Soundbite: Snap! Andrew Sullivan Smacks Down Obama’s Gay Rights Speech

by Glynnis MacNicol | 3:05 pm, October 12th, 2009

» 3 comments

6a00d83451c45669e20120a633b885970c-500wi “All I can say is: the president gave a speech he could have given at any point in the last three years…And he said it well and movingly. Like we didn’t know he could do that. But the point of electing a president who pledged to actually do things is to hold him to account, and to see if he is willing to take any risk of any kind to actually do something. I had a few prior tests of his seriousness or signs that he gets it, a few ways to judge if this speech had anything new or specific or clear. He failed every test.”

– Andrew Sullivan’s review of President Obama’s Saturday HRC speech on Gay rights, during which the president made headlines by suggesting he was ready to end the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.

Um, SNAP. Andrew Sullivan, whose conversion to Obamaism circa 2007 was both dramatic and complete, and extended to supporting the president being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week, is clearly underwhelmed by the president’s record on equal rights for gays. Sullivan’s fervent support of all things Obama does not, it would seem, extend to being an ‘Obama on Gay Rights’ apologist…by a long shot.

As a matter a fact, the cry of Obama better start putting his money where his soaring rhetoric appears to be growing a tad louder of late, no doubt pushed along by the Nobel win which seemed to bring even the most understanding doubters out of the shadows. But when a converted supporter like Sullivan starts to call your speeches “highfalutin bullshit” perhaps it’s time to take heed…and action.

Picture via.

Andrew Sullivan, barack obama, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, gay rights

http://www.twitter.com/kgotkin Kevin Gotkin

He’s dead-on. I really think Obama truly wants to move towards equality (I just have a feeling that personally, it’s something he actually wants – Obama the man, not Obama the President), but he’s totally dumped us on our asses. I also got really lost when Obama, during his HRC speech, acted as if the crowd was so happy for all the other things he was doing with the economy that he was even more a saint for pledging to do anything for the gays – no, gay rights was always the number one issue for those people in the audience. I, for one, would much, much rather see him do something on this issue than anything else on anything else (call me a single-issue voter!). I did appreciate, though, when he said the argument that bigger things overshadow gay rights issues is just as dumb as it was when it was used before the Civil Rights Movement.
Sunnyr

So, the Obamabots are finally beginning to figure out their TOTUS. He’s a speech-giver, full of empty promises. Good luck, dudes and dudettes! You elected an empty suit.
http://www.twitter.com/kgotkin Kevin Gotkin

Sunnyr, aren’t we over the grade school playground teasing? Way back when, I could have said something similar: “Good luck dude, you elected an idiot who misled the nation!” but I didn’t – let’s stay focused on the issues, shall we?