Obama claims his opinion on gay marriage changed because of the attitudes of his wife and his daughters. Perhaps the tale of his transition is supposed to endear us to a man with a heart. The man who wields such great power is softened by viewing the world through his children’s eyes.
A closer reading is less endearing. He didn’t burst out of the cocoon in stunning butterfly fashion. Joe Biden pretty much stepped on it forcing a premature metamorphosis. Even so the butterfly consulted his advisers before fluttering his wings. Obama, so he says, was planning on revealing his beautiful wings at the Democrat Convention until clumsy Joe stepped on the butterfly’s cocoon.
Obama’s family influenced his gay marriage shift, aides say
There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” Obama said.
One day a few weeks ago, the president told his top advisors that he had reached a personal decision. He wanted to weigh in on the gay marriage discussion.
It would be a subject of discussion in platform talks and in private conversation, the president told his team, and he wanted to be in front of it. He also felt it was right to tell the country that he had arrived at a new place before the election, said a second senior official.
Advisers tried to game out how that would play in terms of the election. Maybe swing state voters wouldn’t like it, it would suppress enthusiasm among black volunteers or it would turn off evangelical Hispanics otherwise leaning toward Obama.
On the other hand, maybe voters would give him credit for taking a stand. Perhaps young volunteers and donors would be inspired and energized by the move.
There was no way to predict the “crosscurrents,” said the second official.
On his metamorphosis supporting gay marriage, it is change we don’t believe. It is doubtful the president ever held a different opinion than the one he now expresses. Obama hasn’t changed at all in any way. His nature is eternally to camouflage himself as he devours his way through a path of destruction.
If BHO says that there is no man behind the curtain, he expects the media to report that there is no man behind the curtain and call those who disagree, truthers, birthers, extremists.
PatS, great article on this. I figured he would say something like this much closer to the election trying to one up Romney. This President will do/say anything he feels will help him keep his job. The way I see it, too much damage has been done to this great Nation of ours at the hands of this man; in other words, too little, too late.
and also the fact is WE DONT’ KNOW anything about how this human OBJECT really feels…he’s lied so many times there’s now way to EVER know if he believes what comes out of his mouth..he’s TOTALLY alien to most americans…and just because he may feel this way, it means NOTHING to any gay person because he has no control over what legally happens ..unless he’s gonna play the DICTATOR IN CHIEF to force it down our throats like deathcare..he actually does MORE damage because the resultant constitutional amendments to ban gay marriages indicate the BACKLASH of the people to activist judges…if the LGBT community had convinced the PEOPLE in local communities properly, all of this wud never have happened..but it BACKFIRED…it’s exactly what happens when u try & SHOVE society from the top down vs building from the bottom up..just my 2 cents 🙂
Married and gay in the Republic of Massachusetts and still not voting for I-bama!
When is he going to “affirm” his support for the innocent people of Syria who are being killed everyday? when is he going to “affirm” his support for a balanced budget?
One day a few weeks ago,…
ONE DAY…A FEW WEEKS AGO??
Is this more “brilliance” from the misogynist speech writer Favreau? Ugh.
Also, no one believes the chit about wife and daughters being a reason for anything (except for wanting to flee to the golf course as much as he can), just like we don’t buy daughters being the reason he spoke on behalf of Fluke or signed Lily Ledbetter or anything else he wants to sell us.
Obama, Odinga’s cousin & supporter, friend to the Muslim brotherhood, silent on the death/execution of the gay choir master at Trinity who was his good friend and not a stranger, very close to ballerina Rahm Emmanual, POTUS with the gayest stride I’ve ever seen…
NOT motivated by his daughters & “wife” but rather his own life experiences!
I don’t believe for a New York minute that Jay Carney didn’t know exactly what Biden had said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. I think that whole “what are you people talking about” thing he did was pure kabuki. It was an act, and a poor one at that. The man is a terrible liar.
That aside, I’m sorry, but if he still believes in gay marriage as a states-rights issue, he’s not really for gay marriage. This was duplicitous windbaggery at its finest.
Pat_S, *excellent* post!
Just wondering, maybe Sasha and Malia will help their father *evolve* his position on Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel?
You said it, Pat. It’s worth acknowledging that the two slogans that come out of your post are already available as bumper stickers: “Change you can’t believe in” and (my favorite!) “Change you can step in“.
BO cares as much about “gay rights” as he does about the Blacks’ situation in this country. Which is to say NOT AT ALL! This is all political theater.
in his little interview where BO came out … it seemed to be he was exceedingly careful with words… he felt ‘personally’ that gays ‘should’ be able to marry…. so much wiggle room. we are back to “it depends on what IS is” — the last sonofabitch-in-chief…
i’m not gay and i’m against gay marriage, but his patronizing is mind-numbing. reminds me of when he called sandra fluke to tell her her PARENTS must be proud of her! was that a little pat on the head for the little obedient girly-girl or WHAT!!!
All this talk about marriage reminded me of an ad for hot dogs where the company said that federal requirements for the meat this treat contained were not good enough for them. They answered to a “higher law” and produced a better hot dog.
When I decided to get married in the “olden days”, the state required a license and a blood test. My faith community, on the other hand, required my commitment to a whole bunch of rules. That I would promise to be faithful forever. That I would promise to educate and nurture my potential children’s faith. That I would strive to make my marriage a human reminder of the love of Christ for his Church. Pretty heady stuff for a 19 year old who was just head over heels in love with the greatest guy in the world. Matrimony, I was taught was the only sacrament which a couple bestows upon each other. It is witnessed by one’s faith community, and blessed by the Church through an official authority, but it is a solemn covenant between two people.
To the state, my marriage is a contract, and as such the state has established the conditions for it, the benefits it may provide and the means to dissolve it. That isn’t quite good enough for my faith community which answers to a “higher law” and proclaims that I have entered into a covenant. Different faith communities have established the rules which must be agreed upon before a marriage is blessed, just as different states have determined their own requirements. I have no problem with that, but only ask that my marriage, and the promises I made be respected as my willing choice.
Because the word marriage even in this ultra-modern age has such a religious, faith-based connotation for so many Americans, I propose that all the states remove the term “marriage” from the books and replace it with ”civil union” Thus in the eyes of the state, I am in a civil union, bound by the laws of my state. In the eyes of my faith community I’m in a covenant, with all the warts and joys that it requires.
How each state defines these civil unions will still be in the hands of the state to change and modify, and folks who feel marriage is more than a license from the state to have legal sex will not be made to feel that their commitment to another has been sullied.
Im venting! Im soooooooo angry. We have so many important issues in this country. Economy, jobs, wars, national security, health care, a president and government that “hates us” and the media is focused on gay marriage,the george cloonney love fest and the alleged Romney bullying episode from 50 years ago. Talk about shiney objects!
I think about where i was 4 years ago on politics. I was wandering in a waste land of not being informed.
Im thankful for plugging into social media and being a TAM. Ive learned so much from Tammy and all of you. Im optimistic, because i think there are many voters out there that are better prepared for the fight ahead of us in November.