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](Category: DC - TPM – Talking Points Memo)
Hurrah!
I’m really pleased with this. I don’t know what the chances are that it will pass, but still.
+1 
I’m afraid such a bill is dead on arrival in the House.
Too bad. Kudos to Obama for backing it, at least.
Yeah, it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell of passing until we the Democrats control both houses and the Presidency again. That may not be for awhile. Of course it’s possible that DOMA (or at least the federal portions of it) will be struck down in court by then. I don’t see even this Supreme Court upholding it against the federal government’s own arguments.
Not this time, no, but the announcement does make sense as part of a longer strategy to increase the pressure so that it *will *pass someday soon. If, that is, the SCOTUS Five don’t surprise us and rule DOMA unconstitutional first.
It’s not at all uncommon for a progressive idea to get knocked down multiple times before it passes, and it’s the attention the idea gets during those knockdowns that make passage possible.
About damn time! Barry, go all in on this one. The conservatives hate you with the fury of a thousand supernovae, and will no matter what you do. So do the right thing and back marriage equity.
IOW, he waited until it had no chance of passage to suggest it. Talk is cheap, and that’s all he will give it. Back when he could really bring it about, he did squat. Gosh, how courageous. :rolleyes:
He appears to think his supporters are awfully gullible. He appears to be right.
Regards,
Shodan
I want that to be part of his acceptance speech after the election. “Last term I pushed for compromise and bi-partisan politics. We can all see how well that went down. Nutjobs of America, welcome to the next four years of Obama - it’s going to be what you imagined the last four years were like. Enjoy your healthcare and human rights for people that aren’t you and yours, bitches.”
Drops the microphone and walks off stage
Because you believe the arguments are good or just because the administration is arguing against it?
It wouldn’t have happened when the Democrats controlled Congress either - a smaller number of Democrats would have supported it, and that’s assuming the Republicans would have allowed it to come to a vote at all. Things have progressed in the last few years. I agree it’s not going to happen right now, but he’s moving things in the right direction.
You left out the part about kicking down a door on the way.
I think you miss **Shodan’s **point, Marley. You see, this is something that Obama is doing, ergo, it is bad.
No, my point is that Obama is not doing this on principle. He is trying to shore up his support on the hard left, because he can blame it on the GOP when nothing happens.
You all fell for it, obviously - that’s all he wanted.
Regards,
Shodan
Nobody said he was. Over the last 2 1/2 years you may have noticed just a few threads where people said they were frustrated with Obama on these issues.
Well, that certainly makes me want to vote for a Republican. Oh, wait…
The really crazy thing is that the same people who pushed for the original act (I refuse to call it “defense of marriage”) were also the ones pushing for federal policies which did in fact recognize same-sex marriage. For instance, under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, a same-sex marriage was one of the things which was recognized as “telling”. OK, that’s not the kind of recognition the folks getting married wanted, but it is recognition.
Reminds me of Black Bush from Chappelle’s Show. Except, you know, opposite. 
Obviously this makes no sense. There are no alternatives for Obama on the hard left, so that is the last constituency he needs to appeal to at the moment. He doesn’t have a primary. If anything, Obama is giving the freshmen on the right some easy red meat to vote against so their own constituents don’t notice that they compromised on the debt ceiling increase. Very obliging, really.
Plenty of people on the far left are not necessarily satisfied with him, and he does need their votes and their enthusiasm. That’s particularly true of the gay rights movement.
He’s not likely to get a serious primary challenge, but that doesn’t mean he does not need to engage these voters.
Indeed.
I worked for months for the Obama campaign, but I never expected that he would accomplish, or even attempt, everything he promised in his first term. He needs dedicated volunteers at every level to get re-elected.
We on the Left have to remember just how much he accomplished. Here’s a video that enumerates his accomplishments as of a year ago.