Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No it wasn't. It may have historical references, but the speech itself was not historic. No one will remember this speech after today.
Simply put, Barack Obama is not the pivotal figure that his supporters hoped he would be. He'll merely fade into time and be one of the 44 Presidents, nowhere near as notable as Lincoln or Washington or Jefferson or FDR or Reagan. It's just not in the cards for him. He's not a natural born leader.
If his second term ends with a growing economy and a real fiscal deal to turn around the debt issue, you can guarantee Obama will be remembered as one of the better presidents. Republican refusal to compromise on anything has as much to do with denying a positive legacy to a Democratic President as it does political ideology.
So, be it for good or ill in your eyes, 50 years down the road he will be remembered not only as the first African American President, but also the President who ended two wars, turned around a tanked economy, reformed healthcare, took down Bin Laden, removed DADT and presided over the nation during the extension of full civil rights to gays.
I sat back in awe and goose bumps went across my skin listening with great pride.
Im sure a lot heterosexual Americans probably do not even understand to Stonewall is except over 45 New Yorkers.
What happen at the Stonewall Inn is widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.
"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."
That moved me and his fight for equality for all will make him be remembered as a great President.
No it wasn't. It may have historical references, but the speech itself was not historic. No one will remember this speech after today.
Yes, it was historic to those of us millions of Americans who are part of the LGBT community.
It was the first time gay people and the struggle for gay rights was mentioned in a presidential inaugural address in US history. Obama paid tribute to the LGBT community before hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the cold that day, and before millions around the world via the electronic media.
If his second term ends with a growing economy and a real fiscal deal to turn around the debt issue, you can guarantee Obama will be remembered as one of the better presidents. Republican refusal to compromise on anything has as much to do with denying a positive legacy to a Democratic President as it does political ideology.
So, be it for good or ill in your eyes, 50 years down the road he will be remembered not only as the first African American President, but also the President who ended two wars, turned around a tanked economy, reformed healthcare, took down Bin Laden, removed DADT and presided over the nation during the extension of full civil rights to gays.
That's an apt summary of the Obama administration so far. Time will tell. Obama has already put us light years ahead of what a Mccain-Palin administration would have done for us.
I would say that it was the gay rights movement's "We Shall Overcome" moment, as important to us as when LBJ told African Americans in his address to the Congress in 1965.
The above quotation - a reference to pivotal moments in the civil rights struggles of Americans was a part of President Obama's Second Inaugural Address.
It was a very historic speech.
While "Seneca Falls" and "Selma" pays tribute to the quest of freedom and equality for American women and African-Americans, for the first time in US history, a president has recognized the Gay rights movement in an inaugural address as a component of the quest towards equality. He also mentioned "our gay brothers and sisters."
I think today is a turning point for the LGBT community. The majority of Americans are now in favor of equal rights for LGBT Americans. Last November we saw the defeat in four states -Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Minnesota - of laws designed to prevent gay couples from legally marrying. In November we have also seen the first lesbian elected to the US Senate, and the largest number of gay representatives in Congress.
The tide had turned. Perhaps it had already turned a few years ago, but today the evidence is loud and clear: the movement for LGBT rights has taken it's place at the table of American politics and society.
I don't think it was historic at all. Obama as a typical Democrat relies on perpetuating identity politics to secure support. All this indicates is that they've increased the number of special interest groups they're going to pander to. It's not a historic turning point, it's just the inevitable march of Democrat politics. They're trying to get gay people who would have voted for a Republican on the economy to vote for them on gay rights instead. It's business as usual for the Democrats. Don't vote on matters of national policy, vote on identifying yourself as a member of a minority group. They've been doing it for 50 years.
I don't think it was historic at all. Obama as a typical Democrat relies on perpetuating identity politics to secure support. All this indicates is that they've increased the number of special interest groups they're going to pander to. It's not a historic turning point, it's just the inevitable march of Democrat politics. They're trying to get gay people who would have voted for a Republican on the economy to vote for them on gay rights instead. It's business as usual for the Democrats. Don't vote on matters of national policy, vote on identifying yourself as a member of a minority group. They've been doing it for 50 years.
Most of the "gay vote" is already "in the bag" for Obama. The polls say that 70-75% of gays already vote Dem, so Obama doesn't have too much more incrementally to gain. When Obama comes out for gay rights, he doesn't JUST bring in the gay vote. He also nets a considerable amount of the youth vote who are anxious to fight to win this civil rights battle.
No it wasn't. It may have historical references, but the speech itself was not historic. No one will remember this speech after today.
Simply put, Barack Obama is not the pivotal figure that his supporters hoped he would be. He'll merely fade into time and be one of the 44 Presidents, nowhere near as notable as Lincoln or Washington or Jefferson or FDR or Reagan. It's just not in the cards for him. He's not a natural born leader.
I love how you slipped Ronnie in there with the others.
That's an apt summary of the Obama administration so far. Time will tell. Obama has already put us light years ahead of what a Mccain-Palin administration would have done for us.
I would say that it was the gay rights movement's "We Shall Overcome" moment, as important to us as when LBJ told African Americans in his address to the Congress in 1965.
I shudder to think what McCain-Palin would have done to all the civil rights in this country. I applaud Obama for his address of LGBT rights, but until legislation is actually enacted, I fear his words will fall into the long dark well of history.
Obama as a typical Democrat relies on perpetuating identity politics to secure support.
He was playing wedge, not identity politics. He was speaking to swing voters and the ever-growing number of Republicans who support gay rights.
I read an article that made an interesting point. It suggested the Obama, the Constitutional Law professor, was making a surreptitious oral argument in favor of gay marriage to the Supreme Court—all of whom were sitting only a few feet away and will be deciding the issue in March.
Some Justices, but obviously not Scalia and Thomas, consider “where the country is” when deciding certain hot-button cases. They were treated to the spectacle of nearly a million people on the Mall cheering the president’s words.
Women’s and Civil Rights are traditionally held to a higher standard by the courts, and gay rights have never been granted that privilege. If Justice Kennedy accepts the Seneca, Selma, Stonewall argument and grants gay marriage that higher standard, it could decide the case.
Good. Let's get some more equality going in this great nation of ours.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
