My thoughts on Obama

There's been a lot of Obama-hating going on and I have mostly kept quiet. But then today I wrote this email to a friend and I think it sums up exactly how I feel about everything. So in the spirit of internet sharing here is the email I wrote this morning to a friend who also happens to be a gay man.

From the email....(which btw started as a response to an unrelated Lady Gaga quote that my friend added an anti Obama message to. Also note - said friend is not a racist or crazy person and I encourage my friends to have their own opinions. Okay now you can read it.)

Ahem....From The Email:

I can't sit back and deal with the Obama bashing - I think everyone is entitled to their opinion based on what they feel is true and right so here's mine:

List of presidents worse than Obama

1. every president til Lyndon Johnson
2. Nixon
3. Reagan
4. both Bushes

I would not put Obama on this list. He made promises that were too idealistic to be realistically fulfilled in the political climate that exists right now but he hasn't deliberately mislead the American public. He hasn't put us into a war for nothing and killed thousands of soldiers for a means to an end that never was. Has he sat back when he should have been more vocal? Yes. Is that not cool at all? No it's not.

There are a lot of things that Obama has not handled in a way that I would have liked. I think he should have come straight out for gay rights because there are basic civil rights that are no doubt being unjustly denied to a entire group of American citizens. However for some context:

NY State abolished slavery in 1785. Slavery didn't end in NY until 1857.

The 14th amendment was passed in 1868. Blacks didn't get the basic civil rights in ALL of America until 1964.

I couldn't marry a white man before 1967

I do firmly believe that in less than 5 years gays will have equal rights in all aspects from marriage to adoption and for sure serve in the military. And while the gay struggle has been going on since the beginning of time, it only got really organized in the past 40 or so. And I think 40 years from going from living on the fringes and not being able to come out as who you really are to high schools that have open LBGT programs is really amazing. Considering that from 1865-1964 blacks were 2nd class citizens in the south even thought their country's constitution guaranteed their rights, its really fucking amazing.

America is a racist nation - it sucks but it;s true. I think change will come but I don't think it will be the all encompassing change that we idealize. I think it will be that on paper gays can marry just like on paper I can marry a white guy. But I still get double takes when I walk down the street with said guy in any place that's not New York.

I'm not trying to say you need to love Obama - you don't. He hasn't lived up to what you wanted him to be and its okay to kick him to the curb because of that. The beauty of being an American is that you can think whatever the fuck you want. But I really would like for you to remember that your people aren't the only ones who had to pull thru dark and shitty administrations before being able to see the light. And when you get pissed about what his administration isn't doing, remember that we've had a couple of centuries full of those. The problem isn't Obama - it's way bigger than Obama and I don't have any good ideas on how to fix something so broken.


PS CAN'T WAIT TO GO DANCING.

LOVE YOU GUYS AND NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT.


End of Email.

Sidenote - unrelated: I really love this site - go there and find some fun new music.

Sidenote - related: So sue me if some of those dates are wrong - I got in the general vicinity and I never claimed that this was an effing research paper - THAIIINNNKKKYA