From Ryan Sager, Being Barack Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry. It's excellent. Here's an excerpt:
And, you know what, they (we) will pretty much take it. Just like with Bill Clinton...
If we generally like someone - and the vast majority of gay people like Obama and voted for him - we're far more likely to accept an apology from them. ...
[By the same token, if you didn't like President Bush, you were certainly never going to forgive him for supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment (even though Bush only fake-supported it to appease his base and then made sure it never moved forward in Congress - arguably making him better on gay rights than Clinton).]
Another factor at work is the "false consensus bias." It's a shame the things Obama has had to do out of political necessity, you tell yourself, but I know deep down he cares about gay rights ...
Of course, this is bull. Experiments have shown that we're all terrible intuitive psychologists and extremely prone to projecting our views onto others (that is, in the absence of evidence, we assume people think what we do).
Obama, in fact, has really been the master of false consensus bias.
Read the whole thing.
As if to prove the above: The AP reports, Obama fends off criticism from gay supporters
Trying to quell that anger, Obama was set on Wednesday to sign small changes in benefits available to same-sex couples....Partners, however, would not have access to primary health insurance or to pensions....
...the administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to reject another state's legalized gay marriages and blocks federal Washington from recognizing those state-based unions. Overturning it is a top legislative target for gay activists. But Justice Department lawyers used incest as a reason to support the law.
[White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs argued that the administration had no choice but to defend existing laws and said Obama still believes it should be repealed. But he also would give no specific timeframe for doing that, or for overturning the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy in effect since 1993....
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., defended Obama against criticism that he has been slow to deliver on his campaign promises.
Furthermore. From Dale Carpenter, The Least He Could Do.
3 Comments for “Why We Keep on Taking It”
posted by TS on
I must admit, I’d never looked at it this way before:
“Of course, this is bull. Experiments have shown that we’re all terrible intuitive psychologists and extremely prone to projecting our views onto others (that is, in the absence of evidence, we assume people think what we do).”
Recasting it in those terms provided me with what I think is a useful insight on the Obama presidency. He was the first ever “branded” candidate. He had a logo, slogan and everything else that would be used to sell a product.
Now that I look back on it, seeming as wise and empathetic as you can while not stating a substantial attitude is an age-old political trick for rulers who must rely on the support of disagreeing subjects- for just the reason of the false consensus bias. Obama truly has it mastered. Who knows who the man really is? His manifestation in the minds of his supporters is that of a mirror, showing the president and the America they think they want, whatever it is.
And the pathetic news media has somehow managed to corner the market for getting information to us without taking seriously their responsibility to treat it skeptically. They play right into his hands day after day.
Ah, whatever. I think that, at the moment, the public hates capitalism (can you blame them?) so will allow Obama to bring them socialism, and then they won’t be satisfied with that either. Obama is definitely an economic leftist, and it does sometimes seem the only way to convince people to be confident again is to have the federal government make a big show of propping the whole thing up. Maybe gays should just forget about Obama and about federal politics completely, and focus on encouraging their neighbors and community members to face the fact of their moral neutrality
posted by Pat on
[By the same token, if you didn’t like President Bush, you were certainly never going to forgive him for supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment (even though Bush only fake-supported it to appease his base and then made sure it never moved forward in Congress ? arguably making him better on gay rights than Clinton).]
Even if I accept this lame excuse (appeasing the base) for Bush supporting FMA (not once, but twice), this does not make Bush better on this issue than Clinton. Clinton signed it, and Bush made no effort to urge Congress to repeal it.
If I’m not going to accept the political necessity for Obama, I’m not going to accept it for Bush either.
posted by Jay on
The Presidents apology came in the form of granting same sex partners Long Term Care Insurance
in the federal governments employment. This is really nothing if you consider that these insurance companies already provide this coverage outside the federal government. And they offered this to the government from day one. Adding insult to injury, the employee and fed. retirees foot the entire bill, not one dime comes from uncle Sam (NO COST TO TAXPAYERS). On the other hand lets consider that this NO COST benefits was denied participation in the federal program by the Bush administration. Lets also consider that President Obama is granting us recognition on the federal level which may be of some significance to us in the future. I’m not saying all is well. I’m a realest and I know I will always get a better deal from the Democrats, but I’m not going to be a blind follower either.
My party has to shut up or put up. As for the Republicans what have they ever done for us? NOTHING! They dived Americans and cause the GLBT community to be hated openly by right wing loonies in the name of GOD.