Hallelujah
by digby
“My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make a shift, one that I welcome, which is to recognize that — having hit a critical mass of states that have recognized same-sex marriage — it doesn’t make sense for us to now have this patchwork system,” Obama said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “It’s time to recognize that under the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution, same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else.”
And here it was less that two years ago that I was roundly scolded for suggesting that this would be the right position for any American president to take. Prematurely anti-federalist, I guess.
I understand, of course, what the strategy was and I even get why Obama reluctantly went along in 2008 with the “civil-unions vs gay marriage” line. (He could have laid it on a little less thickly with the “marriage is between a man and a woman” thing but that was mainstream at the time. They were all doing it). But by May of 2012, only 21 months ago, the writing was on the wall and I felt he really did not have to endorse states’ rights on a civil rights issue:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: … what you’re seeing is, I think, states working through this issue– in fits and starts, all across the country. Different communities are arriving at different conclusions, at different times. And I think that’s a healthy process and a healthy debate. And I continue to believe that this is an issue that is gonna be worked out at the local level, because historically, this has not been a federal issue, what’s recognized as a marriage.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Well, Mr. President, it’s– it’s not being worked out on the state level. We saw that Tuesday in North Carolina, the 30th state to announce its ban on gay marriage.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well– well– well, what I’m saying is is that different states are coming to different conclusions. But this debate is taking place– at a local level. And I think the whole country is evolving and changing. And– you know, one of the things that I’d like to see is– that a conversation continue in a respectful way.
But that’s water under the bridge. I think he’s probably relieved that he doesn’t have to speak that way anymore. His comments with Robin Roberts were clearly tortured and made little sense, especially coming from a president carrying his historical significance. For the most part I think he has handled this issue well and will be remembered as a president who significantly supported the advance of civil rights during his term. You can’t ask for more than that.
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