Obama One Term President!!!

[Bob]

Reaching that conclusion now is just a wee bit premature. He's been in office less than two years and we (and nobody else) have no clue at the moment as to what will be the situation in the summer of 2012 (such as the condition of the US economy then, the likely Republican contender then, etc.). The condition of the economy, historically, will likely determine if the incumbent wins or loses. And, should somebody as ghastly as Sarah Palin be the Republican nominee, I would think Jimmy Carter could beat her!

[fountainhall]

Whilst I agree with all you say, should we be remembering that Bill Clinton was in almost exactly the same boat after his first mid-terms? Yet, as the Republican Revolution swept into Washington, he somehow found his footing and presided over a period of extraordinary growth and popularity. Mind you, he was not fighting two wars nor the worst economic recession since 1929, and the loathing of the parties for each other had not quite reached its present sickening state. So, maybe Obama will surprise us - but I'm not betting on it!

[lvdkeyes]

People always mention the tax cut for the wealthy. If that was all that was included in the bill Obama wouldn't have agreed to extending it, but included was extending unemployment to those who need it most. If he hadn't agreed to the extension, many more people would have suffered. It is unfortunate that the tax cut extension was not left to stand alone.

As for "Don't Ass, Don't Tell", as I read it Congress snuffed that.

[RichLB]

I still see Obama as the best we've got. The days of saber rattling to appease the frustrated are over. We are no longer the only major power in the game. He has done a remarkable job with very few hiccups over the last two years. For a list of 100 of his most notable accomplishments go to http://simplifythepositive.blogspot.com ... arack.html

As for his actions re gay rights, let me give you a list and you can compare it to what others before him in the White House has done. Over the last two years, Obama has:
1. Reversed an inexcusable US position by signing the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
2. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees
3. Endorsed the Baldwin-Lieberman bill, The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, to provide full partnership benefits to federal employees
4. Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act
5. Lifted the HIV Entry Ban effective January 2010
6. Released the first Presidential PRIDE proclamation since 2000
7. Hosted the first LGBT Pride Month Celebration in White House history
8. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King
9. Appointed the first transgender DNC member in history
10. Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees
11. Committed to ensuring that HUD’s core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity
12. Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders -- the nation's first ever -- funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAGE
13. Testified in favor of ENDA, the first time any official of any administration has testified in the Senate on ENDA
14. Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability -- the first positive federal LGBT legislation in the nation's history
15. Supported lower taxes for same-sex couples who receive health benefits from employers
16. Hired and appointed a record number of qualified LGBT Americans, including more than 10 Senate-confirmed appointments
17. Sworn in Ambassador David Huebner
18. Changed the culture of government everywhere from – among others – HUD and HHS to the Export-Import Bank, the State Department, and the Department of Education
19. Appointed Sonia Sotomayor, instead of a conservative who would have tilted the Court even further to the right and virtually doomed our rights for a generation.
20. Named open transgender appointees (the first President ever to do so)
21. Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government (the nation's largest employer)
22. Emphasized LGBT inclusion in everything from the President’s historic NAACP address...
23. Recommitted, in a televised address, to passing ENDA . . . repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell . . . repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act
24. Spoken out against discrimination at the National Prayer Breakfast
25. Dispatched the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to call on the Senate to repeal Don't Ask / Don't Tell, in the meantime dialing back on discharges
26. Launched a website to gather public comment on first-ever federal LGBT housing discrimination study
27. Appointed long-time equality champion Chai Feldblum one of the four Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
28. Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept our relationships from being counted, encouraging couples who consider themselves married to file that way, even if their state of residence does not yet permit legal marriage
29. Produced U.S. Census Bureau PSAs featuring gay, lesbian, and transgender spokespersons.
30. Instructed HHS to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (virtually all hospitals) to allow LGBT visitation rights.

Now before letting Fox News skew us into their desired agenda of Obama hating, let's reflect on what might have happened if McCain had won! While Obama is still in the process of meeting his agenda to provide all Americans equal rights, let's not abandon him when he needs us the most.






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[Gaybutton]

I am not sure what the alternative is to Obama.

You're not? I am:


President



Vice President



Speaker of the House

[firecat69]

Obama is a great disappointment to me. Instead of running the changes in Health Care , he gave it to Pelosi who is too much of an partisan. He had a chance to spend the stimulus money on real projects to enhance our roads, water, trains , airports etc. Instead he allowed the congress to use it for pet projects and we continue to head towards being a 3rd rate nation.


All that said, just imagine if we had got that loser McCain. It used to be I respected him even though I disagreed on almost his stands. Now he does 180 degree turns because of a primary challenge and has no Backbone. Evidently he left it in Vietnam. He has been on the Federal dole or his wife's money his whole life.

Believe me it could be worse!!!!!!

[Gaybutton]

Believe me it could be worse!!!!!!

Yes, it certainly could. I nearly forgot my choice for Majority Whip:



Remember - vote only for the best and most qualified candidates . . .

[Maple]

The ultimate issue is the appointment of Supreme Court justices. President Barack Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to succeed Justices David Souter and John Paul Stevens. All we have to do is imagine the possible nominees that "President John McCain" -- who opposes the repeal of DADT -- would have made. They would undoubtedly have been anti-gay clones of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Republican appointees (5) are the majority of the current Supreme Court. If another justice -- like Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- retires, I would rather Obama make the appointment than any Republican.

Kudos to RichLB for posting the comprehensive list (see above) of pro-Gay accomplishments of Obama. Many of these are little known but certainly are significant, especially in comparison to President George W. Bush's scant pro-gay record.

[Gaybutton]

especially in comparison to President George W. Bush's scant pro-gay record.

Did Bush even have one?