadow of self-doubt of its own divine mandate, not merely to rule but to conquer.  Sullivan reflects further on Obama's character, and the looming peril facing the nation at this critical juncture in its history:

My foreboding sense is that America may have already passed the point of no return in terms of civil, constitutional governance. I do not believe that in the Bush administration, the United States was effectively governed by its Constitution. The forms were still there, but the reality wasn't. Beneath it all, the desire for despotism ran, fueled by the despot's greatest ally, fear. Fear of foreigners, fear of terrorists, fear of gays, fear of immigrants, fear of the inevitable uncertainties of real reform.

It was entrenched by the military's own embrace of the role of imperial adventure, by the CIA's embrace of torture, by the president's assertion of total, extra-legal power in a never-ending war that now encompassed the US as well as abroad and citizens alongside non-citizens, and by a resurgent, right-wing partisan media that saw its job as fomenting propaganda rather than seeking any kind of truth, and liberal mainstream media so afraid of its own shadow and so intimidated by accusations of elitism that it became the equivalent of Harry Reid. . . .

So this fever feels to me like either the kind that precedes the final death of this republic into a carnival of FNC-directed war and debt and drama led by charismatic media-emperors or empresses - or the fever that finally ends the sickness, and restores some sense of civic responsibility and republican virtue. Last night, I saw one of the few men left able to see the depth of the crisis and not lose faith in this country's ability to overcome it. My faith in this country - so strong in the past - is not as strong as Obama's now.

But I sure as hell believe in fighting for it, and for him, against the forces at home and abroad that would truly end this experiment in self-government while pretending, of course, that everything is exactly the same. I believe our crisis is deeper than many now believe - because it is not just a crisis of economics, of debt, of over-reach, of an empire now running on its own steam and unstoppable by any political force, but because it is a crisis of civic virtue, a collapse of the good faith and serious, reasoned attention to problems that marks the distinction between a republic and a bread-and-circuses Ailes-Rove imperium.

Those, in my view, are the stakes. Are you ready to get back into the arena and fight? And if you don't, who will?

Sullivan also responds to this inane remark:

"Umm, what was that Abu Ghraib scandal all about? It started out as misconduct between men and women and then it steadily deteriorated into abuse of prisoners. The common denominator is lack of discipline. Once you break down discipline, good order and discipline and morale, everything that’s required for unit cohesion, you undermine the culture and the strength of the armed forces," - Elaine Donnelly, in an "argument" against gays in the military.

At this point, you realize that they really do live in an alternate reality, immune to evidence, hostile to reason. The Abu Ghraib scandal was about the torture and abuse techniques authorized by Bush and Cheney and supported by the vast majority of Republicans actually being photographed and documented. It was an example of what happens when a president unleashes torture in wartime as a legitimate tool. That it could be used to argue against allowing many servicemembers to serve their country without being persecuted for it is simply gob-smacking.

Gosh Darn It, Why Didn't I Think of That?

Love this quote from one of Sullivan's readers:

He's found his inner George Bailey.

The more I think about it, the more I see the parallel.

More insightful quotes here.

The State of the Union, 2010

9:24 p.m., Texas time: some reflections on what I particularly noted in the President's address to Congress, which he just concluded. The New York Times has the full text here; curiously enough, I couldn't find it at whitehouse.gov.

First of all, listening to him speak so honestly and directly, so clearly and rationally, well, I have to tell you, boys - I felt some of that thrill once more that I felt on Election Night, 2008, and on Inauguration Day last year.  And I thanked God once again that we have such a brilliant, eloquent, and thoroughly admirable man as our President; someone to be proud of, very proud, down the long annals of American history.

Now you fellas know I have at times been critical of Mr. Obama's words and deeds, or the lack thereof, in this past year, and I'll continue to criticize when and where I think it deserved.  But that's my privilege as an American, which I bought with my vote; and it's your privilege too, under a free government ruled by laws, not men.

Overall, I thought it was a very good speech; could have been a little more fiery, but the tone seemed noticeably more assertive than in some speeches.  A couple of deadpan-humor lines I appreciated:

To Congress, on working together:  "Let's use common sense.  A novel idea." 

Another laugh line, about the bank bailout:  "I hated it.  You hated it.  It was about as popular as a root canal."

After speaking about American efforts to help Haiti, and support people in other countries:  "America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity."

"We abide by the notion that all are created equal, no matter who you are or what you look like.  If you abide by the law, you should be protected by it.  If you adhere to our common values, you should be treated no different than anyone else."

"Our administration has had some setbacks in the past year, some of them deserved; but nothing compared to what many families are going through.  What keeps me going is knowing that the spirit of determination and optimism, the fundamental decency at the core of the American people lives on."

I especially like the vigor of his concluding words, delivered with some of that old fired-up, ready-to-go spirit he showed in the campaign:

"We have finished a difficult year.  We have come through a difficult decade.  But a new year has come.  A new decade stretches before us.  We don't quit.  I don't quit.  Let's seize this moment - to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more."

A couple of surprises, for me anyway:  he plans to get more nuclear plants built.  I know there's always a risk with that, but how else can we realistically meet the nation's energy needs?

And he wants legislation to forgive your student loans after 20 years, 10 if you go into some unspecified "public service" jobs; and he wants to end the privileged (or should I say bloodsucking) role of banks in giving student loans (I well remember the sons of bitches charged me 9 percent on mine) and to increase Pell Grants, which in my day were called Basic Grants; and increase every household's tax credit for college education:  "no one should go broke because they chose to go to college."  A-fucking-men to that. 

And of course I applauded when he said, "This year, I will work with Congress and the military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.  Because it's the right thing to do." 

Oh my God, I have lived to see this day:  not only did the President of the United States mention gay people in his State of the Union address, he also openly acknowledged their human worth as well as their patriotism.  You young'uns under 40 cannot know how thrilling, how deeply moving that is for us guys who vividly remember an America where the word "homosexual" was damn near unpronounceable - almost always spoken, if at all, in a low whisper by straight people:  an ugly, repellent, shameful thought.

As I quoted from Andrew Sullivan the other day, it behooves us even in the midst of our struggles for equal rights, always to be "insanely happy" that we are living at one of the rare periods in human history when being gay is not a ticket to the gallows or the stake.

But back to the President's address:  I was disappointed that he did not speak more forcefully about getting healthcare reform passed, specifically, though he did call for the parties to keep working to pass the legislation.  But I did appreciate very much his acknowledging that Americans are fed up with the totally irresponsible behavior of banks, corporations, the media, and Congress.  And I liked very much that he took both parties to task: 

To Democrats, I would remind you that we have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills. And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.

All I could think was, my God:  an adult in the house.  Finally.  A responsible parent.  Or at least, a fair but firm schoolmaster. 

Well, God bless him.  What a helluva tough job he has, made doubly or triply worse - as he reminded the audience - by the financial and military mess made by his predecessor.

And though I reserve the right to criticize, I did ask myself:  if it were me, standing at that podium in his place, just what in the world would I do, what could I do, that would be a bit better?

I had to admit - not a damn thing.  Because the task is beyond my powers and above my comprehension in many ways.

But I do believe Obama is up to the task.  Certainly much more, way much more than his predecessor, for which we can all thank God heartily.  Obama acknowledged tonight that he has made some mistakes in the past year, and no doubt, being human, he will make some more.

But fellas - when all is said and done, I still have hope for this country as long as Obama is in the White House.  And I am still so damn proud that this intelligent, moral, compassionate guy, this thoroughly decent man, is my President.

You should be too.

DADT: It's Cost Us How Much?

There's been widespread speculation on the gay blogs about whether the President will or will not say something, from a passing reference to a major policy statement, about Don't Ask, Don't Tell in his State of the Union Speech tonight - which btw, begins at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Obviously, nobody has a clue about what he's really going to say on this subject, if anything.  But regardless, here's the latest figures (pdf file) from the UCLA Williams Institute on gays in the military, and what it's costing you and me to keep kicking the queers out:

An estimated 66,000 lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are serving in the US military, accounting for approximately 2.2% of military personnel.

Lifting DADT restrictions could attract an estimated 36,700 men and women to active duty service along with 12,000 more individuals to the guard and reserve.

Since its inception in 1994, the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy has cost the military between $290 million and more than a half a billion dollars.

Your tax dollars at work.

Honk to Liz Newcomb, Americablog Gay.


FYI:  The study linked to above is based on a 2008 estimate of the LGB population in this country:  3.3% of men and 5.2% of women.

Which is different from a 2004 study estimating 4% of men, and 3% of women.  Read the Data and Methodology section of the report for more background on these numbers.

This Wikipedia article explains the difficulties involved in determining reliable figures.  But any way you slice it, though we number in the millions, we're still a very small percentage of the general population.

As Sullivan put it a few weeks back, talking about the kill-the-gays-bill in Uganda:  "What the Jews were to the right in the 1920s, the gays are in the 2010s. Unpleasant, dispensable, and if possible, wiped out."

And for your further information:  Jews as a percentage of the population of the United States, 2006:  2.2%.

Jewish population of Nazi Germany in 1933:  0.75%.