CHANGE? WE’LL SEE

The gay community is reportedly in a twitter about Obama’s silence on the progression of gay civil rights. Just this week Maine became the fifth state to approve marriage equality and New Hampshire seems to be not far behind. The state legislature there has approved marriage equality and is awaiting the governor’s signature. It is not certain that the Governor Lynch will sign the measure though as a Democrat he would set off a firestorm if he did not. But, back to the gay community, I say welcome to the club. That is, because the one thing that has become clear about President Obama is that he so very unpredictable.

It is this trait of unpredictability that made last week’s stupid of exercise of grading him on his first 100 days in office so terribly difficult. On the one hand you have a guy who started the ball rolling on ending the war in Iraq as he promised. On the other hand, though, he committed us further to Afghanistan and ordered bombing raids in Pakistan. On the one hand Obama passes the stimulus package promising scrutiny of the dollars while on the other hand he hands billions to the banks with still no real oversight or accountability. On the one hand Obama denounces the torturous acts of the previous administration and even releases key memos on the subject while insisting we might look forward not seek to punish those in the Bush administration for their illegal acts. He promised us a strong cabinet and we got a cabinet of no-name mediocre folks. He spoke often about gay rights during the campaign nearly everywhere he went, but has been strangely silent on the subject since becoming President.

I am reminded of a comment made last year by a guy I know before the Pennsylvania primary. He was a supported of Hillary Clinton and he (who is white) said to me (who is black) that he did not feel that Obama could represent his interests. He said that he would only identify with African American struggles. I know find that comment especially funny as Obama certainly did not run on African American issues and certainly has done very little outreach to the African American community since taking office.

Now Obama gets to choose a nominee to the Supreme Court and just about everybody is worried since we have no idea what he will do. He basically has a near-filibuster proof majority in the Senate which means he can pick whoever he wants without fear of the nomination being held up. He needs not play if safe though I suspect that is what he will do leaving many of us scratching our heads in wonderment as to what was he thinking. The perfect nominee in my mind would be an Hispanic lesbian – a person of color, Hispanic, and gay. Such a nominee would assuage the Hispanic and gay caucuses and while the Blacks may fee overlooked he can say at least the nominee is a person of color.

Then there is the party switch of former Republican and now Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Reportedly, Vice President Biden was instrumental in getting Specter to switch and he and Obama welcomed Specter with open arms. But, a number of Democrats in the Senate are miffed because it does not appear that Specter will lose any of his seniority and may even trump that of some of his new Democrat colleagues. While Specter has admitted that the switch was mainly done for political survival (his Republican support in the state was minimal due to his vote on the stimulus package), it also appears now that was the only reason. His vote against the Obama budget this last week as well as his continued lack of support of universal health care and the employee free choice act (and we do not know where he stands on gay issues) means that we now have a Democratic Republican Senator as opposed to a Republican Democratic Senator he was labeled by the GOP. This has shades of Joe “I support McCain over the inexperienced Obama” Lieberman (yet another curious Obama move who stepped in to prevent any punishment by the Democratic leadership) and that show just does not need to repeated.

It now looks like Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak will challenge Specter in the primary next year. He is upset like me and as he says many other Pennsylvanians over this “Washington deal” that Obama campaigned against. Personally, if I recall there was grassroots movement underway to get Specter out of the Senate. Personally, at 78 or 79 with almost 30 years in the Senate, he needs to go home to wife Joan and have a happy retirement as his usefulness is done. I was a big fan of his when he was first elected (in fact during college I scored major points by getting his education aide to come to a conference), but since his infamous and disgusting questioning of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings I have had more than enough of Mr. Specter. There have been disagreements I have had (such as his support of the bigoted Rick Santorum) that says we need someone new. Further, I do not believe that there is a dearth of viable candidates for that position in the Democratic party in Pennsylvania.

So back to the gays and Obama. The White House has not commented on all the marriage equality bills and rulings this year and has not been actively lobbying for the Matthew Shepherd Hate Crimes Bill. Now, this week comes word that Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point grad, Iraq vet, and Arabic translator is being dismissed from the Army because he admitted on national television in March that he is gay (he is a founder of Knights Out – a group of out gay West Point alumni). This week he got a letter informing him “that sufficient basis exists to initiate action for withdrawal of federal recognition in the Army National Guard for moral or professional dereliction. Specifically, you admitted publicly you are a homosexual which constitutes homosexual conduct. Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.” This comes on the heels of female Army member being dismissed earlier this year for admitted she is a lesbian. She wrote a letter to Obama and received a handwritten note back in part saying, “Although it will take time to complete [repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell] I intend to fulfill my commitment.” The argument is made that Obama could end DADT with an Executive Order though proper procedure (which I do favor) would be through Congressional action. The bottom line is that inaction on this issue is hurting good people. The Army does not have a ready reserve of Arabic translators and to let one go just because he is gay is absolutely ridiculous. Here is an issue that Rep. Sestak could take the lead on and gain major brownie points. He said that this is a matter of urgency and is something Congress should address this summer or early fall. Believe me, if DADT is repealed with the assistance of Sestak, Specter is dead meat in Pennsylvania.

To sum up, I believe there is a reluctance to criticize Obama not because he is African American, but because we do not want a return of Bush/Cheney. Yet, for all intents and purposes, “the change we can believe in” has not occurred. As I wrote before, we still cannot believe anything the government says or does. The dark days of Bush/Cheney and even Clinton/Gore are still upon us. The only difference is that packaging is prettier. Time will tell if I am right or wrong.

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