Jewel Samada/AFP/Getty Images Obama has disappointed some gay rights activists with his "evolving" position on the matter.
From gay rights to Syria, Obama is maddeningly vague
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
As North Carolina cast its vote on an amendment banning gay marriage, the media were still scrambling to decode the Obama administration’s latest whiff at the issue.
Was Vice President Biden’s “Meet the Press” comment that he is now “comfortable” with gay marriage a gaffe? He is gaffe-prone, after all.
Or was it a trial balloon disguised as a gaffe, meant to advance the administration’s new position on the issue without committing to new policy? As an Atlantic headline asked, were Biden’s comments “Accidental or Accidentally on Purpose?”
Even more cynically, was it a trap, meant to engage the right in a nasty battle over another social issue? Count me in the camp of strategists who thinks President Obama is just waiting for the likes of Rush Limbaugh to wade in and call someone a slut — or worse.
But while we try to read Obama’s mind, the gay rights community waits. What, exactly, is Obama’s position on gay marriage?
Sure, he repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act. But has he “evolved” enough toward actually accepting gay marriage?
Political courage is a funny thing. It’s evoked in heapfuls on the campaign trail, but diminishes significantly over the course of a first term, and practically disappears when reelection prospects are on the horizon. Obama certainly doesn’t want to risk alienating voters in the political middle who are potentially less supportive of gay rights.
As the British philosopher G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.” Is Obama willing to fall on his sword to stand up for gays? Probably not until and unless he is safely in the White House for a second term.
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