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The video above has set off a firestorm on the blogosphere, angering many, if not all, in the gay community.
Text:
LESTER HOLT: John what we saw in that protest today, was it simply frustration or does it represent a serious problem the President is having with an important part of his base?
JOHN HARWOOD: As a practical matter Lester I don't think it's a serious problem. we've seen and certainly Bill Clinton learned that they Democratic President can get punished by the mainstream of the electorate for being too aggressive on social issues so for now I think the administration feels that if they take care of the big issues - health care, energy, the economy - he's going to be just fine with this group.
HOLT: But in general when yo look at the left as a whole, have there been conversations about some things they thought would have been done but haven't?
HARWOOD: Sure but If you look at the polling, Barack Obama is doing well with 90% or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the "internet left fringe" Lester. And for a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn't take this opposition one adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off their pajamas get dressed and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult.
Reactions are coming out fast and furiously, starting with the piece that I used for my title which came from Pam's House Blend:
So which Barack Obama is it -- the one who said to challenge him, or a fragile flower that panders to LGBTs then has a coward source backstab? To me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this.
Or do I just need to fold my hands in my pajama-clad, Cheetos-stained lap like a good homo?
Aravosis from AmericaBlog:
So the gay community, and its concerns about President Obama's inaction, and backtracking, on DADT and DOMA, are now, according to President Obama's White House, part of a larger "fringe" that acts like small children who play in their pajamas and need to grow up. (And a note to our readers: The White House just included all of you in that loony "left fringe.")
I wonder how the Human Rights Campaign is going to explain how the White House just knifed our community less than 24 hours after he went to their dinner and claimed he was our friend.
Dissenting Justice:
Fifth, I am a proud member of the Internet Left Fringe (if that means "progressive critic of Obama"), but I never put much stock in the sweeping liberal rhetoric that surrounded Obama's election. I agreed with Hillary Clinton who said that "you campaign in poetry but govern in prose." I said a long time ago that the liberal euphoria surrounding Obama's candidacy was misguided and that Obama was going to govern from the center because the country was politically divided and that he was a moderate -- at best.
Open Left:
Here is what I have learned about running the country from this:
1. Mock those who do not dress to your standards, implying that their attire is reflective of deeper, intellectual deficiencies.
2. Believe that the country is closely divided even when you have a clear majority.
3. Give anonymous quotes implying that your boss doesn't take a group seriously even as your boss is speaking to said group.
Basically, it seems to involve simultaneously internalizing and projecting a sense of paranoia.
Which is, you know, a pretty sound technique for building up a political party, much less a country. The key to governing is to use anonymous quotes to stir up resentment against people who publish their thoughts through independent online mediums. Or, if bloggers don't work for you, really whatever other group of people you feel is useful to stereotype and build up public resentment against.
CBS News' Political Hotsheet says the message from the White House to the gay community on the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, is "Don't hold your breath."
CBS News Chief Political Correspondent John Dickerson says the message from the administration is: Don't hold your breath.
"The indication from the White House is they want to show the president is still committed to this, but that it's further down on the list of priorities," Dickerson told "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith. "He's got a lot in front of him, and the big question is how much political capital he'll put behind this. Will he pressure Congress? Will he pressure the Pentagon?
"There's just no indication right now that he's going to spend his political capital in that way."
That about sums it up.
Obama's speech to the gay community, which has been called, by the gay community, nothing more than a repeat of his campaign promises which are contrary to the actual actions of the white house, was simply a way for Obama to try to keep his base satisfied with "promises", in order to protect as many Democrats as he can going in to the 2010 elections.
The speech itself was no more than his preemptive campaigning speech for the 2012 presidential election.
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