| nuckles87 said:
Dick Cheney isn't anti-gay, though. He actually endorsed gay marriage back in 2009. Obama isn't anti-gay either. He campaigned in 2008 on repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He went out of his way to make sure it he got to repeal it in 2010, taking unneeded political risk when he didn't really need to due to the Supreme Court decision. He signed a hate crimes bill that defined anti-gay acts as hate crimes. He expanded the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover gay parents who adopt children, and later extended health coverage to those children. Obama was never anti-gay. He was just, like every politician, measured in his support of gay rights in order to ensure he doesn't alienate a large swath of the voting block which, until a few years ago, WAS pretty anti-gay. He hasn't been a perfect candidate on this issue, but he certainly isn't "anti-gay", and he is certainly no more cowardly then ANY other politician who's ever successfully run for a presidential nomination. If anything he's shown more balls then most, given that Republicans have been able to use it as a political cudgal to energize their base, a cudgial he didn't need to give them. There is little, if any electoral upside to this position for him.
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He repealed don't as don't tell... which voided the court decision which set back gay rights because it removed the precedents the case set... as was specifically mentioned by the panel who voided the court case.
The reason he did this wasn't to take uneeded political risk, it was to prevent the credit from DADT's removal to be given to the group who filed the lawsuit. AKA the Log Cabin Republicans.
Now that he's done so, the court decision has been voided, and legislation like DADT can be enacted whenever the political climates align.
Unlike if he would of let the court decision handle it... then DADT would of been defeated forever... and it would of set legal precedent to allow a claim for transgendered people who aren't allowed in the military... since the ruling stated that the military had to show extreme proof for any exclusionary policy... and having surgery on your gentials i don't really see effecting combat.
Though no... it's only a cowardly decision for those who believe gay marriage is a right. For Obama it's an easy and cowardly way to say "Hey i support you guys, but not enough to piss anybody off, because while the polls have finally swung so that more people want gay marriage then don't... it's still close."
I remember back in the day when progressive politcians stood up and advocated for equal rights back when it was unpopular... not the hedging they do today.
Hell, Theodore Roosevelt was outspoken about Women's suffarage!
