Barack Obama is causing me trouble. Me, personally.
The president and first lady are making a habit – a very public habit – of reserving one night a week for a date. Marriage maintenance is important for couples who’ve been together a while, especially if they have kids and the day job demands plenty of attention and energy.
So, it’s great to see the first couple going out to eat or catching a Broadway play. (Some of the Obamas’ opponents have sniped that the Broadway excursion cost the taxpayers money. They’re right. It did. What did those many long weekends in Crawford cost? Why didn’t those same people mention that?)
So I think it’s great the example-setters-in-chief are seen holding hands and making time for each other. On these warm, early-summer nights, it’s nice for Adrienne and I to take an evening stroll along the lakeside, maybe stop for a creamee. (That’s Vermont vernacular for soft-serve ice cream.)
I mentioned the Obamas’ example on one of these strolls, but I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for. “Obama date night?” Adrienne said. “You think this is Obama date night? This is not Obama date night. This is….this is Joe Biden date night.”
Ouch.
Hey, I don’t have access to Gulfstream jets or a ranch in Texas. We all do what we can with the budget at hand. (Thus, creamees.) Still, no one wants to feel like a second-class citizen.
Gay and lesbian Americans feel like second-class citizens because, well, because they are. Lesbians and gays approach first-class citizenship here in Vermont and a handful of other states, but as far as the federal government goes, fugheddaboutit.
When Mr. Obama was running for president, he criticized the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA), which defines marriage as occurring between a man and a woman. On the other hand, he’s said he thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman. (What’s the difference between saying you believe it and criticizing the law that says it? Ask law professor Barack Obama. Maybe it depends on how you define the word “was.”)
Two weeks ago today the Obama Justice Department filed a brief in federal court supporting DoMA. Perhaps there’s some room to give Mr. Obama benefit of the doubt here. Like it or not, DoMA is federal law. The executive branch does have a duty to defend legitimately passed laws, no matter how wrong-headed they may be.
The language of the brief, however, compared same-sex marriage to incest. Incest, really? Really. This is the kind of language one might expect from Rick Santorum, not Barack Obama. How does that happen? Of course, Mr. Obama didn’t write the brief himself, nor did Attorney General Eric Holder. But people who work for them did and, yes, it all does flow from the top.
Speaking of Joe Biden date nights, the vice president is hosting a Democratic fundraiser in Washington tonight in which the party will be attempting to squeeze funds from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community. Talk about bad timing.
Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin was to be honored at the dinner for his role in passing our same-sex marriage bill. After the 11 June Justice Department brief, he wrote the Dems to say he’s not coming. “By defending DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans,” he wrote, “the Administration has chosen discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to be more courageous in defending.”
Sen. Shumlin is not alone in passing on the dinner and Mr. Biden may well be close to alone tonight as he dines with the crickets. Unfortunately, rights for gay and lesbian Americans is not the only area where the Obama administration too closely resembles the Bush administration. There are civil liberties, global warming, government secrecy, global warming, bank regulation and global warming.
Hey, Mr. Obama! This is not about winning or losing the chess game with the Republicans and triangulating and blah, blah, blah. These issues are important to the lives of Americans today and more important tomorrow. Last November’s was a “change” election, remember? Straighten up. Fly right.
Joe Biden Date Night
Barack Obama is causing me trouble. Me, personally.
The president and first lady are making a habit – a very public habit – of reserving one night a week for a date. Marriage maintenance is important for couples who’ve been together a while, especially if they have kids and the day job demands plenty of attention and energy.
So, it’s great to see the first couple going out to eat or catching a Broadway play. (Some of the Obamas’ opponents have sniped that the Broadway excursion cost the taxpayers money. They’re right. It did. What did those many long weekends in Crawford cost? Why didn’t those same people mention that?)
So I think it’s great the example-setters-in-chief are seen holding hands and making time for each other. On these warm, early-summer nights, it’s nice for Adrienne and I to take an evening stroll along the lakeside, maybe stop for a creamee. (That’s Vermont vernacular for soft-serve ice cream.)
I mentioned the Obamas’ example on one of these strolls, but I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for. “Obama date night?” Adrienne said. “You think this is Obama date night? This is not Obama date night. This is….this is Joe Biden date night.”
Ouch.
Hey, I don’t have access to Gulfstream jets or a ranch in Texas. We all do what we can with the budget at hand. (Thus, creamees.) Still, no one wants to feel like a second-class citizen.
Gay and lesbian Americans feel like second-class citizens because, well, because they are. Lesbians and gays approach first-class citizenship here in Vermont and a handful of other states, but as far as the federal government goes, fugheddaboutit.
When Mr. Obama was running for president, he criticized the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA), which defines marriage as occurring between a man and a woman. On the other hand, he’s said he thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman. (What’s the difference between saying you believe it and criticizing the law that says it? Ask law professor Barack Obama. Maybe it depends on how you define the word “was.”)
Two weeks ago today the Obama Justice Department filed a brief in federal court supporting DoMA. Perhaps there’s some room to give Mr. Obama benefit of the doubt here. Like it or not, DoMA is federal law. The executive branch does have a duty to defend legitimately passed laws, no matter how wrong-headed they may be.
The language of the brief, however, compared same-sex marriage to incest. Incest, really? Really. This is the kind of language one might expect from Rick Santorum, not Barack Obama. How does that happen? Of course, Mr. Obama didn’t write the brief himself, nor did Attorney General Eric Holder. But people who work for them did and, yes, it all does flow from the top.
Speaking of Joe Biden date nights, the vice president is hosting a Democratic fundraiser in Washington tonight in which the party will be attempting to squeeze funds from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community. Talk about bad timing.
Vermont Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin was to be honored at the dinner for his role in passing our same-sex marriage bill. After the 11 June Justice Department brief, he wrote the Dems to say he’s not coming. “By defending DOMA and making reference to horribly inaccurate and deeply hurtful stereotypes about gay and lesbian Americans,” he wrote, “the Administration has chosen discriminate against a minority group that we all have a responsibility to be more courageous in defending.”
Sen. Shumlin is not alone in passing on the dinner and Mr. Biden may well be close to alone tonight as he dines with the crickets. Unfortunately, rights for gay and lesbian Americans is not the only area where the Obama administration too closely resembles the Bush administration. There are civil liberties, global warming, government secrecy, global warming, bank regulation and global warming.
Hey, Mr. Obama! This is not about winning or losing the chess game with the Republicans and triangulating and blah, blah, blah. These issues are important to the lives of Americans today and more important tomorrow. Last November’s was a “change” election, remember? Straighten up. Fly right.
© Mark Floegel, 2009