Obama, the HRC, and the Death of Debate
Oct. 13th, 2009 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fr_defenestratoI.
Last Saturday night, Precedent Obama attended a dinner organized by the nation's richest queer interest group, the Human Rights Campaign, and spoke to the $250-a-plate crowd, reiterating his promise to end 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'—but again without any details as to approach or timeline. If you haven't seen the whole thing, look here:
It's a pretty speech, just like we've come to expect from Mr. O. Even [Names Project AIDS Quilt creator/Harvey Milk protégé/Equality March organizer] Cleve Jones called it 'brilliant'; but he also, according to the HuffPo, rolled his eyes and said, 'When already?!'
HRC President Joe Solmonese, on the other hand, wet himself with glee and accompanied Obama offstage to clean the latter's taint with his tongue. Andrew Sullivan had some harsh words for Solmonese and the HRC:
It's instructive to note that, just last week, National Security Adviser James Jones told the press Obama would repeal the military ban on gays 'at the right time.' Which, more than being deliberately vague, sounds downright sinister.
All of which prompted Nathan (FLBP) to respond to the calls of the Sunday marchers thus:
MEGAPHONE PEOPLE: What do we want?
NATHAN: Equal rights!
MEGAPHONE PEOPLE: When do we want it?
NATHAN: January 19, 2017!
II.
I've been seeing a lot of what must be backlash opinions cropping up on friends' blogs and the wee terse posts that are permitted on Those Other Sites, accusing me of 'hating' Obama. 'Obama's the bomb. 'Nuff said,' said a friend of a friend, commenting on our mutual friend's Obama-apologetic post. Oh, yes: Of course a slang soundbite takes care of everything; what reasoned criticism could possibly stand up to such a bold assertion? Dégonflé, I retreat into partisan orthodoxy.
In the same way, as reported by Glenn Greenwald at Salon, the Obama White House has had a pretty consistent history of denigrating as 'fringe-y' any criticism from further left of Obama (which is to say, infinitesimally left); and now, it appears, the DNC has adopted the practice so widely and loudly deplored in the Bush years, that of calling into question the patriotism of anybody who disagrees with the prez.
So everything here in 2009 is still black and white. You're either with Obama or agin' him. Careful consideration of complex factors, in the end, isn't as effective as a nifty five-word catchphrase. Yet here I cannot blame eight years of Bush as I do for so much else. Much as I'd like to, I can't even blame Ronald Reagan and his own personal John the Baptist, George Lucas. Our national idiocy, our rank abandonment of intelligent discourse in favor of status updates, sloganeering, and name-calling, is nothing the politicians have imposed on us. We the electorate have embraced these things of our own accord—and with the constant anesthetic assistance of reality television and the Internet. Fucking humans.
Last Saturday night, Precedent Obama attended a dinner organized by the nation's richest queer interest group, the Human Rights Campaign, and spoke to the $250-a-plate crowd, reiterating his promise to end 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'—but again without any details as to approach or timeline. If you haven't seen the whole thing, look here:
It's a pretty speech, just like we've come to expect from Mr. O. Even [Names Project AIDS Quilt creator/Harvey Milk protégé/Equality March organizer] Cleve Jones called it 'brilliant'; but he also, according to the HuffPo, rolled his eyes and said, 'When already?!'
HRC President Joe Solmonese, on the other hand, wet himself with glee and accompanied Obama offstage to clean the latter's taint with his tongue. Andrew Sullivan had some harsh words for Solmonese and the HRC:
'HRC, of course, is putting no pressure on [Obama]; Joe Solmonese’s disgraceful email actually took all pressure off him by saying he’d be happy to wait till 2017 for HRC to hold Obama accountable. HRC are putting pressure, as they always have, on gay people to go to the back of the line and be grateful a president attends their fundraising event. The only word for this is a racket. And if gay people do not rise up and demand change from this organization and stop funding a group whose goal has always been to sell the Democrats to gay people rather than secure civil rights, then they will continue to suffer the discrimination they live under day after day.Whew. Having been on HRC's email list for years now (though I haven't been a member or otherwise donated for the last several years), I can only say, sadly, that I agree with Sullivan. The org is a fucking sham. It has absolutely nothing to do with my goals, my outlook, my status as a gay man in these United States.
It's instructive to note that, just last week, National Security Adviser James Jones told the press Obama would repeal the military ban on gays 'at the right time.' Which, more than being deliberately vague, sounds downright sinister.
All of which prompted Nathan (FLBP) to respond to the calls of the Sunday marchers thus:
MEGAPHONE PEOPLE: What do we want?
NATHAN: Equal rights!
MEGAPHONE PEOPLE: When do we want it?
NATHAN: January 19, 2017!
II.
I've been seeing a lot of what must be backlash opinions cropping up on friends' blogs and the wee terse posts that are permitted on Those Other Sites, accusing me of 'hating' Obama. 'Obama's the bomb. 'Nuff said,' said a friend of a friend, commenting on our mutual friend's Obama-apologetic post. Oh, yes: Of course a slang soundbite takes care of everything; what reasoned criticism could possibly stand up to such a bold assertion? Dégonflé, I retreat into partisan orthodoxy.
In the same way, as reported by Glenn Greenwald at Salon, the Obama White House has had a pretty consistent history of denigrating as 'fringe-y' any criticism from further left of Obama (which is to say, infinitesimally left); and now, it appears, the DNC has adopted the practice so widely and loudly deplored in the Bush years, that of calling into question the patriotism of anybody who disagrees with the prez.
So everything here in 2009 is still black and white. You're either with Obama or agin' him. Careful consideration of complex factors, in the end, isn't as effective as a nifty five-word catchphrase. Yet here I cannot blame eight years of Bush as I do for so much else. Much as I'd like to, I can't even blame Ronald Reagan and his own personal John the Baptist, George Lucas. Our national idiocy, our rank abandonment of intelligent discourse in favor of status updates, sloganeering, and name-calling, is nothing the politicians have imposed on us. We the electorate have embraced these things of our own accord—and with the constant anesthetic assistance of reality television and the Internet. Fucking humans.
