Obama and the Gays

A reader writes:

Yesterday, I went to see Barack Obama speak at North Carolina Central University, a "Historically Black College" in Durham, North Carolina.  The vast majority of the crowd was black.  In his riffing on what groups we cannot allow to be scapegoated in the next election, Barack built to and concluded with "homosexuals" … to the conspicuous (and regrettable) silence of the crowd.

It wasn’t the "right" thing to say politically, but it was the right thing to say.  The national media certainly wouldn’t have reported on it had he left homosexuality out of this particular speech.  All he accomplished, by sticking to his principles, was run the risk of alienating people whose support he desperately needs.  Though, in fairness, this did cement my support.

Andrew, this man is a strong ally.  Anyone for whom sexuality issues are important would be making a grievous error to jump his ship over the Donnie McClurkin fiasco.

Can you imagine Senator Clinton defending "homosexuals" in front of a non-gay crowd? Unimaginable.

Schumer and Feinstein Surrender

They both intend to vote for Mukasey, despite his refusal to state that torture, as practised by this administration, is illegal. Every time the Democrats fold on these matters, Cheney tucks a precedent under his belt. Every time they cave into their cowardice and fear, another critical part of our liberty disappears. These precedents are designed to destroy the rule of law and replace it with the rule of a Decider. And they will last for ever, as will the right to torture, because this war is for ever. This is how democracies perish. The rule of law no longer has any party to defend it. The Republicans want no check on the powers of our de facto protectorate. And the Democrats have no spine. We live under the lawless protectorate we deserve. And such lawlessness is always the result when cowards refuse to confront bullies.

America The Unfriendly

Another sign of what’s going on: some big-name Finnish musicians come to Minnesota for a music tour. One is allegedly the "Bruce Springsteen" of Finland. They’ve done nothing wrong. But this is what they get at the airport:

Immigration agents at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport subjected them to more than two hours of interrogation that the musicians considered so harsh and demeaning that they filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki.

"It was almost three hours of screaming, door-slamming and accusations, according to the report I received," said Marianne Wargelin, honorary Finnish consul for the Dakotas and most of Minnesota, which has the second largest Finnish-American population in the nation…

"They threatened us with severe punishments if we talk to each other," according to the complaint signed by musicians Ninni Poijärvi and Mika Kuokkanen, "Through the walls, I can hear officers yelling, screaming. They ask about the purpose of our trip — except we are only allowed to give yes-or-no answers. I try to talk about our plans to meet with Finnish-American folk musicians. Nobody listens. They interrupt me constantly and they yell, ‘You are a liar!"’

Oh, and welcome to America.

Dept Of Chutzpah

"I think Bill [O’Reilly] asked the governor [Huckabee] if he really believed in Adam and Eve.  The answer doesn’t matter to me so much as what the question represents:  A huge breach in the previously widely respected understanding that such questions are not asked of presidential candidates and, if asked, politely turned aside as inappropriate in a nation built on the premise that religious tests are unconstitutional in law and that politics is best kept very clear of theological disputes appropriate to church debates and academic settings," – Hugh Hewitt, one of the main architects of turning the GOP into a sectarian, fundamentalist organization, and demanding adherence to a set of religiously-based propositions as a condition of being a GOP nominee. Now, of course, he needs a Mormon to enforce theoconservatism, doctrinal issues are suddenly verboten. Alas, they’re not. You fuse politics with religion, you have to live with the consequences.

Honest Obe

A reader writes:

I’m a Republican and I pray to God that Obama gets the nomination. I’ll vote for him in a heartbeat. He’s a rational man who understands and respects the people that he wants to represent. With this attitude, he shows the public that he believes in what we can accomplish together. It’s not what HE can do for us, it’s what WE can do together. Reagan was the last president who seemed this optimistic about the American public, and it goes a long way towards explaining his appeal. I would go so far as to say that Reagan’s appeal here in the Midwest was really never about policy per se, but about his disposition. He believed in Americans. Obama can go there, and does with striking clarity. It’s not an act, like Clinton, it’s a belief system.