I
HAVE
ALWAYS
been
somewhat
mystified
at
the
gay
community’s
embrace
of
Barack
Obama.
Sen.
Obama
has
a
fairly
pedestrian
record
on
what
the
gay
left
considers
the
critical
issues
for
our
community.
Obama’s
thin
legislative
record
reveals
little
to
no
leadership
on
gay-related
issues,
and
his
positions
on
gay
issues
on
the
campaign
trail
have
been
largely
indistinguishable
from
those
of
his
Democratic
opponents
(all
of
whom,
with
the
exception
of
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton,
he
has
vanquished).
The
love
affair
between
the
gay
left
and
Obama
seems
to
be
much
more
about
personality
than
policy,
which
should
make
the
recent
controversy
surrounding
the
bigoted,
hate-filled
comments
of
Rev.
Jeremiah
Wright,
Obama’s
spiritual
mentor,
all
the
more
troubling
to
us.
The
clips
of
the
Wright
sermons,
which
have
been
played
and
replayed
on
cable
news
outlets
and
YouTube,
are
nothing
short
of
disgusting.
Wright
declared
that
instead
of
saying,
“God
Bless
the
USA,”
we
should
say,
“God
Damn
the
USA.”
He
accuses
the
U.S.
government
of
“inventing
the
HIV
virus
as
a
means
of
genocide
against
people
of
color.”
Wright’s
comments
aren’t
just
hateful
and
bigoted
—
they
are
also
fundamentally
false;
and
until
recently
these
comments
had
never
been
challenged
by
Obama.
IN
THE
DAYS
after
the
scandal
broke,
Obama
took
to
the
airwaves
to
distance
himself
from
Wright’s
rhetoric.
In
one
interview,
Obama
explained
that
he
had
never
personally
heard
this
rhetoric
from
Wright.
Obama
later
admitted
that
he
had
heard
some
inflammatory
rhetoric
from
Wright,
but
that
he
had
always
disagreed
with
it.
In
response
to
the
growing
political
firestorm,
Obama
took
to
the
podium
and
delivered
a
masterful
political
speech
—
masterful
in
both
its
soaring
rhetoric
and
emotional
appeal,
and
equally
masterful
in
its
cynical
attempt
to
change
the
issue.
The
issue
raised
by
the
Wright
revelation
isn’t
about
race
relations.
Indeed,
the
issue
raised
by
the
Wright
revelation
has
nothing
at
all
to
do
with
the
reverend,
and
everything
to
do
with
Obama
and
the
judgment
he
exercised.
For
nearly
two
decades,
Obama
embraced
Rev.
Wright.
Unlike
his
grandmother,
who
like
all
family
can’t
be
chosen,
Barack
Obama
affirmatively
chose
to
make
this
man
a
central
part
of
his
family’s
life.
I
DON’T
BELIEVE
that
Obama
shares
Wright’s
outrageous
views,
but
I
also
still
don’t
know
why
Obama
would
have
chosen
to
associate
himself
so
closely
with
a
man
so
filled
with
rage
and
hate
for
this
country.
If
Obama
is
going
to
base
his
campaign
for
president
on
his
judgment,
then
he
owes
all
Americans
—
including
LGBT
Americans
—
an
honest
explanation.
I
wonder
what
the
reaction
from
the
gay
left
would
have
been
if
it
were
revealed
that
Jerry
Falwell
had
been
John
McCain’s
pastor
for
decades
or
that
David
Duke
had
been
the
best
man
in
his
wedding.
I
am
fairly
certain
that
such
an
intimate
association
with
men
with
such
divisive
and
repulsive
views
would
certainly
be
grounds
enough
not
to
support
his
candidacy.
I
don’t
believe
in
simple
guilt
by
association,
but
I
do
believe
it
is
fair
to
assess
a
candidate,
particularly
their
judgment,
by
looking
at
those
they
choose
to
so
closely
associate
themselves
with.
This
incident
makes
it
clear
that
Obama
does
not
have
the
judgment
to
be
president,
and
no
speech
on
the
state
of
race
relations
in
this
country
—
no
matter
how
true
and
compelling
—
can
change
that
fact.
Christopher
Barron
is
president
of
CapSouth
Consulting
and
former
political
director
of
Log
Cabin
Republicans.
He
can
be
reached
at
cbarron@capsouthdc.com.
COUNTERPOINT
CHRISTOPHER
BARRON
CLAIMS
he
is
mystified
why
so
many
in
the
LGBT
community
embrace
Sen.
Barack
Obama
and
asserts
that
Obama’s
20-year
association
with
his
pastor,
Rev.
Jeremiah
Wright,
demonstrates
bad
judgment
and
disqualifies
him
from
becoming
president.
Barron
is
far
off
the
mark.
Gays
support
Obama
because
his
positions
on
gay
issues,
by
all
objective
measures,
are
superior
to
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton’s.
He
reached
his
positions
early
and
didn’t
have
to
be
dragged
to
them
by
his
primary
opponents
as
Clinton
was.
Obama
supports
full
repeal
of
the
Defense
of
Marriage
Act,
Clinton
does
not.
Most
importantly,
when
addressing
the
general
public,
Obama
embraces
the
gay
community
and
our
issues
whereas
Clinton
is
afraid
to
even
use
the
word
gay
before
a
general
audience.
The
best
way
to
address
the
Rev.
Wright
controversy
is
...
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
