UPDATED: You say you want an evolution, well you know, we'd all love to see the plan*
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UPDATED: You say you want an evolution, well you know, we'd all love to see the plan*
UPDATE: I wrote a longer riff on the same theme for the dead-tree Daily News -- you can read that here.
Look what's happening down in D.C.....Got an evolution (got an evolution!):**
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday ended nearly two years of “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage by publicly endorsing it in a television interview, taking a definitive stand on one of the most contentious and politically charged social issues of the day.
“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Mr. Obama told ABC News in an interview that came after the president faced mounting pressure to clarify his position.
In an election that is all but certain to turn on the slowly recovering economy and its persistently high jobless rate, Mr. Obama’s stand nonetheless injects a volatile social issue into the campaign debate and puts him at even sharper odds with his presumptive Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who opposes same-sex marriage and favors an amendment to the United States Constitution to forbid it.
I have mixed feelings about this for a lot of reasons. I don't think Obama's evolution is that unusual; a lot of the more-than-half of all Americans who support gay marriage -- myself included -- were not so sure just a couple of years ago. (Personally, I think that government should get out of the marriage business altogether and just recognize civil unions for any type of couple, and that marriage should be a social function that includes houses of worship but obviously not limited to just them; it doesn't matter what I think because that's not going to happen). But Obama sure was slow -- I think fish developed legs and walked on land in a shorter period of time.
That's just the Obama we all know and...feel lukewarm about. Just once I'd love to see him out front on a social-justice issue instead of adopting a decent stance after everyone else has spoken out. But that, too, is not going to happen. You could say that Obama is once again leading from behind -- although I wouldn't recommend you do that.
I'm opposed to same sex marriage. I forget, does Obama support aborting babies too? Why doesn't he come out and say his "Christianity" was a political move. The Bible is clear on this, "men (as in humans) traded natural relations for unnatural relations." There's no gray area. He can have his opinion, but shouldn't play both sides of the fence.— ptahan- This is not a new revelation. His ample ego just couldn't tolerate the ridicule from 90% of Americans who thought his "evolving" position was a transparent political maneuver. What a mockery this guy is.
At least he bought himself three days to not have to talk about his economic policy failures.— Mr. Smith 
Comment removed.- Break out the Etch-a Sketch.— jmc
- I have nothing against gay population of the USA. What I'm against is how fast Obama is flip-flopping on the issue when it suit him. He was against private financing of elections before his was for it. He was against PACs before he was for it. He was against gay marriage before he was for it. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Can't he choose a position and stick with it for a change? I guess he can't.— hollandpa
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Yes, why doesn't he have the consistency of Mitt Romney?— DiTurno - Kerry McRomney and his cult of a religion will attract the white, uneducated, lower income folks. All is well....— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- Will can finally marry that guy Maddow.— Timo3004
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Ha -- that's funny! Homophobic, misogynist, and lacking in anything resembling grammar! Yay!— DiTurno - Comment removed.
- “when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf…”
-Barack Narcissus Obama— Mr. Smith - holland, he was also against raising the debt ceiling before he was for it, was against medical marijuana raids before he was for them, and was against the individual mandate before he was for it.— RG
- RG, do you actually plan out the stuff you make up, or do you improvise? — DiTurno
- He was against Guantanamo before he was for it.
He was against drone strikes in Pakistan before he was for it.
He was against dedicating troops to fight in more countries before he was for it (Libya, Yemen).
He was against cutting taxes before he was for it.
- Interesting gambit by the President. And I don't think for a second it was not carefully calculated.— ICDogg
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