Since I haven't blogged on anything else this week, this is sort of a coda. I may add to it later, but I have another running around day ahead.
If a preschooler can figure it out, what's wrong with Obama?* Very nice story I found in my e-mail from a friend.
* And the Pope, and the Elders of the LDS Church,and Maggie Gallagher, and Michael Heath, and all the people who have voted for constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.
I told you there would likely be more.
Andrew Sullivan has fnally had it. John Aravosis quotes it in full here. (He doesn't link to it, and my system can't handle The Atlantic very well this morning. If I'm able to get a direct link, I'll paste it in.) I decided to post the whole thing -- Aravosis is right: it can't really be excerpted.
One way to get the Obama administration's attention on civil rights is for gay people to stop funding the Democrats. That's all these people care about anyway when it comes to gays: our money. If the Democrats refuse to support us, refuse to support them. This is a start. But we need to get more creative. We need actions to highlight the administration's betrayals, postponements and boilerplate. We need to start confronting the president at his events. We need civil disobedience. We need to tell him we do not want another fricking speech where he tells us he is a fierce advocate for our rights, when that is quite plainly at this point not true. We will not tolerate another Clinton. No invites to these people for dinners or fundraisers. No cheering him at events while he does nothing to follow up on his explicit promises. Of course these things can be done. If anyone high up in the Obama administration or the Pelosi-Reid Congress gave a damn, much would have been done.
We need to swamp Pelosi with phone-calls.
We need to target Reid for his inaction. We have to pressure Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin not to excuse the disdain that the Obama administration is showing toward gay equality, and their cynical use of our votes, money and passion to enforce real and potent discrimination against us and our families. And we have to refuse to attend White House signing ceremonies like yesterday's farce. Really: until they are serious, we should not be coopted and placated with pathetic sops. I am not a Clintonite. I worked my ass off to get this man to power. On many issues, I support him and will continue to do so.
But I am a proud, self-respecting gay man with HIV. And I am not going to take this crap for much longer on civil rights. Fight back. Act Up.
Aravosis has also posted a really good comment from one of his readers:
I believe we may have arrived at another turning point. It is still early days, but I sense there has been a shift in the mood of a significant and highly vocal segment of our community as we have made the unpleasant and highly painful realization that we have - once again - simply been strung along by the Democratic party.
Read the whole thing -- it's solid.
Not to pat myself on the back, but this is where I've been for a week, pretty much. I seem to recall that I went on record as supporting Obama with strong reservations. I'm sort of disappointed to have been right.
I'm just going to say it again: the Democrats are not our friends. They're not going to do anything for us until we make them. The only way to get them to pay attention is to make them feel pain. No money, no effort, no votes, until we see actual results.
Update:
Check out this report from CBS News. Doesn't pull any punches.
Update II:
The Stonewall Democrats are also up in arms. Ben Smith has a report at Politico. As John Aravosis notes, these are not activists, and have been the most reliable supporters of the Democrats since their founding. This is major.
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