Where Obama timidly goes, Shearer will softly follow
Whisper something quietly about gay marriage. Religious Conservatives hate him already, it will excite the left and independents will like it. Whether gay marriage actually goes any further than Obama giving it a wink and a nod is deeply moot.
Personally I've always supported gay marriage, it is an utter nonsense to me that same sex couple who want to get married can't, and it's just as ridiculous that gay couples can't adopt. I've always been amazed at how those who howl most against this seem to have been able to redefine 'family' in the most un-inclusive way possible.
The gay community faces enough prejudice and persecution, why the hell should they have to put up with entrenched homophobia from the state as well?
Sadly the courage of liberals is fleeting these days, and it took Obama's political gambit on the issue to breathe life into the debate here.
It's something Shearer will softly endorse. Look at the way the feral debate over beneficiaries and contraceptives played to National's dog whistle while the left went running to the hills with only Sue Bradford and Metiria Turei left holding the line. That bennie bashing hatred should have been lanced by pointing out that any woman should be discussing those issues with their Dr, not a bloody WINZ case manager!
The lack of courage on these social issues in the wake of the repeal of section 59 has left Labour with burnt fingers, however if Key was smart he'd come out and endorse gay marriage - it would moderate the perception of National and breath some more life into the Conservative Party which may be crucial for 2014.
Seeing as our own main political parties are gutless, let's hope Obama also says 'decriminalize marijuana', 'hike up alcohol prices' and 'raise the minimum wage' so that we can at least trail lamely in his wake.
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posted by Bomber @ 4:31 pm
4 comments
4 Comments:
The problem with this post is that David Shearer has come out and supported gay marriage in New Zealand. Labour MP Charles Chauvel has openly discussed sponsoring a bill to achieve it. Greens reiterated their support. Tariana said she'd support it. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two NZF MPs might support it too.
Also, John Key has said he has no personal opposition to it. He left the door open by saying that they'd look at it if comes up in parliament. Weak words, but promising.
So, I don't understand this post. Have you read the news since posting this, Martyn? Your assertions suggest that you haven't.
Also, there is an argument for running the 'its all moot' line when, say, a blogger comes out in favour of gay marriage. That's going to have next to no impact. It's a different issue altogether when the leader of the free world affirms the equal moral worth of all people, regardless of sexual orientation. There remains a federal v state issue, but Obama has added the weight of the presidency behind gay marriage. If all this achieves is putting it on the political agenda in a positive way, then that's great, and the 'moot' line is a bit pointless.
AH
The leader of the free world eh? Obummer is so in the thrall of the banks and wall st investment houses who bankrolled his first campaign that he has disappointed his supporters on all fronts.
His so called healthcare revolution has refused to consider a single payer model & has cemented control of amerikans healthcare in the hands of the big insurers for at least another generation.
Even worse tens of millions of amerikans remain uncovered. The lower middle classes still can't afford to get sick because their private insurers routinely reject claims for major illness such as cancer, yet because these peeps are sort of covered Obama's plan ignores em.
He wages war for empire killing thousands and has expanded ME hegemony into Libya -Syria would follow if it had any oil since it doesn't Obama has pushed for a different sort of failed state than Libya where sufficient security in a few regions to extract the oil is essential.
Syria just has be a weeping sore on Iran's border.
The agent provocateur ploy in Yemen will scare up a few security from terra votes but it won't mobilise thinking leftists so now he is trying to win them over with his calculated timed support for the silliest policy dreamed up by pseudo lefties yet 'gay marriage'.
Apart from the fact there are many more effective ways to skin this cat that we won't hear about cause gay marriage is great for professional gay politicians; most gay & lesbians humans I know don't give a toss about getting married since being legally bound into a monogamous relationship is their idea of a nightmare.
Obama has over ridden constitutional protection for amerikan citizens guaranteeing them due process before they can be convicted and sentenced of any crime. No longer; Oblamblam has had several amerikan citizens liquidated already without any hearing just by declaring them enemies of the state and dispatching a drone or a hit team.
This man is loathed by most of those who cheered him last time around.
But Obama has spoken n kiwi pols have been to absorbed by their own shonky pols to understand Oblamblam is the proverbial lead balloon among humanists in amerika.
So like the slimy pseuds they are NZ pols have tried to grab hold of Oblamblams coattails by 'me tooing' his cynical exploitation of identity politics.
He'll prolly still win, cause Mitt tortures dogs and bashes gays, but the million who stayed at home here will be dwarfed by up to a 100 million extra stay at homes on amerikan election day. stay at homes in amerika.
Not sure of Mana's position yet?
I'm still waiting for Obama to come out against state sanctioned extrajudicial killings on foreign soil, something which is not a state vs federal issue. As for gay marriage: marriage is not important to me personally at all, except that it was easier to get married to meet immigration requirements for my life partner. However, to deny it to gays when heteros can have it, no matter what proportion of gays would actually get married, is to deny them a basic right on very spurious grounds.
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