You’ve got to love an adult who is unafraid to learn from children.

I still remember how roundly Jimmy Carter was mocked for daring to quote his daughter Amy on the need for nuclear disarmament.

…as momentous as this presidential opinion is, it changes absolutely nothing for the people the president referred to in his remarks.

My bold

Pres Parcel-Tongue makes nice with the richie-rich teh gheyz, and all is well again across the land. The end of such a nice, cough er, fairy tale (the Grimms-brother kind, but take that any way you wish).

Color me pretty much unimpressed, esp as I live in CA, where pretty much Mitt Romney’s Mormon Church from UTAH made sure that Prop H8te got passed in CA, whilst Nero fiddled Obama carefully did not much at all. Thanks for nothing.

From John Aravosis at Americablog:

It’s interesting that a gay Romney spokesman is forced to resign simply because of who he is, while the anti-LGBT spokesman gets off scot-free.

(my bold)
What a hypocritical asshole! At the time I quit Americablog, Aravosis was arguing that the “T” in LGBT should be dropped because we shouldn’t be considered part of the LGB community, even going so far as to write a screed in Salon wondering “How did the T get in LGBT”. Apparently Salon has thought better about having that bigoted rant up on their website and have since taken it down but there is an article by Susan Stryker referencing and rebutting his self centered, holier than thou hatred, saying among other things:

Pity poor John Aravosis, the gay rights crusader from AmericaBlog whose “How Did the T Get in LGBT?” essay, in reference to the controversy over gender identity protections in the pending Employment Non-Discrimination Act, was published on Salon a few days ago.

I’ll bet if you go onto Americablog and ask nicely, Aravosis will send you the original piece, he used to be quite proud of it. On the other hand, hypocritical dirtbag that he is, maybe he finds the fact that Romney’s surrogate hates T people useful enough to deny having ever written it. I can’t provide a link to the original but here is the rebuttal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he pointed that out but I don’t believe his motives are pure. That was in the Fall of 2007 and though I may live to forgive him, I’ll never forget what he did and why.
EDIT: Salon may have scrubbed it but teh Google hasn’t. Here he is in all his bigoted glory. Read it and then read about his fake “sympathy” for a transgendered individual outed by Romney’s surrogate and try to reconcile the two.

Executive Orders maybe are most useful for military decisions, but even then, we’ve seen the mutiny when Clinton ordered the military to allow homosexuality in the military, and the backlash from Eisenhower’s ordering troops to Little Rock. EO’s are antithetical to democracy anyway, the president isn’t an absolute monarch. And isn’t it best if we work things out ourselves without relying on Big Daddy the Patriarch to make it stop hurting?

I wonder how LGBTs and their allies in North Carolina felt when Obama offered his executive opinion in favor of marriage equality, the day *after* Amendment One was passed. North Carolina is a state Obama won in 2008, so it’s not like he doesn’t have any friends and supporters there. I can’t help but think that if Obama had made his opinion known before last Tuesday rather than after, it might have helped energize the forces of equality.

What he needs to realize is that the wingnuts are as mobilized as they can possibly be, while his own base is tepid at best so that his alleged lead isn’t worth much without a fired-up base. His backing marriage equality in North Carolina wouldn’t have brought out any more bigots to vote for the amendment — they already were being bused in by rich Amendment One backers and literally taught how to write so they could vote for it, according to a friend in Greenville — but might have got more supporters out both for this and six months from now.

Some things are best not left to the states to decide — such as slavery, de facto or de jure. If Congress won’t do it, somebody must.

Executive orders are the memos that make the government work.

It’s no different in the corporate world, where the board sets policy and votes on major decisions, and the executives send out the memos that turn the policy into action, or describe in greater detail how the policy will be carried out.

Every law enacted by the process of democracy needs to be carried out or enforced in some way. EOs are a part of the administration of those laws.

Thanks, Margaret.

The number of dirt bags who identify themselves as “Democrats” is amazing.

Lincoln’s EP applied only to the District of Columbia, if you’re alluding to that.

I remember that whole episode, and was distressed by it myself as I know a number of Ts personally, I have witnessed their struggles for protection and acceptance, and I was stunned by the sense of privilege and condescension that John exuded.

But I wonder — is John hypocritical as you say, or has he (like Obama) evolved in his thinking and gone so far as to put his evolved thinking into concrete action by calling attention to this anti-T bigotry by Romney’s adviser?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do wonder about it.

Thanks for the links and the reminder.

The reality of an African-American Democratic president praising states rights is more than a little jarring.

I don’t agree with your analogy, but I’ll surrender to it.

In my heart and mind I believe that Obama won’t sign such an EO because I think he’s been told that he won’t be invited to play at Augusta National, the Olympic Club, and the hundreds of other very exclusive clubs in between.

That’s one way of looking at it. Another is that I felt empowered on Tuesday when I could vote against Amendment One here (in Mecklenburg County where Charlotte is, whose majority voted No).

But I wonder — is John hypocritical as you say, or has he (like Obama) evolved in his thinking and gone so far as to put his evolved thinking into concrete action by calling attention to this anti-T bigotry by Romney’s adviser?

I haven’t had contact with him since that episode, other than him trying to discredit me at JoeMyGod but I don’t think he’s evolved any. That wasn’t his first anti trans tirade. He also had one just after the Cancel Dr. Laura campaign when he had a mailer called john@gayadvocacy.com. That one I’m certain I won’t be able to find again as it was in email form.

The executive order would only apply to businesses that contract to do work for the federal government. FDR banned discrimination in the federal workplace based on “race, creed, color or national origin” 70 years ago (Executive Order 8802.) This EO would just add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list.

Lots of private companies already do this. It’s time for the biggest employer of all (the US Government) to follow their lead.

Why should Obama actually do something (like sign an executive order) when he can count on votes by merely saying something (like he approves of gay marriage)?

When voters demand nothing, they get nothing. When they demand talk only, they get talk only. Pretty simple.

I have great difficulty with the idea of putting anyone’s rights up for a vote. Rights ought not to be subject to the tyranny of the majority.

I have even more difficulty with that idea when it is praised by someone whose family was the victim of such tyranny in the past. State’s rights established and protected the ban on interracial marriage; Loving v Virginia struck it down.

Just ask the NSA. They’ve got a copy…

If we get to vote against bigotry it’s worthwhile. It’s not like ‘trusting’ someone who’s running for office who will never listen to me after an election. Yet, like you, I don’t trust mob rule either.

You’re trying to equate the federal workplace with a workplace the president doesn’t have the right to control except through sanctions, and there’s a significant difference.

And I’m sure they’d be more than happy to provide me it…

Strange, I could have sworn that AitchD’s original post was sarcastic, as Clinton *didn’t* order the military to allow homosexuality, to my knowledge (hence the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” garbage) and there was no mutiny. And Ike took his sweet time sending the troops to Little Rock, too.

But the followups make him sound sincere. Huh.

On the actual topic, GWBush claimed to be “The Decider”. I guess BHO wants to be known as “The Opiner”. He won’t actually DO anything for gay rights (or jobs, or the environment) but he wants you to know that he’s carefully considered the issues and the gays are all right with him.

Why gay people (or anyone) should seek this douchbag’s approval is an entirely different question…

We may not be an absolute monarchy, but the President is the head of the executive branch and is expected to give orders to his administration.

Clinton was a weasel. He should have just ordered the military to stop discriminating against LGBT people (I included the T on purpose) and taken the heat. Remember what Harry said. But his cowering here was a sign that he would not be the progressive President we needed, but would instead continue America’s arrogant stomping around the world and the Neo-Liberalism of the previous 12 years.

If he’d acted with courage, if he’d vetoed DOMA, if he’d been a real ally, we’d be a lot further along.

So no excuse for Obama here. Sign the order, Mr. Obama.