GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Archives for January 20, 2009

Barack Obama, My President

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As Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the President of the United States, he becomes my president.  I did not vote him and would rather another man were taking office today, but a majority of my fellow citizens and the electors from the various states voted otherwise.

Unlike some who helped elect the president, I don’t feel proud of my country merely when my candidate wins election to the highest office in the land.  By the same token, I don’t love my country any less because the man I opposed won that very office.  Indeed, I love it more that a man whose race would have earned him opprobrium in many parts of this country the year he was born could become our chief executive.

As former Vice President Cheney put it:

I have the same feeling that I think many Americans have, that it’s really remarkable that — what we’re going to . . .  swear in the first African American president of the United States. When I came to town in 1968, we’d had the Martin Luther King assassination, Bobby Kennedy assassination, riots in the cities, major, major disturbances, a lot of it racially motivated around the country.

And in fact, things have changed so dramatically that we’re now about to swear in Barack Obama as president of the United States. That’s really a remarkable story and I think a record of tremendous success and progress for the United States.

Obama’s election is a sign of the greatness of this country, that we can correct our faults as a nation, helping forge a more perfect union.

While we herald his achievement and honor the office he now holds, we will criticize, when appropriate, his policies.  We will not be like those who spent the last eight years (or significant portions thereof) in a constant state of animosity to the President of the United States.  Claiming he is not our president, as many did in the preceding eight years, would mean denying our American citizenship.

Barack Obama is now our president.  That doesn’t mean he should be immune from our criticism.  No President should

Ever since this blog was launched, we found ourselves more often than not defending the president, particularly when he was unfairly attacked.  Now, we have a new role, that of the loyal gay opposition.

Obama’s Inaugural Address

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In just three hours, Barack Obama will take the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States. After he does so, he will deliver his first speech as the nation’s chief executive. That speech, even more than his mostly dignified conduct since the election, will set the tone for his Administration.

This time, his speaking style should serve him well. For the better part of his career in the national spotlight, his speeches have been short on specifics and long on rhetoric. He need not articulate any policy proposals in his address, but speak to the nation he will then lead and not just the partisans who helped elect him.

I am delighted it will be a relatively short speech, “about 15-20 minutes.” All he need do is acknowledge the greatness of this country, perhaps the uniqueness of our history, a nation built on an ideal rather than an ethnicity and even the significance of the moment. To be sure, he can and should offer a broad vision of where he intends to lead us. But, just a broad outline.

Today is not the day for specific policies. Today, is the day to celebrate the greatness of our country and the smoothness of the transition from the Administration of a man from one political party to that of a man from the opposing party. Such a transition first distinguished this nation two-hundred-and-eight years ago, when John Adams peacefully yielded the presidency to his then-political rival, his once and future friend, Thomas Jefferson.

To acknowledge the meaning of such a transition, the new President must pay tribute to his predecessor whose Administration, by all accounts, has helped ensure a smooth transition. That acknowledgment must be so ungrudging that the angriest voices of the left, dedicated for so long to demeaning Bush, will pitch a fit at its generosity.

In recent days, Obama has shown he can rise to the occasion, saying that Bush is “good man who loves his family and loves his country, [who] made the best decisions that he could at times under some very difficult circumstances.” Let us hope he does so again today.

Thank You President Bush

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On September 11, 2001, I was working two blocks from the White House when the world came to an end.  Or so it seemed that day.   I have never felt as scared for my life and my family’s lives as I had that day.  And over the following days and months, every time I drove into Washington, DC for work, I expected that day would end with a horrific explosion and thousands dead.

But it never came.  President Bush promised he would take the war declared on America TO the enemy.  Instead of fighting the war on terror as a litigated, criminal enterprise, President Bush realized this was a war and treated it as such.

As he leaves office today, I would like to personally thank President George W. Bush for doing everything he thought was right in order to keep me and my fellow Americans safe since 9/11/2001.  While his decisions on prosecuting the war have been controversial, but the results matter.

No matter what happens, we can always say that America was never attacked again after 9/11 thanks to President Bush.

God Bless you, Mr. President.  Enjoy your time off and know that millions of Americans thank you for your dedication to protecting us from our enemies in a time of war.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Global Warming Strikes Charlotte, NC

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First snow of season hits Charlotte – WCNC.com

Many schools, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg, are closed today and kids are ready to head outside to play in the snow.

Snow continues to fall across the area with the heaviest snowfall in Stanly, Anson and Richmond counties. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are closed with an optional teacher work day.

A Winter Storm Warning continues for the Piedmont until noon. The rest of the area is under a Winter Storm Watch.

Here’s the view of Global Warming from my house this morning….

Is Algore in the Carolinas today?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Mary Cheney’s Legacy

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Many bloggers, including this one, have written about the legacy of the outgoing President and Vice President. As one of the leading gay conservative blogs, it falls on us to address the legacy of the outgoing Vice-President’s lesbian daughter, Mary.

Since most gay leaders are of the liberal persuasion and believe the (R) after a politician’s name renders him or her repugnant, few will take the time to praise the Vice President or his daughter. Yet, each has contributed significantly to improving the image of gay people in America. Mary lives happily with her partner Heather Poe, and their son Sam, all of whom have been accepted into the Vice President’s family and featured together at public events.

Yet, gay rights’ groups won’t give this impressive young lady much credit. They wanted her to use her prominence as a politician’s daughter to become a professional activist. But, that’s not the kind of person Mary is. She is not an activist, not wishing to be an outspoken public advocate for any cause.

Simply by being herself and eschewing activism, however, she has done more than many activists have done to undermine anti-gay animus in America. In the public eye by dint of her Dad, she has carried herself with class and thus put forward a positive image of a gay person leading an ordinary life (in, until today, extraordinary circumstance). Many social conservatives admire her father. As they see how she carries herself and how he treats her and her partner, they may well reconsider any prejudices they harbor against gay people.

Having met Mary, I sense that on a personal level, she’ll appreciate her Dad’s departure from the public stage. She’ll be less in the spotlight and will have more time to spend with parents whom she loves and who love her, more opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors with her family. And that, I believe, is where her true passion lies.

Her legacy is this: as the first openly gay child of a President or Vice President, she has showed us how such an individual should conduct herself when her father is in office. And her father has shown us how a parent should treat such a gay child. Gay people now know that a prominent Republican can love and accept a gay child without compromising his conservative principles. And so do Republicans.

That’s a lot for one person to accomplish. So, thank you, Mary Cheney. And thank you, Mr. Vice President. You’ve made it a lot easier for a gay person to be open about his sexuality, especially in Republican circles.

Related:  Dick Cheney: The Most Pro-Gay Vice President in History.