Letters to the Editor
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Steve Gilliard used to write about this
And we sure miss him.
But, Pam, what is Obama to do? This is a real issue, that is much easier for a white politician to avoid. He can't throw the homophobes in the black community under the bus; he especially won't do so if he listens to the very cautious media advisers he clearly has hired.
Do you think that if he were to come out loud and strong for gay rights, he'd be better off?
I suppose it's possible; from what Steve wrote (which is pretty much all I know about this), this seems to be an issue for black men rather than black women. Would a strong position on gay rights peel some of the black female support away from Clinton?
I don't know. I do know that if he spent less time calculating and more time speaking out, he'd be cutting into Clinton's lead instead of growing it.
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Well Duh
In Tennessee a congressman from Memphis (Steve Cohen D-TN 9th dist.) was recently excoriated at a black minister's breakfast meeting when the Congressman called for their support of an anti hatespeech bill. What he discovered was that the black ministry was opposed because they didn't wanted to be limited in their own hate speech against gays.
Like I keep saying. There are enough social conservatives in the Democratic party to assure a GOP win if there's a 3rd party challenge.
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Obama's dilemma
A declaration by Obama at these concerts condemning homophobia would only work if the performers bought into it, and that's anything but a given considering... well... their vehement homophobia. It seems to me there's a lot more potential for it to backfire and make the candidate look foolish.
I'm sympathetic to Obama's predicament here. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If he has any leverage with these people, this would be the time to use it.
Unfortunately, this is a textbook example of how different minority groups are easily divided and conquered by the right.
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What would King do?
Unfortunately, and sadly, I don't know much of the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. outside of some of his speeches, but I would be curious to know if King held strong opinions on sexuality, or if he viewed it in the same lens as the Civil rights struggle.
I would like to think, based on what I know from his legend, he wouldn't be afraid to stand in front of a congregation with a homophobic pastor and say: "It's time to change the way we think. It's time for all God's children to be equal before him and before the law. And as people who struggled, and continue to struggle for our own equality, we are uniquely sympathetic to the plight of gays in this country in their struggle, and we stand with them."
I'd like to think he would do that. I'd like to think he would change minds. I'd like to think Obama has that power, that charisma, that ability. He just has yet to show it. But maybe I should be accused of listening too much to our history books, and not enough to the writings of the figures in them.
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Color me stupid
Civil liberties... civil rights... these should *not* be hot button topics. If I consider why they are hot button, it takes me right back to the Religious Right, Right Wing Authoritarians, and the 24-29% every time. I can understand why that quarter to a third of the electorate would be important to someone on the campaign trail. However, is it not also true that NOT everyone in those groups is a de facto homophobe? Polls consistently indicate that those born after the Baby Boom are a good deal more accepting - even if they're Republicans. I don't get the stance our Democratic candidates are taking. I don't get it at all.
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And Don't Forget Jesus
Obama should give a short speech, as appropriate, urging tolerance. But he also should mention that Jesus was not intolerant. These folks are hypocrites for saying they walk with Jesus at the same time they express such rank bigotry.
You can be uncomfortable with the gay lifestyle but it should never blind you to the humanity of each person you encounter, nor should it cause you to reject people or view them as inferior because they are different from you. Certainly the black community knows that truth first hand.
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It's tough, but if he's a leader it's not that tough
One poster wrote: "He can't throw the homophobes in the black community under the bus."
We on the left aren't so understanding about Republicans, so let's not make a soft environment for our own. Pam's right, he needs to speak out whatever the consequences. Anything less would suggest that he isn't much of a leader.
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re: What would King do?
Well Coretta Scott King was very clear on the issue. Pehaps Obama should look there for inspiration. Obama knew exactly who he was crawling in bed with when he joined this little gospel circus. His mealy mouthed responce is just another dodge. He wants it both ways.
Remember who advised John Kerry to make high profile public appearances denouncing same sex marriage in the final weeks of the the 2004 campaign: the One and Only Bill Clinton. It is a true measure of Kerry's character that he listened to Clinton and then told his people "I would never do that." My guess is that BOTH Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama will turn their backs on gays to court the toxic Christian right (as though they'd ever get their votes, black or white).
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re: well duh
Obviously that's only true if the percentage of defections of social conservatives among Democrats is equal to or greater than the percentage of such defections among Republicans.
I don't think that anyone will argue that there aren't social conservatives in the Democratic party, but it's reasonable to expect that if the religous right made good on its threats to run a third party candidate, the net loss would go to the Republicans. Whether the loss would be great enough to tip the election is another matter, but if such a third party candidate were expected to have a neutral or even beneficial effect for the Republicans, there wouldn't be much purpose behind Dobson's threat, would there?
However, maybe Dobson really is just a deluded old man who doesn't have as much clout as he thinks he has, but in that case Bush has certainly wasted a lot of time and effort (and dare I say, political capital) courting him.