Michael Gaynor
Obama didn't "evolve" on marriage. He reverted.
By Michael Gaynor
President Obama's record on marriage reflects political opportunism, not "evolution."
When it comes to oxymoronic "same-sex marriage," opportunistic politicians put personal advancement before tradition, principled belief and honesty while the liberal media establishment delights in promoting the notion that switching from supporting traditional marriage to supporting same-sex marriage is "evolving."
Evolution is defined as "a process of change in a certain direction" and "a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state" (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution)."
President Obama's record on marriage reflects rank political opportunism, not "evolution."
MSNBC's Tom Curry's article titled "The "evolution' of Obama's stand on gay marriage" (http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/09/11623172-the-evolution-of-obamas-stance-on-gay-marriage?lite) is a good example of the liberal media establishment's promotion of the Obama evolved myth:
"Since stepping on to the national stage in 2004 when he ran for the Senate in Illinois, Barack Obama has shifted his views on whether same-sex couples should have the legal right to marry. 'My feelings about this are constantly evolving,' Obama said about same-sex marriage in December of 2010.
"By Wednesday his views had evolved to the position that gay and lesbian rights advocates had urged upon him since 2004. Obama said, 'For me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
Curry added that "Obama's Wednesday announcement was a reversal of his 2004 view that 'marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman,'" but did not mention that was a reversion to the position he had taken when he first ran for political office in 1996.
President Obama is the prime example of the successful political opportunist who says what he thinks he needs to say to win and pursues his real agenda later, when circumstances seem propitious.
On marriage, Obama did not "evolve," he reverted, and his White House Communications director falsely and foolishly claimed in 2011 that Obama never had supported same-sex marriage.
In 2004 the Illinois voters might not have elected a proponent of same sex marriage to the United States Senate, so Democrat candidate Barack Obama posed as a supporter of traditional marriage.
During a pre-election interview Obama said that marriage was NOT a civil right and defined marriage as "between a man and a woman." See www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XAVqrqr4j4&feature=youtu.be.
Likewise, in 2008 the United States voters might not have elected a proponent of same sex marriage President, so Democrat candidate Obama professed to believe that marriage was between a man and a woman. The liberal media establishment delights in describing the switch from opposing to supporting same sex marriage as "evolution" and has generally cooperated in Obama's campaign to depict himself as having "evolved" on marriage.
In fact, the notion that Obama "evolved" on marriage since he became President is nonsense.
In January 1996, as an Illinois state senate hopeful, Obama was asked in a Windy City Times questionnaire whether he supported this resolution:
"Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice,
"RESOLVED, the state should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of civil marriage."
Obama's reply was unqualified: "I would support such a resolution."
A month later, in a typed letter to Trudy Ring of the Outlines newspaper, Obama flatly stated: "I favor legalized same-sex marriage and would fight effort to provide such marriage."
After winning the presidential election, Obama deftly moved toward publicly supporting same-sex marriage even before the 2010 elections.
In October 2010, he told a group of bloggers that his view on the marriage was "evolving" and referred to friends of his children who had same-sex parents and staff workers in "committed same-sex relationships." He said, "I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you're right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships."
In December 2010, Obama responded at a White House press conference, "My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this. At this point, what I've said is, is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have."
On June 17, 2011 White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said at a Netroots Nation was blogger conference that the Windy City Media questionnaire was filled out by a staff member, not Barack Obama. The founder of Outlines Magazine and publisher of the Windy City Times promptly stood by then-state senate candidate Obama's response. He noted that for the first time in the 15 years since its publication the questionnaire's authenticity has been doubted and explained: "It was faxed from the law firm Obama worked for at the time. And it was reported in Outlines newspaper that he backed gay marriage, something his campaign never denied in 1996. He would have had a very small campaign staff, so it was unlikely he had someone else complete the form. In fact he went to the trouble of typing full answers when the form was actually able to be completed as a Q&A. Even if someone else completed the form, Obama signed it, and never denied subsequent reports of its content."
The effort to distance Obama from the questionnaire quickly ended. When asked about it, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded that Pfeiffer was referring to another questionnaire.
In June 2011, at a White House news conference after New York legalized same-sex marriage, Obama commented, "I think it's important for us to work through these issues because each community is going to be different, each state is going to be different" and predicted that same-sex marriage would triumph. "I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out."
In October 2011, Obama was not yet prepared to publicly endorse same-sex marriage. He answered, "I'm still working on it," when ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked whether he would move from supporting civil unions for same-sex couples to supporting same-sex marriage. "I probably won't make news right now, George. But I think that there's no doubt that as I see friends, families children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues," he added.
On May 9, 2012, Obama announced to ABC News that his view had evolved and he now supported same-sex marriage. He cited Jesus' teaching to treat others as we would like to be treated as a foundation of his support for same-sex marriage.
He did not claim to have just learned of that teaching, however.
Democrat United States Senator from Illinois Claire McCaskill just announced that she had "evolved" on marriage too.
Allahpundit (http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/25/claire-mccaskill-oh-by-the-way-im-pro-gay-marriage-now/) was not fooled:
"Must we really endure the charade of one congressional Democrat after another grandstanding about their phony 'evolutions' on gay marriage? No one on either side honestly believes McCaskill suddenly changed her mind on this issue between election day last year, when she defeated Todd Akin, and today. Like her pal Barack, her stance on SSM shifted at some point in the fairly distant past but she kept her mouth shut about it lest it jeopardize her precious Senate seat.... McCaskill lied and lied all the way through, and only now that she doesn't have to face her reddish state's voters again for six years has she summoned the courage to speak up. You're a real hero, Claire."
These days an honest politician is heroic and Obama and McCaskill aren't, but they are in office.
© Michael Gaynor
March 27, 2013
President Obama's record on marriage reflects political opportunism, not "evolution."
When it comes to oxymoronic "same-sex marriage," opportunistic politicians put personal advancement before tradition, principled belief and honesty while the liberal media establishment delights in promoting the notion that switching from supporting traditional marriage to supporting same-sex marriage is "evolving."
Evolution is defined as "a process of change in a certain direction" and "a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state" (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution)."
President Obama's record on marriage reflects rank political opportunism, not "evolution."
MSNBC's Tom Curry's article titled "The "evolution' of Obama's stand on gay marriage" (http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/09/11623172-the-evolution-of-obamas-stance-on-gay-marriage?lite) is a good example of the liberal media establishment's promotion of the Obama evolved myth:
"Since stepping on to the national stage in 2004 when he ran for the Senate in Illinois, Barack Obama has shifted his views on whether same-sex couples should have the legal right to marry. 'My feelings about this are constantly evolving,' Obama said about same-sex marriage in December of 2010.
"By Wednesday his views had evolved to the position that gay and lesbian rights advocates had urged upon him since 2004. Obama said, 'For me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."
Curry added that "Obama's Wednesday announcement was a reversal of his 2004 view that 'marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman,'" but did not mention that was a reversion to the position he had taken when he first ran for political office in 1996.
President Obama is the prime example of the successful political opportunist who says what he thinks he needs to say to win and pursues his real agenda later, when circumstances seem propitious.
On marriage, Obama did not "evolve," he reverted, and his White House Communications director falsely and foolishly claimed in 2011 that Obama never had supported same-sex marriage.
In 2004 the Illinois voters might not have elected a proponent of same sex marriage to the United States Senate, so Democrat candidate Barack Obama posed as a supporter of traditional marriage.
During a pre-election interview Obama said that marriage was NOT a civil right and defined marriage as "between a man and a woman." See www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XAVqrqr4j4&feature=youtu.be.
Likewise, in 2008 the United States voters might not have elected a proponent of same sex marriage President, so Democrat candidate Obama professed to believe that marriage was between a man and a woman. The liberal media establishment delights in describing the switch from opposing to supporting same sex marriage as "evolution" and has generally cooperated in Obama's campaign to depict himself as having "evolved" on marriage.
In fact, the notion that Obama "evolved" on marriage since he became President is nonsense.
In January 1996, as an Illinois state senate hopeful, Obama was asked in a Windy City Times questionnaire whether he supported this resolution:
"Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice,
"RESOLVED, the state should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of civil marriage."
Obama's reply was unqualified: "I would support such a resolution."
A month later, in a typed letter to Trudy Ring of the Outlines newspaper, Obama flatly stated: "I favor legalized same-sex marriage and would fight effort to provide such marriage."
After winning the presidential election, Obama deftly moved toward publicly supporting same-sex marriage even before the 2010 elections.
In October 2010, he told a group of bloggers that his view on the marriage was "evolving" and referred to friends of his children who had same-sex parents and staff workers in "committed same-sex relationships." He said, "I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you're right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships."
In December 2010, Obama responded at a White House press conference, "My feelings about this are constantly evolving. I struggle with this. At this point, what I've said is, is that my baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have."
On June 17, 2011 White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said at a Netroots Nation was blogger conference that the Windy City Media questionnaire was filled out by a staff member, not Barack Obama. The founder of Outlines Magazine and publisher of the Windy City Times promptly stood by then-state senate candidate Obama's response. He noted that for the first time in the 15 years since its publication the questionnaire's authenticity has been doubted and explained: "It was faxed from the law firm Obama worked for at the time. And it was reported in Outlines newspaper that he backed gay marriage, something his campaign never denied in 1996. He would have had a very small campaign staff, so it was unlikely he had someone else complete the form. In fact he went to the trouble of typing full answers when the form was actually able to be completed as a Q&A. Even if someone else completed the form, Obama signed it, and never denied subsequent reports of its content."
The effort to distance Obama from the questionnaire quickly ended. When asked about it, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded that Pfeiffer was referring to another questionnaire.
In June 2011, at a White House news conference after New York legalized same-sex marriage, Obama commented, "I think it's important for us to work through these issues because each community is going to be different, each state is going to be different" and predicted that same-sex marriage would triumph. "I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out."
In October 2011, Obama was not yet prepared to publicly endorse same-sex marriage. He answered, "I'm still working on it," when ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked whether he would move from supporting civil unions for same-sex couples to supporting same-sex marriage. "I probably won't make news right now, George. But I think that there's no doubt that as I see friends, families children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues," he added.
On May 9, 2012, Obama announced to ABC News that his view had evolved and he now supported same-sex marriage. He cited Jesus' teaching to treat others as we would like to be treated as a foundation of his support for same-sex marriage.
He did not claim to have just learned of that teaching, however.
Democrat United States Senator from Illinois Claire McCaskill just announced that she had "evolved" on marriage too.
Allahpundit (http://hotair.com/archives/2013/03/25/claire-mccaskill-oh-by-the-way-im-pro-gay-marriage-now/) was not fooled:
"Must we really endure the charade of one congressional Democrat after another grandstanding about their phony 'evolutions' on gay marriage? No one on either side honestly believes McCaskill suddenly changed her mind on this issue between election day last year, when she defeated Todd Akin, and today. Like her pal Barack, her stance on SSM shifted at some point in the fairly distant past but she kept her mouth shut about it lest it jeopardize her precious Senate seat.... McCaskill lied and lied all the way through, and only now that she doesn't have to face her reddish state's voters again for six years has she summoned the courage to speak up. You're a real hero, Claire."
These days an honest politician is heroic and Obama and McCaskill aren't, but they are in office.
© Michael Gaynor
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
