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To hear how far out of the mainstream the Obama White House is, just listen to senior adviser Valerie Jarrett describe her conversation with the parents of gay teen Justin Aarberg (who committed suicide), and her description of Justin having "made a lifestyle choice."
Michael Petrelis provides the WaPo video(at about 4:15) and this commentary:
The last time I heard anyone use the obnoxious phrase "lifestyle choice" to describe a gay person’s sexual orientation was during the Bill Clinton presidency when the gays were accused of wanting "special rights."
Today the Washington Post’s gay kapo Jonathan Capehart shares a video interview he conducted on Monday with senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. She clearly states a belief that Minnesota gay teen Justin Aarberg, who committed suicide in July after being bullied, made a "lifestyle choice."
If the closest adviser to the President on LGBT issues — the one he sent to make nice with the Human Rights Campaign’s black-tie supporters last Saturday — describes a 15-year-old suicide as having "made a lifestyle choice" we are absolutely doomed.
Number one: it’s not a lifestyle.
Number two: it’s not a choice.
Number three: Valerie Jarrett is an idiot.
If a presidential adviser had made such a boneheaded remark about any other American minority group — let alone an incredibly loyal group that has provided the Democratic Party its margin of victory in any number of tight races across the nation — would that presidential adviser still have a job?
Does Valerie Jarrett live in the early 1990s? Does she really believe that being LGBT is a ‘choice’ and a ‘lifestyle’ — and will she really get away with insulting the memory of a dead gay teen with this horrifying out-of-touch language?
248 Comments
It’s shocking, but somehow not *surprising* that the Obama White House people are SO out of touch as to use this language to describe a teen born AFTER this kind of characterization became unacceptable.
We have LIVES not LIFESTYLES.
Except, of course, Justin doesn’t.
judas forking priest, teddy, this is wrong on so many levels. if she had made this comment about any other minority group, she would be fired faster than shirley sherrod was.
this bullshit has to stop. NOW.
tweeted and recommended
OMG
Number four: Homophobes reside in the WH.
Does Valerie Jarrett live in the early 1990s?
Yes
Does she really believe that being LGBT is a ‘choice’ and a ‘lifestyle’ — and will she really get away with insulting the memory of a dead gay teen with this horrifying out-of-touch language?
Yes. Unless Beck and Breitbart have some out of context tapes on her.
How incredibly revealing and disheartening, Teddy. Makes you almost think the White House will ask for a stay. Dammit.
Yeah it’s pretty horrifying.
I mean, who talks that way anymore, anyway? Without being corrected right away, at least. No one I know. And no one who knows any LBGT people, for that matter.
Scary.
No, just equal opportunity cowards. Just watch them throw catfood at granny after the election. If Republicans tell them to, of course.
My reaction exactly — who ARE these people?
Only homophobes use the phrase ‘lifestyle choice’ any more.
You are right.
*facepalm*
Words fail me.
Plus, the logic of it is just so offensive. As if Justin “chose” to make himself so miserable that suicide was the next obvious “choice”.
Jarrett and her pals are just odious despicable people. And to have the nerve to say it after visiting his parents… Oooo, what I wouldn’t give to give her a piece (a particularly large and unhappy piece) of my mind.
Yes and I’ve made a lifestyle choice not to vote for Obama.
Yeah, she’s gotta go.
This Administration is like Gremlins who got wet. Who are these people?
It has been obvious from Day One that Valerie Jarrett is as dumb as a box of cupcakes and not as cute.
Teddy I am not shocked:this is what I expected after all the obfuscation from the WH.
Obama is not a Democrat…I think he used the Democratic label cuz he realized he couldn’t make substantial strides as GOPer.
Just remember,he was supposed to be a community organiser…Look how he has treated the poor since he became Prez.
Look at all his GOP enabling stances…cat food commission,war in the mid-east,tax-cuts in the stimulus,offshore drilling etc,etc…He is going to try & cut social security for the least fortunate among us…Nothing they do surprises me anymore.
The sooner we can get rid of this guy as Prez the better it will be.
I wonder if she made a lifestyle choice to be black? That’s how little sense this makes. She not only is about 20 years behind the times with her words, she is a bigot and the WH should be inundated with angry letters.
And I do agree with you Teddy that we are “doomed”…as the corporate progressives on MSNBC are feeding us the standard bullshit,Dems vs GOP.
It really is no longer a Dem versus GOP battle not when the major player(Obama) of the Democratic party is “championing” GOP like policies & talking points.
When I heard the interview I was appalled. This is supposedly “Obama’s second brain”? Christ. Someone ought to tell Valerie that her bigoted, unintentionally revealing language referring to gay people’s “lifestyle choices” is about as neck-snappingly out of touch as someone in 2010 referring to her and her boss as “Negroes”.
She’s African-American. So is Obama, for that matter, at least culturally.
African-Americans mostly do not approve of anyone being gay, despite how many African-Americans actually are gay.
One oppressed minority choose to oppress another minority. Makes absolutely no sense, but that’s the story.
I’ve been saying something similar in many of these comment threads. The GOP never would have let Obama win the nomination.
Good on Ya,KarenM.
The more I think about it,it seems abundantly clear.Just look how he discarded the long suffering poor whom he claimed was his life long ambition to help.
KarenM,before Obama became Prez,during the Democratic primaries…there was an African American attorney from Harvard,I can’t remember his name at this time….but he was intimating at that time that Obama was no progressive,he said during Obama’s tenure as the editor of Harvard’s law Review,Obama shuttled all the progressives to the side & embraced the conservative types….well,well.
VJ,needs to retire and spend more time with her family
I used to think Obama was just too cowardly to support gay rights, now I am not so sure. Maybe his administration is homophobic.
love to read more about this
yea Condi,but she wont admit it
or deeply closeted.
wiki
Jarrett graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon, a New England boarding school, in 1974. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.[citation needed]
another overeducated,underempathetic dunce
Methinks many people will be making the same choice the first tuesday in November 2012.
Yeah! I can’t remember the name of the guy but it was an interview I heard on the radio some 2+ yrs ago…and I distinctly remember him saying Obama was no progressive…..It might have been on Ed Shultz’s radio show at that time.
Will someone…anyone…explain to me what qualifies Valerie Jarrett to be the president’s advisor on GLBT issues? Please. Because anyone who uses the phrase ‘lifestyle choice’ with regard to GLBT is completely ignorant. Aunt Toby made a lifestyle choice – I moved to the damn country and I raise chickens and bees and lot of other things and I burn wood. OK? THAT is a lifestyle choice. GLBT are born – they are NOT made. And ‘lifestyle choice’ is a dog whistle – the secret code to all GLBT haters out there – the secret handshake “see, we’re all in agreement here…”
Total crap. She needs to be given five minutes and a cardboard box and be escorted out.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, like the Bushco nightmare, they keep on keeping on the DLC, New Dem, Repub-lite way. Do they just not give a fuck anymore, or are they truly The Evil Dead White House?
the kid was 15……nobody makes any choices at that age…they experiment and find out who they are
I remember that interview as well, BM and sadly…
the signs were there during the campaign… the about face on FISA and telecom immunity, which caused me pause but I still remember telling everyone i knew that he couldn’t possibly be as bad as bushco and how could we trust hillary to be any better on FISA and civil liberties when she was making up Bosnian sniper stories and voted for AUMF???
Goddamnittohell i am so fucking pissed at being played by this sorry ass huckster that i want my vote back, now…
amen
and find out in the process who their friends and parents, brothers and sisters are as well. If they’re lucky they have good people in their lives who accept them as they are. if not, sometimes we see them living closeted half-lives for years, and sometimes we see a tragic loss of life instead.
An administration that is even more disgusting than the last, if that’s even possible.
The momentary shock on Jonathan Capehart’s face is pretty amazing — you can tell he’s heard the phrase, but not lately. Not lately at all.
That would be a real lifestyle choice, actually.
And one I endorse wholeheartedly for Valerie.
And soon. Like, now.
Thanks, Karen. This is exactly the observation I was going to make: that it’s long been a “truth” in the African-American community that homosexuality was NOT dealt with or accepted. Perhaps it’s the ultra-strong influence of the churches. Who knows.
Maybe because of the AA tradition of the “down low” [homosexual males remaining in marriages and engaging in their sexual activity in secret], many AAs don’t realize how many of their friends, neighbors, and family members are gay, and thus don’t have the opportunity to increase their understanding and tolerance.
Perhaps it’s that, perceiving of themselves as a minority, AAs feel it would weaken their position to ally with another minority. I don’t know, but I remember during the campaign when Obama talked of his uncomfortableness about gay marriage [and now, we see, "gayness" in any form].
It’s shocking, disgusting, and discouraging.
reminds me of that billboard sign with shrub on it saying “miss me yet?”
Well I do…
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were funnier then.
Teddy P, thanks for this one (and all you do).
It should go viral, and she, along with Gates, should be told to resign immediately.
I can’t BELIEVE this close to the elections so many people are showing their homophobic ignorance.
The dems are killin themselves on all fronts.
Wow. The stupidity of them all . . . .
I think she’s the perfect ambassador to send to the snakes at the HRC
“Lifestyle choice” is actually the language of the homophobic black pastors and their parishioners. So, maybe it is a dog-whistle. But to use it when speaking with Capehart is absurd; he’s widely known to be, as Petrelis calls him, the WaPo editorial board gay kapo.
Can’t wait to hear what Joe $4800 Suits has to say about this “gaffe.”
As a mother what really pisses me off is that this is a 15-year-old we’re discussing, little more than a child who can’t legally get a driver’s license in many states.
When a 15-year-old expresses a particular orientation, it’s because they were born that way. It’s not a choice like picking a dress for prom, or picking out their first car.
When a 15-year-old feels so desperate that they take their life, it’s not because of a lifestyle choice; it’s because of emotional torment.
Jarrett needs to find the damned exit door.
I hope I don’t hear about it for a few hours. I just ate.
She she should be fired immediately!!!
i want mine back as well
No, Valerie Jarrett won’t be, wouldn’t be, fired under any conceivable circumstances: she’s inner sanctum. As in as in can be. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/ Google Valerie Jarrett Chicago public private housing and any combinations thereof. Not a pretty picture. Hillary Clinton tried to nail Obama on the Chicago “public-private” housing management mess Obama bragged on early then stopped talking about, but he turned the barb aside and nobody else took up the line of attack. By what I’ve read, it was a multi-million dollar debacle that handsomely profited some of Obama’s inner circle, some of whom are with him today.
I really loathe the Obama Administration. This isn’t change I can believe in. With all due respect, fuck you Ms. Jarrett — and that’s a statement coming from a straight male.
See this is how it happened with me: I woke up one morning when I was between 3 and 4 and said to myself, “My gosh I’m bored today! I think I’ll make my life about as miserable as I can possibly imagine it being, short of being on fire”. Ten years later, I found myself bored once again and I said to myself, “Gee, how can I shake things up even more? I know! I’ll come out to my parents and family and maybe they’ll disown me! Maybe if I tell enough people, someone will beat me within an inch of my life”.
How stupid does someone have to be to believe such a pantload?
The bastard can keep my vote. I want my MONEY back.
It would sure be nice if Barry and Jarrett condemned bigotry against LGBT folk as avidly as they’d condemn that evil directed against African Americans.
Sure be nice if they’d condemn de facto bigotry against Hispanics – the bigotry that we call mass deportations.
But hey – now that Barry’s demonstrated that an African American can be President, why bother to act like anyone else’s equality and civil rights matter? Barry has his.
Eyes on the prize, Barry?
I agree…who ARE these people and what did they do with the “Democrats” who are supposed to be in the WH?
I couldn’t agree more, but why stop with her? I think the entire administration’s tone deafness, insensitivity, stupidity, callousness and venality clearly indicates that Obamco shares none, absolutely none, of the progressive values he campaigned on. Their contempt towards us hippies is betrayed by every gesture, talking point, and measured statement that is made on a daily basis. I see no redemption for this fucking unfunny joke of a Presidency.
I’m not sure they would condemn bigotry against African-Americans. They just might say that the strange fruit swinging from the cottonwood trees just made the wrong choices.
The audacity of dope.
That is the dumbest thing I ever heard. Of course you cant choose what race you are but can you say with 100% certainty that you had no choice in your sexual orientation? That nothing in your past or childhood influenced the path that you have taken?
This one, at least, is a moral monster, referring to a CHILD this way.
This language is archaic and insulting to use about ADULTS nowadays, but I don’t think it was EVER acceptable to say this about a KID.
It’s time to admit that the pretender in the WH and his whole administration are nothing more than a collection of megalomaniacs.
Thanks, Teddy. I didn’t know that. But just more proof of the overreach of religion — in this instance churches in the Black community — into the lives of the rest of us.
NB – I just happened to catch a fleeting minute of TRMS. She’s interviewing an F-16 pilot who’s hiding from DADT.
Think this might be a glimmer of hope she’d cover this story? I’ll spotlight it her way.
Sexual orientation is not a choice; it is innate.
Acting on one’s sexual preference is a choice. People can be abstinent, like priests are supposed to be. But even that doesn’t work out so well.
You’re being extremely kind.
Can this Oilbummer admin get any worse, folks? The hits keep on coming. Jeebus. This attitude, IMHO, comes directly from the top. Pathetic.
Oilbummer is not only a right winger in the economic sphere–but culturally as well. Right wing through and through.
Pathetic, man.
Couldn’t agree more!
Obama was the corporate choice to defeat Hillary and then destroy the Democratic Party – or so I have been told.
This sure fits that analysis.
Question for you, why does who and how you like to fuck determine who you are? There are plenty of people who have alternative sexual preferences but that is just a part of them. Why does your sexuality dominate your whole being?
Rayne said it best…
I remember being 15 and so miserable that I considered suicide many times over my teen years, and i’m straight. My friends who were gay and just as miserable, i really can’t fathom how they survived into adulthood.
It is so hard to hold onto what Noam Chomsky said about the choice between Obama and McCain–it is not a sin to vote for the lesser of two evils. Noam, when do they become the same?
Well, certainly I am voting against Obama in the primaries if I am still a registered Democrat.
It doesn’t dominate my whole being, but it is innate.
You don’t seem to know much about it, go read up.
Unbelievable.
Just as I think they have exposed the worst. Something like this comes along.
phenomenally stupid and tone-deaf.
They were both corporate selections, Obama won and surrounded himself by loyal Third Way Clintonistas. Isn’t it way past time to continue living with that delusion?
Dan Savage makes the very valid point that straight bullied teens can go home and get succor, a shoulder to cry on, and support with the school from their parents. Many gay teens, when they tell their parents they are bullied for being gay, get thrown out of the house. Homelessness among gay teens is an epidemic, too.
Normally, with this many comments, I would let this go. But OMGZ! I think this proves that the inner circle of the Obama administration actually does not know ANY out gay people (and this includes the AG), and that explains why they are so squeamish about our issues. Okay, I know they have acquaintances, but NO comprehension whatsoever.
Tone deaf on just about everything — the trait that characterizes this administration. I’ve got mine, and the rest of you can go f**k yourself.
Tom Tomorrow at Salon has a cartoon that pretty much says the same thing. I’d link to it if my browser was working properly…but it’s worth checking out.
Flush them all in 2012.
Well, Mission Accomplished.
Teddy,
Words fail. Inherent worth and dignity of EVERY person should be their mantra.
Then again, that’s what we would expect of democrats. The people in the WH aren’t anything resembling democrats.
I don’t know if it is just sad or absolutely tragic.
On second thought it is all absolutely tragic.
I actually heard a Black, female pastor admit that maybe God did make some people gay, that maybe it wasn’t a choice. But, she said that since gay sex is a sin, that they just have to fight the urge. Then, she said if she, as a divorced woman can’t have sex, that neither could they.
Is FDL going to continue to be caffee-klatching and kibitzing, or are there any ideas floating around on how to save the last remains of American democracy?
You make the very valid point that ANY modern LBGT America would have corrected her on her use of this phrase long ago. That she feels comfortable using it, especially when speaking with a known out gay journalist working for the Washington Post, shows a stunning lack of comprehension of LBGT issues.
And she’s the one Obama sent to the HRC dinner, or at least the one who drew the short straw at Friday’s White House staff meeting.
(not) voting for Obama in 2012 is a lifestyle choice as well.
Honestly though, given that we’ve elected an African-American President, is it really that surprising that he’s such a homophobe? Some of my best friends are gay and I see nothing wrong with that. I used to be uncomfortable around gay people, then I went to university and realized how myopic my worldview was. Just because I was insecure and uncomfortable being around homosexual people doesn’t mean I have the right to discriminate against them. They’re human beings. I mean, where is the fucking love?
I don’t really understand why homosexuality is so taboo among the black community, but it’s there. Can’t say I’m really surprised by Obama’s bigotry.
I think we all need to just accept the fact that either we have a Manchurian candidate in office or all of the crappy things that have happened in the past 2 years are features not bugs. They are who they are and lied their way into office.
“Fierce advocate” indeed.
hiya
No, we’re just gonna sit around with our thumbs up our asses.
What are you doing, fuckno? Lead us out of the darkness, please.
No extensive analysis required to diagnose these people. Simply; they are heartless.
New acronym: F-A-M-A
Fierce Advocate My Ass
This is surprising how?
Jarrett speaks for Obama. This is precisely how Obama feels about lesbians and gays, women, the working class, public school teachers, union members, public workers, the poor, people of color, etc. etc. etc.
It should be obvious by now.
yep.
hiya back.
draftelizabethwarren.com is currently not owned by anyone.
Whadda ya think?
Jeebus
My favourite uncle took his life because of teh gay. He’d be alive today (probably, given age) if us heteros weren’t so het up.
Jarret needs to make a ‘lifestyle choice’ and disappear. Much like her boss.
Has Jarret been using bleaching creams?
A life style choice?
Really? She said that?!!
Here is a life style choice honey, Lindsy Graham and Foley?
Who would you invite to dinner out of those three choices?
I pick the kid, at least he had enough balls to step up and tell you how it is.
I know many African Americans who are not homophobic.
I think you paint with too broad a brush, although the black church is a solid setting for homophobia in too many cases. But I don’t think electing any black man President should mean the White House would be stocked with homophobes.
And, in Valerie Jarrett’s case, it’s not simply homophobia — this is stunning ignorance, using the phrase she did.
even if you’re not being bullied, being outside the norm as a teen is tough.
Amazing how fucking cruel most of us were back then, to one another, and to ourselves. I would choose to never go back and relive it, but i would also choose never to forget one moment…the lessons learned and the tears shed make me who i am to this day.
Quotes from Obama, but could have just as well come from the Bush WH:
“I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman.”
“This is an issue that I think helps to describe who we are…[Marriage] connotes to so many people a religious and not just civil element, and that includes me.”
You are indeed sitting with your thumbs up there.
My question is, – is that all that you are capable of?
What are you doing, fuckno? Lead us out of the darkness, please.
Appalling remark. I’m completely fed up with this administration. They just don’t seem to get it on so many issues.
Carl Paladino and Valerie Jarrett… separated at birth?
Way beck, when Jane made an alliance with Grover 80% of FDL fell behind Norske.
Perhaps it’s time to use FDL’s collective brainpower to develop new, out of the box strategies, no?
Slight addition.
I cannot lead you out of this cave, but I invite you to engage in strategies, to share ideas, rather than endlessly bitch.
not 11 dimensional chess.
Occam’s razor
The broad brush did not = everyone or all. But the Black attitudes toward homosexuality can be described with a generalization, including, until recently, almost total denial that any Blacks are gay. I do not understand the depth of the negative attitudes, or fear, but they exist and, as you say, especially in the often fundamentalist Black churches. Both O and V may bring much of that attitude. IMHO>
Has anyone other than FDLakers called for Jarret’s immediate dismissal?
I was constantly bullied because I was deaf and couldn’t speak very well. I think that pales in comparison to the amount of bulling a homosexual teenager would endure. My heart goes out to them.
Are you at all clued in to any of FDL’s activism, or do you just like to pop in and tell us all to get busy? Seriously, you have a helluva lotta nerve, even though my more choice comments to you are getting moderated.
Ah, well in that case I stand corrected on the broad brush remark.
If one person in this country is not free to live his or her life, then none of us are free.
yup
Obama is certainly no Renaissance Man. He lacks vision, compassion, insight and understanding. He’s nothing more than a megalomaniac on the make.
Vast swaths of the population will agree with the following:
Our Government is corrupt.
Laws are useless when not enforced.
Our Government is too Big.
They are stealing our future.
They are in bed with the Bankers.
They are unaccountable.
They do not serve our interests.
Those who most strongly disagree with those, and many other, points are our elected leaders, who represent the plutocracy.
First and foremost, you need to realize that it’s class ware fare, and we are totally losing.
Remember Jarrett was feted by Netroots “leaders” @ DemRoots Nation last year.
Here’s what one ZerObama Kultist wrote about Jarrett.
According to the President, Jarrett is trusted “to speak for me, particularly when we’re dealing with delicate issues.” At the same time, he could rely on her “to monitor the dynamics inside the White House.”
… gotta go ….
Whatever FDL’s activism is, – it apparently is not enough. Have any other ideas or are you just resting on your laurels?
I think the war is over and the ruling elites are merely involved in a mopping up operation.
This entire administration is appallingly out of its depth on every conceivable issue.
Even if the pukes DON’T win big next month, they’ll just say they did, the media will echo whatever they say, and Prez Zero himself will agree too. Then they’ll impeach his ass, just by changing whatever rules they feel like.
And frankly, I’ll be relieved at this excruciating clownshow being cut short.
Wow, the measure of leadership is spelling, – that will get you places, I am sure.
If Obama thinks we are going to rally behind him like we did Clinton in an impeachment… let’s just say he lives in fantasy land.
Not listening to your goading and taunting are first on my list.
Oh my fucking god.
Add Jarrett to my list of admin personnel who must go, if Obama is to have any prayer of not being primaried.
Take the VOW.
Phoenix that.
But really, we mostly chase the news, vent, shoot of some e-mails, sign some petitions, rinse and repeat. Expecting to affect change based on that is delusional.
All O has to do to stop impeachment proceedings is switch party affiliation. The Republicans would never impeach one of their own. Does anyone put it past O to save his grease ball ass?
Furthermore, he writes as if most FDL readers were John Birchers, as opposed to people largely in agreement with those statements. What’s all this the prelude to — a beg for us to vote for him?
Do you expect the U.S. public to act like the citizens of France?
I have said it before, and I will say it again; Obama is a homophobe that said what he thought he needed to in order to get elected. He is against same-sex marriage claiming to be for civil unions instead, despite the obvious Constitutional issues of equal protection. Lest we not forget he is supposed to be a Constitutional expert. His administration is defending DOMA. He has done nothing to end DADT when he has had repeated opportunities to do so. The black community is porportionately less tolerant of gays than the general population and perhaps this is Obama’s hang up. That said, he has been dishonest with the public.
Really. fuckno is great at pissing and moaning. Activism, no so much.
“Made an alliance?” Yes, on one fucking issue where Grover was fucking right.
You’re no better than Fox Fucking News to parrot this ancient horseshit, as if FDL fucking colludes with the far fucking right.
*** ModNote: While we encourage rigorous conversation, personal insults are discouraged***
The three precepts of the law are these: To live honestly, to injure no other and to give unto every man his due. The more laws there are, the less justice there is. The essence of liberty is the freedom to live as you choose.
In some very twisted way I would enjoy seeing the Repricks win back Congress just to cheer them on in their impeachment hearings. I think it’s one thing that would bring the country together. What irony it would be if that elusive bipartisanship Obama fantasized about came to fruition with the entire nation rallying behind his impeachment.
right now all i got is the endless bitch…
One of the local Dem reps in the state legislature, whose district includes parts of Austin (which is the Liberal Oasis of Texas) has said that he opposes any and all taxes for a 15-20 Billion dollar budget shortfall and will work night and day to cut the huge amount of waste found in the State of Texas budget. This is Texas, where the AG’s office has job openings for Medicaid and Medicaire Fraud Investigators. Where unemployment compensation is maxed out somewhere near $300 a week. Where we have to beg billionaire fucks like Michael Dell to fund CHIPS. And this asshole is one of the rising stars of the Party.
I would like to see a state by state national petition/referendum to make public financing only of campaigns. Congress will never do it. The media doesn’t want to give up the cash cow of ads. It is will have to a forced ballot issue from the people. Until that happens, we will never have our government back and our issues will never get a fair hearing.
I’m sure we’ll be told to worship at the Obama altar more vigourously, and soon. Totally incomprehensible.
Tell us how they did it in Gdansk.
OFF
Horrifying out-of-touch LANGUAGE???
How about a horrifying out-of-touch president and his whole damn administration???!!!
He says while jerking off.
Umm …where were you all in 2007 when Obama was touring with Pastor Donnie McClurkin and hanging out with other homophobes?
Oh right, I forgot. You were bashing Hillary who as NY Senator always marched in the NYC Gay Pride.
I could cheer it on. BUT we will still be stuck with an unemployment avg. of ± 10%, unresolved DADT, DOMA, & EFCA,a foreclosure fraud scandal that will take years to unravel, shale drilling destroying our drinking water, deepwater drilling destroying our oceans, global warming run amuk, and on and on.
Impeachment might be a pleasant diversion but we will be in such deep doodoo over everything. Just everything.
Do you think this fraud will do anything about any of the problems listed? Of course you don’t. At this point President Biden would be a welcome breath of fresh air. If it should happen, I will support any and all Republican efforts to send this pretender back to the South side of Chicago.
I hate to say it, but the United States is a stagnant nation. We’re going to collapse eventually, too many people in the Government is worried about what people do in the privacy of their own home and bought out by the Corporations.
Yeah, more Clintonites. Like Rahm, Geithner, and Hillary herself. THAT’S the answer.
He won’t be going back to the South Side of Chicago. He’ll be ensconsed in what will be left of Goldman Sachs along with Chris Dodd.
Metaphorically speaking of course. He’s pulled himself up by his boot straps and will never look back.
Considering the vulgarity, hatred, ignornce and homophobic nature of the message put forth by that person . . . you were way too kind.
But I think I get it . . . just another provocation from H8′ers.
*enggetrollscroll2.1*
So what’s the followup when the government basically laughs off a massive yet peaceful display of public disgust at their activities?
I’m not asking this to gainsay the idea, but it seems like an obvious question.
(on the main topic of the post-I’d like to thank Teddy Partridge, unlike you, for pointing out that all black people don’t agree with either Obama or Valerie Jarrett in supporting homophobia.)
That shit’s just uncalled for, not to mention ignorant as shit, too given Teddy P’s decades of progressive activism, which has been posted here at FDL/Seminal for years.
Why the mods don’t throw your ass off this forum is beyond me . . .
May I suggest you write a diary or start your own blog instead of jumping threads and shitting all over long time Pups.
I have other suggestions too, but the mods have told me they frown upon my open and direct style at times.
Damn, they moderate YOU?!?!
*G*
Me, heh, I can SOMEwhat understand . . . . I do vulgar real well.
;-)
double amen.
No…you have to wonder why Obama hired her though between her Rahm, Geithner, Summers this WH reminds me of the Reagan WH.
No, twain. Obviously Jarrett and her boss have made the lifestyle choice to be white Republicans.
The problem with this country is empathy. Oilbummer, the man in charge, sets the agenda and the example. If he cared about the poor, the exploited, the downtrodden–then the public would follow. It is about values–and Oilbummer has none. What the fuck does this dipshit believe in? Tax cuts for the rich and endless war? That’s the Smirking Chimp’s territory.
So what do we have? A rudderless ship. No wonder things are going down the shitter.
Honestly, it’s better to have a dissenting point of view so that we don’t wind up getting in a circle and having a jerk off contest – so to speak. Keeps you honest.
Damn, I wish I could get my money back. Next time it will only go to true progressives! Not to PINO’s (progressives in name only)!
I’ve said it before TCU, and i’ll say it again…
“this is what happens when you campaign like Bobby Kennedy and govern like Ronald Reagan”
Valerie Jarrett is part of the family, inner sanctum, IN. Valerie Jarrett is not going anywhere she doesn’t want to go. Follow the link I provided at #52.
Very true during the terms of St Ronnie, Shrub, and Son of Shrub. Slick Willie i think cared about us little people, but cared more about “not having” sex with women other than Hillary.
President 70% doesn’t even bother to pretend to care.
No, I was writing about Donnie Mc right here at FDL.
And I wrote about Obama’s appearance at Pastor Rick™’s church as well.
Do your homework: this blog was neutral during the primary wars. Scrupulously so.
Well then she needs to fucking apologize, and right now damnit it.
This shit pisses me off.
Framing homosexuality as a “lifestyle choice” undermines her pretentious message of rights, tolerance, concern and equality. This framing serves as a control mechanism and a way to blame the victim. If a particular human behavior can be attributed to choice as opposed to something innate, then this expression of free will is susceptible to control and punishment in a way that a genetic manifestation is not. Her concern is not just phony but also antithetical to tolerance and equality for homosexuals. Typical Obama WH duplicity.
Hey, companionship of ones’ choice isn’t a right bestowed by the Constitution, so what’s the problem? Everybody knows that all our rights come that government document. ;-) Just kidding.
Jarrett’s monumental ignorance just staggers me. Words *almost* fail me. She might as well have said straight out, “He brought it on himself.” She certainly does need to apologize quickly and loudly. The sad part is, she wouldn’t mean a word of her apology.
I swear that I fall into deep despair when I see the people who are running the country today and the people who aspire to run it next. I feel like we’re doomed.
Given that NOW has called for firing the Jerry Brown aide whose verbiage suggested Meg Whitman was whoring for some political capital, I hope LGBT orgs will call for Ms. Jarrett’s resignation.
Agreed…not real sure what the deal was between them, i have nothing but respect for TeddyP, and i believe fuckno is on our side too. Larue i don’t always agree with but he/she sure makes me think – which is something i need to do more of. FDL only seems to get drive by trolls and the mods do their jobs very well to keep this place from becoming the Great Orange Satan. (thank you mods!)
If i was to take a guess i think a lot of us are getting fed up with the uncertainty of what to do. President 70%, I have completely bailed on having any “hope” he will ever do the right thing, and as such Obamco is totally unsalvageable for me. (As far as I’m concerned, if a repub takeover of Congress guaranteed impeachment, I would phone bank for them… like, yesterday). The best I can do is try to persuade others that my epiphany is not hallucinatory.
But the hard question is this: can the Dem Party be turned back from the Dark Side? And if so, how? If not, what’s next?
And those questions are very much unanswered (I don’t know if Jane and the other front pagers have any answers or even asked those questions yet). Rayne had a fantastic series on direct engagement at the local Party level and it is a hell of a lot of work that i’m not sure I can commit to at this point. Some of us grew up as Democrats (i have a great story about me and LBJ when i was two that may be true) and find it very difficult to walk away forever and embrace the Greens (in Texas, they are a HARD sell for most folks I know) or any other third party. The moment is fast approaching when we’ll know for sure (i’m thinking after the Nov elections when Congress votes on the Catfood Commission recommendations)…but the wait sure is a bitch.
What else could you expect from the “Chose to be a ‘Christian’ ” Obummer’s BULLY Pulpit?
ain’t karma great !! …. perfect reason why people like myself voted for Bush, if he tells me he’s the boss and he get’s to make the rules — that’s what I want to hear …. progressive left deserves the prez we have now, for living in a fantasy world !!
All this yapping about the American Dream dying is false …. pay attention to the word “DREAM” … not all people will achieve this and no one should be happy about a transfer of wealth that might make it easier … just work harder and maybe, just maybe — it might happen.
(BTW — I am just your average Joe who has been through alot in my 53 years on this earth, deep in debt a couple of times, on unemployemnt a couple of years ago and you know what ?? …. it is true, what does not kill you will make you stronger !!
Here at FDL I hit Barry Obama’s selection of hate preacher / death squad apologist /eliminationist Rick Warren as moderator of the first Prez debate as soon as I heard the news.
When Barry chose eliminationist Rick Warren for the Inaugural, I slammed him for that. Followed up after the eliminationist massacre in Tennessee to slam him again.
Off the top of my head, I’m betting I didn’t write about the leading Dem Prez candidates in 2007. I care about policy, not about pols. Barry and Hillary are two corporatist Dems who fought it out to inflict the Washington Consensus on the rest of us: wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire.
I remember that piece Teddy. You were spot on…Those where the days when the excuse i made for President 70% was “well, he’s got to give this “post-partisanship” BS a chance to make it look good.” Those where the days I still had a small amount of “hope” he was a Democrat, from the Democratic wing of the Party.
It just keeps getting better and better.
Great Post!!!
The corporate media thinks the people of the USA are complete morons!
They think saying Obama is a democrat, makes him one. It does not! Obama is a TROJAN horse!
The corporate media also considers Sarah Palin a political GURU.
Enough said!
This one?
http://www.salon.com/entertainment/comics/this_modern_world/2010/10/12/this_modern_world
I like this as well:
http://www.joshbrownnyc.com/ldw385.htm
Needs, smeeds, Teddy, who’s gonna make her apologize? Pisses me off, too, but I had already read enough to know who Jarrett is to the Obamas. She ain’t goin’ nowhere. Neither apologizing. You didn’t read the article, did you. And anyway, this isn’t really a surprise, is it. Just more of the same old, same old. It’s not the talk, it’s the walk.
Sad to say, I too will not be supporting the President. Breaks my heart that I finally have to agree with my wife…they ALL suck!
actually this one Otto,
http://www.salon.com/entertainment/comics/this_modern_world/2010/02/01/this_modern_world
but Tom tomorrow never fails, does he?
Suddenly…I’m hungry for some scooby snacks!
Oh yeah :) Thanks
Ah yes: cue the patronizing, broad brush generalizations about those horrible homophobic Blacks. It never, ever fails. Prop 8 was our fault, Valerie Jarrett says something stupid and suddenly homophobia is ten, no, a hundred times worse among Blacks than among anyone else, ever. “Is it those awful churches and preachers?? Surely White homophobes don’t have churches or preachers like those!”
Sadly upon reading this I flashed back to the days when there was lots of cheerleading to join with the Teabaggers, never mind their silly racist crap — which many here argued was fomented by the media to discredit them (and besides, it was all aimed at the Hitler-esque Obama). I remember people saying again and again that “we can’t agree with them on everything — but we’ll make common cause and worry about the details later!”
Yeah. They were only talking about us n*****, I guess, not gays.
(MODNOTE: ***edited in moderation)
Is that you Rahm?
She’s just copying Condoleeza Rice.
Hey – I’ve been mod’ed a few times, mainly when I get too passionate and hurl the names back.
As far as fuckno’s call to activism goes – I think his heart is in the right place, and he’s pissing on himself into the wind out of frustration (but so was I earlier… I just didn’t do it where all the other pups could see it!), but deep down fuckno knows that FDL is as activist as it can get. The Say Now Campaign is a very big deal, and its taken a lot of the FDL effort. The Foreclosure Coverage has been equally great. And don’t forget – David Dayen got to be the leader of the professional left for a day! That means FDL is moving the needle. PUshing the rock up the hill. When Jane can get facetime on the tube, and can present the idea out there that needs presenting, it means something is happening.
I think we need to remember that we write on these blogs IS BEING READ by a LOT OF PEOPLE who are not commenting. And I think because Jane has made an impact, there is opposition research being done in real time on this site.
Particularly one that has over 300 Facebook hits at the time I write this comment.
So, my advice to Fuckno and all of us to HIT FACEBOOK RECOMMEND AND TWEET. Share the diaries. Comment the shit out of these topics. Cross-link. I mean, if Clownhall can move needles and create a Teabagger Party, then why can’t a more intelligent group of people do something better?
Until they shut the Internet down, this is the Paul Revere and John Locke of the 21st century. This is the Printing Press that Martin Luther used to shake Rome. This is our “Common Sense.” Lets embrace it.
Oh, and to add my thought ON TOPIC – yes, Jarrett has lost her mind, and the Obama Administration is so twisted like a pretzel over the Resistance Movement (aka Log Cabin Republicans and a federal judge) that it can’t figure out what to say and which way to twist now. Do they fight it? Or do they roll with it? Its a devil’s bargain for them, which happens to sock puppets who sell their souls to Wall Street, Religious Bigots, Racists, and the Military Industrial Complex!
Fuckno is cool. I’m just as angry. I keep it under wraps. Problem is there is not enough anger. The Obots hate anger. But an angry left is good! Means you are alive.
Oilbummer is barely alive, man. The country is going down the shitter and he’s diddling like a fool. First, the Smirking Moron and now this moron. They really all suck.
Unfortunately I think that this is a window into how Obama really views LGBT individuals and explains to me why ENDA did not pass and DADT was not repealed.
At this point, I won’t care when the Republicans impeach Obama next year. Maybe then he’ll realize what if feels like to be kicked out of his job. He certaily has spent more time and effort to please the GOP. This white house has been happy to blame Democrats in the house as being just as bad as the republicans for politcal gridlock just as they have attacked the Left.
Obama just doesn’t deserve being defended by Democrats when he is impeached in the same way Bill Clinton was defended. And I’m sure the Tea Party Republicans will come up a with a reason to impeach him whether it is 1. His being born in Kenya, 2. Causing the BP explosion, 3. Bowing to foreign heads of state, 4. Being a socialist, or 5. any other Glenn Beck conspiracy.
I agree with your sentiments – whatever happens to the sock puppet is really nothing progressives should be worrying about.
But that goes to a bigger point. Obama is a sock puppet. Nothing more. And whether he’s impeached, becomes a lame duck, or just acts slightly less bad than Sarah Palin when she and her foreign cash and wingnut MSM champions nab the GOP nomination in 2012, it won’t matter. She will be the next sock puppet.
We need to focus on severing the HAND that stuffs itself into these sock puppets and has done so for at least the past 30 years, if not longer.
The “HOW” of that is another post, another diary. Lots of other posts, and lots of other diaries.
Here’s my take. Valerie, like so careerist-climbers who reach “the top,” is both uninformed and lazy. She, like the rest of this admin, is not actually engaged enough in issues like LGBT rights to care much what they say, and they know that interviewers won’t call them on their shit. Plus they must know that phrases like “lifestyle choice” are signifiers to those they feel they actually owe their allegiance to: their corporate masters and their inner circle (and the Obamabots) that reinforce everything they say. “Those damn gays! Why can’t they just shut up?” Can’t you hear it. This admin shows no actual understanding of or interest in the plight of gay teens, or there would be a statement of condemnation at least. Gay people, like Latinos and probably blacks, are simply viewed as potential money sources and voters, to be courted for those purposes and then ignored. This admin barely pretends to give a shit besides the perfunctory hand-wringing sympathy that’s quickly followed by a smackdown (cf. Gibbs’ constant portrayal of Obama feeling “strongly” that DADT must go and then moving toward attacking the judicial decisions to get rid of it. Sorry to be such a downer, but I’m just about numb from the actions of this reactionary admin and I think they have just totally fucked us. We’ve got to start a third party and make it work.
I always hear the canard about blacks being homophobic and black churches especially promoting it. But don’t most churches spout that shit? Certainly you can’t find bigger or more influential homophobes (and closet cases) than in the Roman Catholic church. I don’t think Obama or his admin are homophobic – they just don’t give a damn about gay people. I always get the feeling they think we’re not even worth hating – they just want us to vote, send in some $$$, and shut the fuck up.
I would say Merc, it ain’t the Blacks, and it ain’t the Black Churches that are homophobic, per se… but its The Churches, period. Whether you’re brown, black, white, green or purple the common denominator seems to be that Jesus, Allah or Vishnu hate them gays so much, it’s sinful. (Not sure if Buddha has an opinion on the subject…i would hope he’s enlightened).
This seems to be true whether the church is Catholic, Mormon, Southern Baptist, Pentacostal, Islamic, Hindu or Presbyterian. No religion I am aware of tolerates homosexuality as dogma, much less embraces homosexuals as full members in good standing – with the exception of our gentle Unitarian and Episcapalian brethren. And the more fundamental (or batshit crazy, if you prefer) the church or congregation is, the more vitriolic the hatred and intolerance. “Pray the Gay Away” counseling could only have come from Bible Thumpers…or pedophiles masquerading as Catholic priests.
and lots of blood, sweat and tears methinks…
Yeah – first step is get Rick Perry out. And win local races for judges and DAs and County Sheriffs. WE need crime labs that are honest and prosecutors that will exonerate innocent people, and hold police departments to higher standards of evidence collection and case-building. We need citizen journalists to shine light on the corruption and make the activism relevant to the ever-increasing number of dropouts and teenage parents in Texas. We need to claw back some of these Conservative tyrannies of the past 15 years. And make Texas not just BLUE but ACTIVIST and GREEN. We do that, and we can move a lot of rock up a lot of hill…
No, it’s not. It’s an actual Black person.
i’m all with you about getting that crook Perry out, but White doesn’t inspire me at all (a Houston cop I know said he tried to do something hinkie with the Police Officer’s pension -tried to tie it to Wall Street or something, not sure on the details)…I know this is Texas so the Dems have to promise their firstborn if they raise taxes, but, fuck…it sure does seem uphill all the time…
but you are right, more folks, regular folks, are waking up to the fact that we are all getting screwed equally…and we just don’t want to take it anymore. I hope the Dem Party can pull it’s head out of it’s ass by then. If not…can’t we do something about the Green party’s name? It’s just too hippie-ish for my Aggie relatives. They would vote for the values and policies greens and progressives stand for in a heartbeat if the package sounded less granola.
But you gotta admit Oilbummer blows chunks. (Of course, so did Bush Sr., Slick Willie, the Chimp).
They all work for the Man, dude. Doesn’t matter the skin color. Capitalism sucks. That’s the real problem. They want all of us eating out of garbage pails. The elite are merciless. Oilbummer is just another servant of the elite, like Valerie what’s her name. Religious people like Valerie and Oilbumer tend to be homophobic. That’s the damn truth!
Well, I agree partially: I highly doubt that Black churches are proportionately more homophobic than others. But I also don’t think that ALL churches/religions are homophobic; many buck tradition or embrace gay members. As with anything, it’s fundamentalists who are the problem.
I just get pissed when the pitchforks and torches come out around here as soon as it’s a Black person who does something stupid or hateful, and I’ve seen it more than once. You don’t want to even think such things of an online community that is so ubersensitive, inclusive and considerate on just about every other issue — but I’ve seen push come to shove here on the Black/Gay issue, on Obama vs. Clinton, and during Tea Party Summer last year. It wasn’t pretty then, and it’s not now.
The cynic in me grins knowingly and wonders what I really expected.
Primary challenge anyone? These asshats have got to go.
I’m not saying he doesn’t. I don’t believe he’s the second coming of Pol Pot, as many here think, but I’m pretty goddamndisappointed that he’s WAY more the corporatist Clinton-esque triangulator than I thought he would be going in — and which seemed infintely preferable to another Republican at the time.
So I’m not an Obamabot just because I’m Black. I’m just not willing to sit by when Valerie Jarrett suddenly becomes the excuse for sweeping race-based generalizations coming from erstwhile Champions Of The Oppressed And Different.
maybe that was what The Powers That Be were hoping for all along, so we can be at each others throats over another wedge issue. For what it’s worth, I think Obama’s whiter than me…and I’m Scot, German, Czech and Cherokee. =)
and to be honest, I had no idea Valerie Jarret was Black until I wikied her and found out her dad was a prominent African- American architect. I thought she was some clueless corporate PR spinmeister during the interview…
I don’t think I said that. Maybe others implied that Blacks are more homophobic than whites. I didn’t. Someone made the point that the real culprit is the Church–religion. I agree wholeheartedly.
To wit: I can’t believe MLK if he were alive today would not champion gay rights. MLK was a visionary. A great man. A hero to me. I read his Riverside Chruch speech all the time. That speech was pure radicalism!!! Yet, we get this vanilla version of MLK.
Anyway, hope I made my point!
Amen to that. If anybody understood the true teachings of Jesus, it was him.
You have, and I completely agree with you.
Oh, yeah — I’m sure Joey $4800 Suits at HRC will get right on that.
That wasn’t a dissenting point of view, which I always welcome.
Those were personal attacks from someone who’s been specializing in whining and derailing threads lately, but no more. At least not on MY threads.
Obama was bought and installed by Goldman Sachs to protect their investment in the ruined economy they were destroying. They knew Hillary was gonna win, and might not look favorably on their looting, unless they found someone to beat her in the primary.
I can’t prove any of this, but it sure looks like it now, doesn’t it? Not sure Hillary wouldn’t have given the MOTUs their way as well, but they couldn’t be sure either, could they? With their man Obama, they can guarantee his behavior: they put him there in a way Hillary would never feel they had.
I know who Valerie Jarrett is.
I’ve read all about her already.
That doesn’t mean I can’t call for her resignation. You should too, instead of making excuses for her as a made-woman. She needs to go.
Nobody ever said any of those things here, ever.
Thank you.
I was an Edwards supporter during the Primaries, and he couldn’t even keep his dick in his pants…
Funny how the Big Three candidates (Obama, Hillary and Johnny the Wad) really talked the progressive talk (Two Americas) especially as the race got closer to the general election. Then when it was only Big O and Hill they almost sounded like FDR and Henry Wallace duking it out. I am more and more convinced the 2008 campaign and election was all a fucking sham and fraud perpetrated on us rubes.
What excuses? Don’t go off on me because you’re angry at Jarrett. You demand her resignation, I don’t care about her. I don’t see her as someone to care about one way or another. It’s her patron who’s the problem.
You keep saying she’s never going anywhere because of her connections.
I say severing those connections would be a victory.
We disagree on the approach; I get it. But don’t tell me I don’t know who Valerie Jarrett is, because I do. I read that article long before you ever Googled it. I’ve been watching this crowd for a long time.
Technically, her patron (Obama) is also a sock puppet like her. The real problem is OBAMA’s patron. Which is Wall Street. And Warmakers. That’s something I think we all sometimes forget. OBama is just a finger puppet. And he’s been placed on the left middle finger of Wall Street. They close the 1st, 2nd, and 4th digits and thumb into a fist-like shape, while keeping the Obama-finger puppet prominently displayed in our faces on that unbending 3rd digit.
Also known as the proverbial “bird.” Jarret is like “horton hears a who?” on Obama-Finger-Puppet’s own proverbial “bird.”
Just to keep things in perspective.
well said Mars, I wonder sometimes if this was the reason Hillary was invited to be on the team, and Edwards was told to go pound sand. Maybe Edwards was a true progressive.
Nah, that’s couldn’t possibly be right. Edwards couldn’t keep his dick in his pants
With the glut of telecom spying that now goes on by the NSA and foreign nations on American citizens, they have to build massive structures across the US the size of the Alamodome just to hold billions of servers that will each hold terabytes of data on every phone call, text message, email, facebook wall posting, picture, etc that is transmitted over fiber-optic cables.
Why?
Because at some point in the near future, there will be a complete record of everything every American has ever said, posted, typed, or texted in a digital format. And those PATRONS who wear the Sock Puppets will get to use that information to help screen for the “Best” candidates.
And that way, once prominent citizens, community activists, change agents, etc throw their names in the ring, or put themselves into positions of making a difference, the “Patrons” will make sure to comb through those Alamodome-sized Server Warehouse and pull out ANYTHING that can be used to blackmail or incriminate the person(s).
And bingo – you’ve got a ready crop of easy-to-manipulate sock puppets. The ones that kept it clean won’t see the light of day in terms of fundraising, political party support, or media endorsements. They will get the least airtime on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. They will get pg 16 correction to Front PAge Smears the day before. They will be given 1 question per 10 other questions in a televised debate. They wil be basically “herded to the back” and ridiculed, marginalized, and mocked. The ones who will win primaries and get to be our “lesser of three evils” will be the ones with the most dirt on those servers.
And that is how the “Patrons” will ensure that America’s choices will always be Hillary Clinton, Barack OBama, John Edwards, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Paladino, Tom Tancredo, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Harry Reid, Michelle Bachmann, etc. In other words – they will GUARANTEE That the most wild-eyed, lunatic, out-of-touch Valerie Jarret Mold type of people of the lowest moral fiber, the meanest and basest human beings, who can spout various shades of “war, war, war” and “wall street” are the ONLY choices we can pick from.
I’d almost wish for one of those electromagnetic surges to neutralize the whole system, but you know that they’ll be smart enough to build those warehouses as Faraday Cages to protect the precious
national securityblackmail servers.was the dirt Bushco had on Pelosi the reason “impeachment was off the table”?
and we damn sure know Obama hasn’t stopped the data-gathering, considering he expanded the program to include White House sanctioned hits on US citizens. the corruption just boggles the mind… i have to ask if these DC sociopaths were ever capable of real human emotions and/or empathy?
good god…way past my bedtime…catch everyone later
I’ve never liked Ms. Jarrett. She’s a fast-talking ~~~EDITED IN MODERATION~~~ and not very good at it either. This stupid ‘life style choice’ remark is the best verbal indication so far of how Obama and his crowd really view gay people. They refuse to spend any political capital on them and don’t give a shit about them. His failure to end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is the best ‘non-action’ indication of how he really feels. May the arrogant effing bastard be impeached when the Republicans he so craves to be friends with take over the House.
I think so.
I also think these cats play it smart too. They don’t just “release” the info. They fish for it, and then they bait the target in the media or in a surprise encounter at a public event. They figure out what buttons to push, and then they bait the person into saying something “hot” or “scandalous.” They can take it out of context and give it the primo airtime it needs to scorch the earth.
I don’t usually give too much credit to people, but I have to use Occam’s Razor:
Why build so much capacity for permanent warehousing?
What good will this do in the “war on terror?” Isn’t it just information glut?
Imagine the Brits during WWII deciding they would spy on every single German citizen 24/7 and warehousing all communications by all Germans ALL the time! What could they possibly gain from that? And wouldn’t the sheer manpower alone kill the war effort? They’d never get any reliable or useful intelligence, and they’d be wasting years of analysis.
Now, imagine the Brits didn’t just do it to the Germans, but did it to THEIR OWN CITIZENS! The German armies would have raised the swastika over Buckingham Palace if the British had been so foolish.
The sheer volume of data is mind-boggling, and completely useless for real-time “terror chatter” analysis. What possible use is it?
Well, when that snotty 19 year old who made stupid drunk comments a few times by email or contacted his cocaine dealer by text message grows out of it and gets a degree or two, gets a heart, and decides to make a difference, THEN it won’t take very long to run a search on THAT INDIVIDUAL, will it? Its not about catching REAL TIME TERROR PLOTS. Its about keeping all data on file all the time. And then, when needed, they play “whack-a-mole” with Peace Activists, Politicians, and Journalists who step out of line. THey can just plug in a few tags and pull up the entire file on the person. Its just classic KGB style dossiers on their own citizens. Except its modernized and far more effective in data-gathering. ITs already being gathered, to sit quietly in some warehouse until the day and time comes to either buy a puppet or publicly shame and politicially destroy a nuisance. Easy to do, and what is stopping them? Morality? Civility? Privacy? Ethics? Nope. Nada. Zilch.
Its called “Power” and that is why Valerie Jarret gets to say this 15 year old young man chose his path and got what he deserved. Because that is what she is implying isn’t it? He got what’s coming to him? That’s why Paladino can post pictures of 3 black men running from an airplane on a runway with the caption “Run N—- Run” and watch his poll rating surge upwards in the “liberal” state of New York. That’s how Sharron Angle can even BE in this race!!
That’s why Sarah Palin, the media fiction that she always has been, is now the number one contender for the 2012 Teabagger Nomination. They can be bought. And they don’t mind being puppets. And the noble and good people, lost to the fog of media obscurity, who stood against them at some point in time were easily removed from the equation by a variety of tactics. And this technology and policy to use it on our own citizens carte blanche just makes the process of puppeteering so much easier.
I worry that they are ignorant as well as arrogant.
I mean, no one with any gay acquaintances says “lifestyle choice” any more. No one. It’s outmoded, archaic. How could she go around saying that if there were any LGBT people in her circle, at the White House, around Obama?
Answer: she couldn’t, and there aren’t any.
And that is horrifying. These people pretend to be Democrats, but they are not.
Yes. To all of it.
Teddy, you don’t know that you read that before I Googled it. As it happens, I read that early in the campaign. Obama is what he chooses to be. He has agency and responsibility. What should be said of Jarrett is that she was insensitive to the point of rudeness and whatever other talents she may possess, she was crude and sanctimonious, immature, really. The WH should have sent an emotional grownup who could be sincerely sympathetic.
My own thought is that given the attitudes regularly on display from the front line players, sincerely sympathetic grownup might have to be assigned to somebody none of us has heard of. On a personal level this was appalling discourtesy and lack of empathy. Any random person taken in off the streets would have known better.
I don’t buy the Wall Street, military puppet business. It’s excuse making. I agree with the guys at stopmebeforeivoteagain: he has no skills beyond campaigning. He’s just completely over his head in the presidency, he can’t do it. I believe he doesn’t even have any useful idea of what he’s supposed to be doing. He thinks he is doing the job.
You know what broke my heart? That woman soldier who was sexually blackmailed by the rapists in her unit. Imagine that if you want to get really, really angry. I wonder what sort of reply she got from Obama?
Not that I’m under any illusion that it will do any good, today I wrote my U.S. Representative (Nadler), Senators (Schumer & Gillibrand), the White House, Speaker Pelosi and the DNC to inform them that, with the Administration’s announcement that that it will appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, the Democratic Party had lost the vote of this formerly loyal gay Democrat. I won’t vote for a Republican, but I can sure vote third-party. Enough is enough.
I warned ye! Oh, many was the time I warned ye!
But no, nobody listens to the crazy guy starting slow boil revolutions against tyrants, do they?
I’m just running around warning people for no good reason.
Fine, write a very stinging letter using many exclamation marks and frowny faces. Write two.
Or join with the warriors spoken of in hushed tones to clean out both parties, or more preferably replace both parties.
We’ll not agree on all issues, but better to work on the issues we do agree on and happily battle it out on the ones we don’t than show blind obedience to any party that is privately disgusted by you.
There are many seats left at the Mad Hatter’s table.
No, I think she must have made a lifestyle choice to be white.
Speaking as a gay African-American the “broad brush” you whine about is right on target.
Being out and proud exiled me from my family and I couldn’t be happier.
Of course MLK would champion gay rights. He would not have existed were it not or the help of a gay black man named Bayard Rustin.
You’ll see that it was when Hillary beats Obama in the 2012 primaries and becomes president fulfilling their pact. Barry’s only mission was to destroy Social Security behind the shield of his race.
You can find more “influential” ‘phobes in other churches, but it’s more than a tad disgusting to see one minority group attack another — especially when using the playbook written by racists, slightly rewritten to encompass sex.
When you consider that the head of the office of faith-based initiatives in the White House is a young Pentecostal minister whose faith background is in the AME church,it is sadly not surprising that the White House panders to homophobes.
I have long wondered about that aspect of his entire political effort. I work with a number of African-American female attorneys on a regular basis (volunteering or legal aid or client collaboration) and during the 2008 election, I remember a lot of them talking about how they were not going to just vote for him because he was black. They had a BAD taste in their mouthes from Jesse Jackson (they felt he played to stereotypes too much and was not THEIR spokesperson as he liked to claim to be).
I remember one of them saying something to the effect of “the Democratic Party better not think the black vote is so easily bought”
So, now I wonder if that is EXACTLY the role Obama played. Was he the Wall Street Puppet intended to give the Banksters and MIC cover for their crimes while he assuaged the Progressive, professional-left labor, LGBT, Minority, environmental and peace movements? Was he the point guard on this political “pick and roll”?
Well, he didn’t realize that we have Big Men at Center like Jane Hamsher and Glenn Greenwald ready to stop that drive to the basket of lies. And he didn’t realize that today’s professional black woman is a LOT SMARTER than Obama seems to think. She knows when a guy like him is lying. :)
That is my thinking in comment 232. That OBama is attempting to pry a wedge between Progressives. His job is to give the illusion of being a friend to the black community – but his mission is to give cover to Wall Street while it financially rapes that community.
Some of my African-American female colleagues (smart, well-educated attorneys) call it “pulling up the ladder behind him.” They are on to him, so he is trying to “push some buttons” that he thinks will work. But what he doesn’t know is that these ladies are not homophobes and won’t fall for it. I hope they are indicative of the African-American community at large. I suspect they are. And that means OBama’s “pulpit” strategy will fail.
Bingo. That is OBama’s strategy, too. Divide and Conquer. His problem has never been the SArah Palin wingnuts. His Chief of Staff and Spokesman both bent over backwards to show “Civility” to the radical right. It was the “professional left” that were called “F-ing Retards” and from day one this administration has sought to demean the various Progressive and Minority groups, either by treating some like idiots and lying to their faces or by bashing others. Now, the strategy is to get us to bash one another.
Lets stop it. Obama is a Wall Street sock puppet, and the Black Community and the LGBT Community and the Peace Activists and Environmentalists and Labor and Workers Rights and IMmigration Reform and Consumer Rights Activists all need to work together to stop Wall Street and the War Industry and the Slave Wage Masters from using faux liberals like Obama to divide us.
I’m sorry, but you’re absolutely wrong there. There was PLENTY of “let’s ally with them and work out the details later” talk when it came to the Tea Party. I got into arguments back then with people here at FDL who dismissed the Teabaggers’ racism as media propaganda.
It’s true, and I know I can’t be the only one who remembers it (unless the other folks it bothered packed up and left.)
Please read my comments 234 through 236.
Those “people back then at FDL” are not the problem you and I face. They are the straw man that OBama needs to keep his power.
Just remember that. I won’t repeat my three comments, but I do encourage you to read them before choosing to be the wedge that the Sock Puppet needs.
If Obama would be impeached, it might, just might, penetrate his brain that the Republicans were never, ever, going to work with a Democratic president.
Number Four. Valerie is a heartless twit. 15 year olds don’t make lifestyle choices period on sexual identity. They tend to tread water in currents they don’t understand yet, wallow in confusion, angst, uneven self esteem & other developmental issues complicated by dawning inklings of sexual identity which are made worse by lack of outside acceptance, bigotry etc.
. This person was a kid. I don’t know his case. But I’m sure I grew up with maybe 10 others boys and girls just like him.
Was it Cornell West? He’s a professor at Princeton and has been a consistent critic of Obama.
Here’s a youtube of him in 12/2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1w6w2n9Hks&feature=related
West’s best lines come when he speaks of Obama’s lectures to the poor to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and the fact that he never mentioned to the Big Banks to do the same. This is a great segment of a West interview – he very sanely calls for a job policy and actually mentions FDR.
You need to provide some links to support that assertion, then.
Comments, perhaps although I don’t recall them. But not front-pagers.
I honestly don’t remember anyone here thinking tea baggers were not racist.
I agree with you.
I’d like to see proof of mercury’s assertions, please.
Gay is a lifestyle choice
Just like being black is a lifestyle choice. Just ask Obama
I didn’t give him enough money to hurt.
But he isn’t getting my vote if he runs again.
(I suspect that the Tea Party will kill the Republicans, and Obama’s actions (and inactions) will kill the Democrats.)
I guess that kind of research takes time, time and time and patience on our side. ;-)
It’s all your fault Teddy.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/10/valerie_jarrett_is_no_tony_per.html