Barack Obama was here in town speaking the other day, to a crowd of 75,000. Just a couple of days later, John McCain also was here in town speaking, to a crowd of 6,000. I just thought that was funny.
Like most other gay folks, I was gratified the other night to hear President Obama announce at the State of the Union address his intention to put repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell on the agenda for 2010. Of course we were all hyped when we heard it the first time, too. Back when he was pandering the rainbow coalition for votes during his campaign, pledging to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights. To start working toward getting rid of DADT during his first year as president was part of that promise. Not that he has totally snubbed us, I guess, but tagging him a "fierce advocate" is probably a stretch . It's really little wonder that much of the queer community reacted approvingly, but also with a fair amount of skepticism, the other night after hearing him vow again to do what he vowed once before with nothing gotten done so far. This DADT thing, I wouldn't think, should be such a big ordeal to get over and done with in short order. Even military p...
*hee hee* "Ditto." :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it is absolutely hilarious that with our nation in the shape it is in 6,000 of the blind faithful could still muster the enthusiasm to show up to hear McBush. (I betcha Palin would have drawn a larger crowd - she's a lot easier on the eyes and much more charming to boot.) Can it be more clear that Americans are ready to try something different now?
ReplyDeleteUsually crowds scare me because of the sea of white faces. Or if the crowd is in China, the sea of Chinese faces. Or if the crowd is in Mexico, the sea of Mexican faces.
ReplyDeleteThere is something unsettling about seeing people who all look alike and think alike in one area.
And then we have the Obama rallies. Wow. A sea of different faces and different philosophies (Democrats and Republicans) who share a common goal: restoring America.
It doesn't get any more beautiful.
Doug - I betcha you're right about the Palin factor. Seems to be his only draw these days, although even she seems to be as of late helping to tighten his noose mostly.
ReplyDeleteFan - Yeppers, we have quite a mix around here, which is a beautiful thing, I agree. Missouri is apparently a swing state and usually goes red, but at least here in my county we're blue through and through and very diverse.