Comments | obama_2008: "...a new declaration of independence...from...small thinking, prejudice & bigotry..."

misterc in obama_2008

"...a new declaration of independence...from...small thinking, prejudice & bigotry..."

Jan 17, 2009 13:48

Maybe I've taken our soon-to-be-President's message of Hope too much to heart, and maybe I am more excited than I should be to hear the person who will soon hold the Highest Office in The Land even mention the word "gay" in an inclusive & respectful way, but this excerpt from President-Elect Obama's speech as he left the Philadelphia train station ( Read more... )

Comments 6

rrainey January 17 2009, 19:45:21 UTC

Pretty cool. That reminds me, I'm surprise that this story has not been posted on this site. Here's the link. I said that it is about time, was a stupid rule anyway.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/15/obama-end-militarys-dont-ask-dont-tell-policy/

misterc January 17 2009, 20:55:12 UTC

Thanks for including that piece of really revolutionary news. I think that the kind of revolution that it represents, in this instance, is the kind that happens relatively quietly. As the irrational fear of gay people in society in general diminishes, I believe (or, at least I hope), that lack of fear & the vanishing social mores that encourage negative stereotypes as regards gay & lesbian people is also reflected in our country's military.

With such a relatively large proportion of the American populace now more accepting of the idea of gay & lesbian people serving openly in the military, it only makes sense that a new President, with actual 21st century ideas & with a desire to at least address all those issues that have been used to divide us as a people, would seek to quickly dispatch such homophobic garbage into the dustbin of history, where it belongs.

Then again, I may just be prejudiced...

:-)

court1429 January 17 2009, 20:07:09 UTC

Usually I watch MSNBC, but I've been watching CNN this afternoon and Soledad O'Brien started a conversation with Anderson, Wolf, John King and David Gergen about one of her 6-year-old daughters heard someone say Barack's the first black president which she just couldn't wrap her head around which led to Soledad telling her that when her (Soledad's) folks got married they had to come to DC because they were different races and it wasn't legal where they lived.

So the panel started talking about how ridiculous it was to prohibit citizens from marrying and how we've come such a long way, etc., etc., and I kept wondering if any of them were getting the irony that we *still* have rules forbidding our citizens from marrying. Was just irksome.

misterc January 17 2009, 21:31:22 UTC

Like you, I am an MSNBC fan. As a matter of fact, even though I have to work on Inauguration Day, I've got my TiVO all set up to record the entire day's news coverage on MSNBC. Can't wait to see Keith Olbermann's & Rachel Maddow's shows Tuesday ( ... )

court1429 January 17 2009, 21:54:27 UTC

One can hope. One can also refer back to a questionnaire Barack filled out in 1996 wherein he unequivocally supported same-gender marriage and wonder what, exactly, changed for him other than he's running for president?

There are points of policy I don't agree with him on and I'm sure there will be others as the years pass (8 of them, please), but he really offended me when, during questioning by Rick Warren on this topic, he said (paraphrasing): I support civil unions and believe marriage is for a man and a woman and "don't forget; God's in the mix, too." Got him a big round of applause but I was pretty well horrified. His denomination, the UCC, is *well known* for supporting marriage equality, among other historic firsts.

I don't get bigotry and hope I never do understand it, but my position that it's totally without any sense whatsoever makes it really difficult to be conciliatory with those who have differing viewpoints.

misterc January 17 2009, 22:54:14 UTC

I don't get bigotry and hope I never do...Of course, I agree with everything you wrote. For so long, I have been so disappointed in my Democratic Party. A few times in the 25+ years that I've been a registered Democrat, I've thought about leaving the party & registering as Independent. I never did it, though, just as I never left the US after Bush's re-election (I remember hearing quite a few people speak about moving to Canada or another country after the election of '04). I guess I thought it best to stand & fight than to run away. I still think that that's what's best for me. Having given up the first three-quarters of my life to the closet, I guess I had tired of running & hiding & keeping quiet ( ... )