Pirate's Cove

The Neverending Campaign continues

President Obama on Saturday renewed his vow to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, but failed to offer a timetable for doing so — an omission likely to inflame critics who say he is not fighting aggressively enough for gay rights.

“I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” Mr. Obama told an audience of nearly 3,000 people at a fund-raising dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay advocacy group. “That is my commitment to you.”

The Grey Lady reports that there was a roar of approval, but, consider, he offered no timetable, as the first paragraph of the story showed. I wonder what others thought

Bil Browning, a blogger for Bilerico Project, a Web site aimed at a gay audience, said moments after the speech ended that the site was flooded with critical comments by people who said they had heard nothing new. “I could have watched one of his old campaign speeches and heard the same thing,” one wrote.

Even inside the room, reaction was mixed. Terry Penrod, a real estate agent from Columbus, Ohio, said some gay rights advocates were being impatient with the president, while Raj Malthotra, 29, a management consultant from Washington, said he thought the speech was a rehash of Mr. Obama’s past promises.

“For him, it’s buy more time until he needs our votes again,” Mr. Malthotra said.

It appears as if many of the Obama supporters are starting to understand the reality of Obama. The sad part is, despite completely dissing them, and, really, do we expect anything to change up to election day 2012?, they will still vote for him. But, hey, let’s ask one of those ultra-reich wingnuts, shall we?

All in all, the evening was a disappointment, but not unexpected. President Obama doesn’t do controversy, and we, my friends, are controversy. So, the bad blood between this administration and the gay community will remain, and continue to worsen. It’s unfortunate, but at some point you have to have enough dignity to say enough is enough. The Obama administration doesn’t respect our community, and doesn’t respect the seriousness of our cause. It’s our job to hold them accountable. And we will.

While much of John Aravosis’ post was rambling and somewhat hard to understand (or, perhaps it’s because I just woke up,) he points out that Obama does NOT support gay marraige (though he does appear to support civil unions, as I myself do,) and all he was doing was “repeating his campaign promises.”

Dan Savage: Imagine all the wonderful things this guy is going to accomplish if he ever actually gets elected president. In other words: sorry, folks, nothing new to see here. Pledges, promises, excuses. Lip service.

Andrew Sullivan: This is bullsh*t…. Again, more of a campaign speech. I’ve called on Congress to repeal DOMA. Does he think we’re fools? (yes, Andy, he does, and you folks reinforced that last November)

Joe Sudbay: This speech offered less than the cocktail party speech for the A-listers back in June.

Pam’s House Blend: This was a well-crafted, oddly familiar address if you’re a political junkie, because it felt like a stump speech, a post-election speech and a WH LGBT photo op address patched together. I understand his supportfor equality; what I didn’t hear is that civil rights of human beings are any more important than any other political issue he faces. (the rest, though, seems to be a “cover Obama’s butt cause he is still wonderful” post)

Most of the left, in particular those who are gay, seem to be whacking Obama with a switch, much like the Right did with Bush and Dubai Ports, Harriet Miers, NCLB, expansion of Medicaid prescriptions, spending, and Amnesty, among others. Pretty much the majority of his domestic agenda. Though, a few try to cover for Obama.

Oh, and this wouldn’t be complete without the thoughts of Mad King Charles:

Here’s a preview of tomorrow’s right wing blogosphere/religious right (is there a difference?) Outrage of the Day: Obama tells gay rights group he will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.

I guess Chucky forgot to check with his buds in the left-o-sphere for their reactions. Nor did he reading down to paragraph 12. You stay stupid, Chucky! So, far, I’m seeing no outrage among all us “Creationists.” We understand this is simply actionless and empty campaign rhetoric.

Essentially, this was yet another empty promise from a guy who has voted “Present” on doing the job he campaigned for, so, welcome to the Neverending Campaign, liberals! Enjoy the show. Enjoy the promises. Don’t expect any to be fulfilled in actuality, though.

B. Daniel Blatt at Gay Patriot offers up his thoughts from the right.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU