...
always count on Americans to do the right thing-after they've tried everything else Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill "...
a recent Gallup poll finding that, for the first time in the poll's history, a majority of Americans support the legalization of gay marriage, 53% to 45%.
But, one-fourth of Americans still say that Obama's support for gay marriage will make them less likely to vote for him in November, while 13% say they're now more likely to vote in his favor.
" Right-leaning media/politicians have characterized Obama's support of gay marriage as political maneuvering and shameless pandering to his base.
They won't accept his explanation that his children's views and real legal concerns have caused him to reexamine his position.
Moderate voices say that he is merely reflecting our cultures maturation.
However, in this nasty head-bashing political environment everything is a political; so nothing he says will be taken at face-value.
Conservatives see his "evolution" as a matter of political calculus and some say that he has effectively handed the presidency to Romney.
Others think that he is simply living up to the promise he made, vowing to be president of all the people.
Is it possible that after enduring the meat grinder of partisan extremism his theme song has changed from "Impossible Dream" to "I gotta be me"? It's no great leap to conclude that his background and experiences inform his politics.
We all know that he was a community organizer for the disenfranchised, a life-long member of a minority group and a constitutional scholar.
Therefore, he ought to take these words seriously: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
" Obama's promise of change Despite spending much of his presidency up against the ropes engaged in a relentless brawl with a determined opposition, he has managed to "rope- a- dope" through some meaningful legislation.
This includes the mangled/endangered healthcare bill (so called "Obamacare"), "race to the top" education initiatives, dismantling of "don't ask don't tell", strong consumer protection measures, removal of barriers for stem cell research, new safeguards for women's reproductive rights, and his executive order to halt the deportation of young Hispanics.
As for DOMA (defense of marriage act), Obama certainly knows that he is not likely to find any compromise on this issue.
Consequently, he must settle for the next best thing; refuse to enforce this law on legal grounds.
Defense of Marriage Act "contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships - precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution's) Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.
" [Eric H.
Holder, Jr.
Attorney General] President Obama has bought us a measure of "change we can believe in" despite dealing with unprecedented pushback-- even blatant disrespect punctuated by a congressman shouting "You lie.
" during the 2009 State of the Union address, Arizona's governor pointed a scolding finger in his face and as he was making a statement from the Rose Garden about a new immigration policy, and a reporter from The Daily Caller, a conservative news Web site, repeatedly raised his voice and tried to interrupt.
Obama has become our modern era President Rodney Dangerfield.
If we are honest, we must conclude that the reasons for his "special treatment" include racial bigotry, ranting ideologues and the sorry state of our economy.
We have to question why this is the first modern president to routinely suffer so many indignities.
Race has become a radioactive four letter word in these PC times.
Obama's team and the media rarely discuss his "special" treatment.
The ugly ramifications of being the first black president are simply too hot to handle.
For the most part, they are leaving the discussion of this "elephant in the room" to the historians.
But a few courageous journalist and political leaders are beginning to say that they think race is a contributing factor.
In this age of hyper- partisanship, race is the low hanging fruit that easily appeals to some elements lower instincts.
The "birthers" have effectively advanced the idea that he is an outsider and not capable of representing the real America.
Of course, the insertion of race and religion are age-old dirty tricks that reliably incite partisan passions.
De-ligitimization of Obama Obama's detractors have skillfully depicted him as an outsider; a left-wing radical of foreign heritage--although he was raised by a white mother and white grandparents and has proven to all reasonable observers that he was indeed born in America.
As for the left-wing extremist tag, right wing ideologues circulated posters showing him with Hitler's mustache and swastikas.
Is this free expression, madness or something deeply malevolent? Most academics characterize Obama's style and substance as reflective of a centrist-- pragmatic politician.
However, his political opponents have effectively kept the lies alive that suggest he is a closet-socialist with strong Kenyan and Muslim roots.
They also want us to believe that his affinity for the teachings of Reverend Wright makes him especially Un-American.
Brilliant minds, different philosophies...
same dilemma Arch-conservative chief Justice Roberts and so-called "raging liberal" President Obama despite their political differences have a genuine desire to make our system work.
Both have frequently expressed their frustration with "old-school" partisan politics.
When they took office they both expressed a fervent desire to see their respective colleagues rise above partisan politics.
These lofty dreamers have had a rude awakening.
AMERICANS OVERWHELMING BELIEVE IDEOLOGY DRIVES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS | A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that three in four Americans believe that Supreme Court justices "sometimes let their own ideological views influence their decisions" IN 2006, AT THE END of his first term as Chief, Roberts told me in an interview that he thought it was bad for the Court and the country when the justices handed down decisions by ideologically polarized, 5-4 votes.
Roberts said he would make it his mission, as Chief Justice, to persuade his colleagues to avoid 5-4 rulings on constitutional grounds and instead to converge around narrow, unanimous opinions that both liberals and conservatives could embrace.
"I do think the rule of law is threatened by a steady term after term after term focus on 5-4 decisions," Roberts told me.
"I think the Court is ripe for a similar refocus on functioning as an institution, because if it doesn't, it's going to lose its credibility and legitimacy as an institution.
And to the extent that my colleagues share that concern, we should be able to make some progress.
" [Are Liberals Trying to Intimidate John Roberts?, Jeffrey Rosen May 28, 2012] "My goal is to get us out of this polarizing debate, where we're always trying to score cheap political points, and actually get things done," he has said.
Obama presents himself as a post-partisan political leader.
In an, he said that he just wants to do what works for the American people.
"Both at the state legislative level and at the federal legislative level, I have always been able to work together with Republicans to find compromise and to find common ground," [interview on Fox News Sunday] Ogletree remembers the student who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault.
After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X.
And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y.
And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was...
" at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" - Harvard classmate Ken Mack That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.
[ http://www.
npr.
org/2012/05/22/153214284/Obama 's-Harvard-days-began-with-exclamation-point ] They have a few other noteworthy things in common.
While attending Harvard both showed great promise early on.
Obama became president of the Harvard Law Review and Judge Roberts was the managing editor.
Clearly America is fortunate to have these two brilliant minds rise to the pinnacle of our nation's leadership.
Unfortunately, superior intellect and masterful communications skill is no match for the partisan mania that has taken over our politics.
The trickle-down believers have presided over destabilization of the global economy, decimation of our middle class and even allowed the devaluation of our currency because our congress would rather circle the wagons then fix a deeply flawed system.
This stubborn "stand- your- ground" mentality will not work in government.
As Jeb Bush is now pointing out, a dogmatic clinging to extreme ideologies is creating a culture of toxic politics where compromise is considered weakness.
He points out that not even Ronald Reagan or George H.
W.
Bush would have not been able to fit into this new agenda.
Diversity and tolerance have been regarded as core American values.
These qualities have made us the most vibrant democracy on earth.
The inscription on the Statue of Liberty says "Give me your tired...
your poor-- your huddled masses yearning to be free.
" There is no reference to a political party, religion, social status or sexual orientation.
One can argue that our election of a black president is "poetic justice"-America's noble sublimation.
Few believed that a man of mixed race...
specifically black-white dissent could rise to the highest office of our land.
When he was first elected, many of us became wildly optimistic and spoke of post-racial era beginning.
We now know we were caught up in the moment.
But still-it was possible and this dream came true in America.
On the night he won, there was a sea of Americans of all backgrounds embracing and delirious with joy.
Every country-- even China's news outlet celebrated this historic election.
The world was ready for America's return to greatness.
Our journey...
Astounding Un-American moments: [1837] The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native Americans, including many members of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw nations among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the Western United States.
The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.
Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee.
By 1837, 46,000 [ 1848] the first Woman's Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York.
The convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock, Martha White, and Jane Hunt.
In their "Declaration of Sentiments," patterned on the Declaration of Independence, the convention members demanded social and political equality for women.
Their motto was that "All men and women are created equal" and the convention demanded suffrage for women [1857] The Dred Scott Decision was a decision by the United States Supreme Court that ruled that people of African descent imported into the United States and held as slaves, or their descendants-whether or not they were slaves-were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States.
It also held that the United States Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.
[1942] The US government came to the conclusion that interning Japanese-American citizens was the best of a number of bad options.
Roughly a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans ended up in camps.
U.
S.
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 on February 19, uprooting Japanese Americans on the west coast to be sent to Internment camps.
The order led to the internment of Japanese Americans or AJAs (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) in which some 120,000 ethnic Japanese people were held in internment camps for the duration of the war [1950-1954] McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.
Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of U.
S.
Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts.
During the post-World War II era of McCarthyism, many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies.
Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment.
] Obama's opposition have been very effective in terms of demonizing every effort Obama has made to push through legislation ranging from sustainable energy to tax reform.
This even applies to legislation they formerly supported.
Their strategy seems to be that if they can preserve this painful status quo, and run out the clock-they will convince the electorate that he is clueless and ineffective and fulfill Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's stated primary objective:" Hold Obama to a one-term presidency".
McConell expressed no concern as to rampant foreclosures, loss of jobs, matters of inequality, education reform, poverty, or ending wars.
One thing is clear.
No amount of brain power, goodwill, determination, or conciliatory gestures can compete with this level of entrenched factionalism.
Our political arena has reached the sorry state where name calling and head-bashing is an end unto itself.
There was a time when we looked at other cultures that stooped to these antics with disgust and amazement.
Traditionally, while we have always valued spirited debate, we have stopped short of "my way or the highway" politics.
Now-politicians are content to conduct themselves as if they are engaged in an MMA extreme cage fighting match.
"Dig in and don't retreat at any cost", are their marching orders.
It would probably do congress a lot of good to contemplate the words of one of our founding fathers.
"Mr.
President: I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present, but Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it: For having lived long, I have experienced many Instances of being oblig'd, by better Information or fuller Consideration, to change Opinions even on important Subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.
It is therefore that the older I grow the more apt I am to doubt my own Judgment, and to pay more Respect to the Judgment of others.
Most Men indeed as well as most Sects in Religion, think themselves in Possession of all Truth, and that wherever others differ from them it is so far Error.
" [Benjamin Franklin's Final Speech in the Constitutional Convention from the notes of James Madison] Obama's awakening...
a plausible evolution [Sullivan argues that Obama's life, as the son of a black father and white mother, helps him understand the plight of gay men and lesbians.
He writes: "I have always sensed that he intuitively understands gays and our predicament-because it so mirrors his own.
And he knows how the love and sacrifice of marriage can heal, integrate, and rebuild a soul.
"] A critical look back at our young democracy reveals that we have cast out many demons over the past two and a half centuries; but still have a long way to go before we can say we reflect the values of our own Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
While stumbling into greatness America has had many dark chapters in our evolution.
Even in our last 50 years, religious/racial bias had become so central to our culture that John F Kennedy's election ( first Catholic president) in 1961 was a considered a milestone.
Obama's election has been regarded as the realization of the "Impossible Dream".
"Exceptionalism" is central to the conservative assertion that we represent the gold standard for democratic ambitions.
However, the truth is that America has miles to go before we realize the dreams/vision expressed by our sacred documents.
We are indeed a work in progress.
Sadly, for most of our history only those in the "good ole boy club" have enjoyed the promises of our most sacred documents.
Every group that has arrived on these shores has had to scratch and claw to enjoy full participation.
The exclusive country club only welcomed white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males.
Immigrants, women, and non-protestants have fought, petitioned, marched and lost their lives in the pursuit of the American dream.
Those pursuing marriage equality have been forced to endure the same crucible.
We have another opportunity for our country to live up to the promise of freedom and equality for all of our citizens.
While none of us can be sure why Obama finally decided it was time to declare his support for gay marriage.
We can certainly hope that he acted out of a sense of moral urgency and not political expedience.
A sad truth-- despite the fact that the majority of Americans now accept gay marriage, Congress is content to ignore this evolution and fan the fires of their partisan agenda.
Undoubtedly, speculating about Obama's motives is the perfect topic for revving up partisan feelings-but maybe it's time to turn our attention to the cost we are all paying for the devolution of our political system; rather than the evolution of Obama's views on gay marriage.