Comments on: Asking Gay Americans to Wait

By: Andrew Kessinger

Andrew Kessinger — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:40:50 +0000

Check out this new campaign called “Don't Ask, Don't Give!” Exactly the right response, IMO. http://gay.americablog.com/2009/11/dont-ask-don...

By: JimR

JimR — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:19:18 +0000

The United States of America is not just a democracy — it is a constitutional democracy. What that means is that our government is designed to express not only the will of the majority (democracy), but also to simultaneously protect the unalienable rights of minorities and the powerless. That is an extremely important point because it is the constitutional protection of minorities and the powerless that add civility, humanity, and decency to what could otherwise be a barbaric nation — democratic or not.

In other words, democracy alone does not ensure that a nation will act humanely and decently. A majority can at times be quite cruel and unfair. Lynch mobs will generally express the will of the majority (of the mob, that is). The majority of whole nations can at times approve of and do terrible things. Even genocides can at times express the will of the majority. And that is precisely why our Founding Fathers recognized the need for a Constitution that would protect the rights of minorities and the powerless.

Thus it is that our Constitution provides the foundation for our nation; that it has for more than two centuries provided our nation with international respect and credibility; and that the abandonment of our Constitution under the “leadership” of George Bush and Dick Cheney has largely eliminated the international esteem which our nation was previously held, reversed more than two centuries of progress, and now threatens to throw our nation and our world back into the Dark Ages.

By: MikeOlred

MikeOlred — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:18:26 +0000

The beautiful thing about our nation is that you have the right to think and practice your religion as you see fit. You do not, however, have the right to force that religious belief on me or anyone else in this nation by codifying the scripture that you follow into civil law.

Go to church, practice your faith, but stay away from my liberties. I’ll extend you the same favor.

By: Skkye

Skkye — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:16:15 +0000

Or when your grand daddy could hang negroes. Those were the good ol’ days!

By: DoctorT1

DoctorT1 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:14:40 +0000

Mr. Kessinger makes the argument forcefully and more convincingly than a majority of the harrumphing gewgaws flapping their gums (both pro and con) every afternoon on cable TV. With the generational turnover, the time is rapidly passing when people are going to mildly accept waiting forever to receive the freedoms and security they're entitled to.

By: Michael C

Michael C — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:14:16 +0000

Every special interest bunch of whiners has to elevate their cause to entitlement due them, excluding the majority. More national referendums by CITIZENS would determine what the majority really desires.

By: JUNGLEJIM123

JUNGLEJIM123 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:13:20 +0000

news flash ****** Gays have ALWAYS been in the military — protecting your sorry ignorant rear ends while you drink, curse, commit adultery, beat your wives, have abortions and carry on your every day miserable hypocritical lives only being concerned about yourselves. Wake up… someone who has served this country honorably for 18 years should not be thrown out of the military now based on whom they may love. Would you like to take their place? Naw… we didn't think so… Getting shot at or blown apart isn't very sexual. They don't need to join the military for sex… they can get that anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, even right next door to many of you.

By: uh_huhh

uh_huhh — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:12:17 +0000

Bravo! There is never a convenient time for heterosexual Democrats to eliminate anti-gay discrimination. Anything they say is just another excuse for refusing to act. The employment discrimination bill has been pending since 1974, for nearly my entire 40-year-old life. NO MORE EXCUSES! NO MORE WAITING!

By: klakey1

klakey1 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:11:42 +0000

I don't think that President Obama is asking gay Americans to wait until every future war is won, every societal ill is treated and every business is booming before he turns to working on equal protection under the law for gays. That's a straw-man proposition, and not to be taken seriously. Politics is the art of the possible, and there really are a multitude of evils to be addressed, not just discrimination against gays. You do what you can when you can. For gays, or any other constituency, to expect more than that is childish.

By: SteveBurns1947

SteveBurns1947 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:11:08 +0000

Excellent piece. A lot of people I know are really disillusioned about the failure to repeal “don't ask, don't tell” which Obama could do with a stroke of the pen. The democrats may find a lot of us at home next time, while the republicans are out voting.

The democratic party may well think we have no place else to go. While I would hate to see another term of buffoons at the helm under Palin, it might wake my party up to the fact that, for us, the hour is late and there are promises that need to be kept.