Obama On Debt Ceiling Battle

World Net Daily: Obama Is Pandering To Deadly-Disease Spreaders

From an editorial on World Net Daily today:

Is there any medical evidence in existence that indicates polygamists and polyandrists have anything at all resembling the HIV/AIDS and syphilis rates of our nation's promiscuous homosexuals – so many of whom have died of AIDS and syphilis? Moreover, if the president believes that gays, lesbians and transsexuals are "our brothers and sisters," why does he not also believe that "our brothers and sisters" include not only polygamists, but exhibitionists, the incestuous, coprophiliacs, necrophiliacs, urophiliacs and zoophiliacs (those who have sex with animals who are unable – or unwilling – to run away)?

None of these additional sexual orientations has the huge rate of HIV/AIDS and syphilis, which deadly diseases are distributed so widely by the nation's large number of sexually profligate homosexuals. Their continued deadly-disease spreading was surely aided and abetted by Mr. Obama's announcement that they (with no distinction between the sexually profligate and other homosexuals) are "our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers." Such presidential pandering to deadly-disease spreaders is surely a despicable means of trying to attract votes by an incumbent who will apparently do anything to try to win re-election.

The author of the above piece is WND's White House correspondent. SRSLY. This raving lunatic gets to stand up and ask the president questions.

What Makes Chicago a Famous Place?

While reciting a poetic verse “To Chicago,” Charles Frederick White said,

“Chicago, mistress of the lakes,
Controller of our inland trade,
The freest city of our states,
What wondrous strides thy fame has made!”

There are a lot many things that make Chicago a world famous city.

Some of the most important aspects of the city that brings fame to it are being discussed here. Chicago is one of the largest and third most populous cities in the United States with 2,851,268 residents living there.

Chicago was founded in 1833 and in 1837; it acquired the status of a city. Soon it outpaced the growth of any other city in Midwestern United States and became the biggest city in Illinois.

Because of its intense popularity and historical and contemporary importance, Chicago has been given many nicknames that explain the nature of the city.

Some of the very popular nicknames of Chicago are “The City that Works”, “Second City”, “Chi-town”, “City of Big Shoulders”, “The Most American of Big Cities”, and “Windy City.”

The city is famous for its innovative culture. The game of softball was invented in Chicago and the game gained immense popularity throughout the nation. Chicago gave some of the most impressive sports teams such as Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago is famous for some of the most wonderful engineering and technology successes. In 1900’s, engineers in Chicago created a wonder by successfully changing the flow of Chicago River, making it to run into the Mississippi River.

Earlier, the Chicago River used to empty its waters into Lake Michigan.

Chicago always remained first in the field of engineering and technology. The tallest building of the western hemisphere is Willis Tower which is 110 stories high and it is one of the important buildings of Chicago.

The oldest zoo of the United States is also situated in Chicago. Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the 3 free zoos of the county that entertains millions of visitors every year.

Chicago has also gained name in medical world and the very first public blood bank of the world was opened in Chicago in the year 1937.

In order to solve out the issue of blood shortage in Chicago, Dr. Bernard Fantus created that blood bank at Cook County Hospital.

The story of inventive and innovative Chicago is endless. In the year 1930, the very first planetarium of the entire western hemisphere was built in Chicago and in 1950; Chicago gave the first ever remote control for the television set.

Chicago is thus famous for its technological innovativeness, sports and a variety of cultural aspects. In addition, some of the highly talented people also make Chicago a famous city throughout the world.

Some of the Chicago celebrities are Oprah Winfrey, Roger Elbert, Jerry Springer, Harrison Ford, Michael Jordan, R. Kelly, Hugh Hefner and Barack Obama along with many others.

Around 32.4 million tourists made a visit to Chicago in the year 2008 in which 1.3 million visitors were from foreign countries.

Some major attractions for tourists include the eminent architecture of beautiful city along with impressive shopping centers and restaurants at State Street and Magnificent Mile.

The Chicago Cultural Center was established in 1897 and it worked as Chicago Public Library for many years.

Nowadays, visitors may enjoy attractive exhibitions, galleries and special services through Visitors Information Center. The Grant Park of Chicago is another attractive feature of the city which includes the Buckingham Fountain and Millennium Park.

The city offers a lot many attractions for people with different tastes and that is why it attracts such a large number of tourists every year.

Herman Cain: Media Is Scared That A "Real" Black Man Will Run Against Obama

Washington Post: Evolve Already

From the editorial board of the Washington Post:

With a presidential campaign that promises to be closer and more contentious than the one that got him elected four years ago, Mr. Obama and his team might be reluctant to embrace a controversial social issue when the economy and jobs are of paramount importance to voters. At some point, though, doing the right thing must trump politics. If Mr. Obama does come out in favor of gay marriage, his base would surely rally around him.

And all supporters of gay rights should be girding themselves for battle with those who would use the president’s position to deny him a second term. The first question at the news conference was about Republican recalcitrance on tax increases. “Hopefully leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and do the right thing for the American people,” Mr. Obama said. Later, he would say, “If you know you have to do something, you just do it.” The same words apply to him on marriage equality. So just do it already.

Obama's Pride Reception Speech

Obama On Marriage Equality: I'm Not Gonna Make News On That Today

More from today's press conference: "I'm gonna keep giving you the same answer until I get a different one. And that won't be today."

Obama: Marriage Is A State Issue And I'm Happy About The Vote In New York

At today's press conference, the president was asked if he believes marriage is a civil right. Obama side-stepped the question and said this:

We’ve said that we cannot defend the federal government poking its nose into what states are doing and putting our thumb on the scale against same-sex couples. What I’ve seen happen over the last several years and what happened in New York last week, I think was a good thing. Because what you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious, it was emotional, but ultimately they made a decision to recognize civil marriages and I think that’s exactly how things should work. I think it’s important for us to work through these issues because each state is going to be different and each community is going to be different.

(Transcript and video via Igor Volsky at Think Progress)

NYT Keeps Marriage Heat On Obama

The New York Times has published yet another story critical of the president's position on marriage equality.

Legal scholars say Mr. Obama is correct; regulating marriage is indeed the province of the states — to a point. Federal courts have at times intervened to declare state marriage laws unconstitutional, as was the case in Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that effectively ended all race-based restrictions on marriage. Yet in the context of the New York debate, Mr. Obama’s comments infuriated some prominent advocates and potential donors. They include Chad Griffin, who sits on the finance committee for Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign and recently co-hosted a fund-raiser featuring Michelle Obama that raised more than $1 million, and Paul Yandura, a Democratic strategist who advises gay philanthropists, including some Obama donors. “That language is really a dog whistle for the right,” Mr. Yandura said. Mr. Griffin, who said he intended to continue to work to re-elect the president, called the comments “a step backwards,” and said Mr. Obama should use Wednesday’s reception to clarify them. The White House sees no need to clarify.

President Obama will be hosting a LGBT Pride reception at the White House today. GetEQUAL has promised to picket.

NYT Rips Obama On Marriage

From today's New York Times editorial:

After he took office, it became evident that Republicans intended to portray him as a radical, out-of-touch leftist no matter what he did. Supporting same-sex marriage at this point is hardly going to change that drumbeat, and any voter for whom that is a make-or-break issue will probably not be an Obama supporter anyway. Firm support for gay marriage is, on the other hand, likely to help him among his cheerless base. Mr. Obama opposes the Defense of Marriage Act and is presiding over the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He signed the United Nations declaration on gay rights, and allowed the Census to count same-sex relationships. But he has been absent from the biggest and most difficult drive of all.

Public opinion has swung toward acceptance of gay marriage since 2008; five more states and the District of Columbia have lifted marriage bans. Thousands of gay men and lesbians now possess marriage certificates and many former skeptics have come to realize that the moral foundation of the country has been strengthened. It is long past time for the president to catch up. He often criticizes discrimination with the memorable phrase, “that’s not who we are.” Favoring this discrimination should not be who he is.

On Sale Now

AmericaBlog has begun selling the above "Evolve Already" t-shirts. Lots more designs than show here.

Obama Reacts To New York Marriage

The official (and brief) White House statement:

The President has long believed that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and legal protections as straight couples. That's why he has called for repeal of the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" and determined that his Administration would no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA in the courts. The states should determine for themselves how best to uphold the rights of their own citizens. The process in New York worked just as it should.

HomoQuotable - David Mixner

"The man [Obama] has done an enormous amount and I’m supporting him for president. But I would be more than delinquent if I didn’t say that I’m more disappointed than I thought I would be with his handling of marriage tonight. I didn’t come with any expectations that he would support marriage. But it was awful, it was embarrassing, and as soon as he reached that point, it was like he couldn’t wait to get off the stage. [snip]

"This is one of our big nights of celebration – I mean, we’re going to win this I think tomorrow, but we know this issue could go either way. This was a room full of people waiting to be jubilant. I knew he wasn’t he going to support marriage, but there were so many different ways he could have let us know that he understood this moment for us and how happy he was for us. I support him. After all, who wants President Bachmann?" - Longtime activist David Mixner, speaking to Equality Matters at last night's Obama fundraiser in NYC.

Outside Obama's NYC Fundraiser

Obama Speaks To NYC Activists: Marriage Decisions Are Best Left To The States

Video and transcript via Igor Volsky at Think Progress:

Part of the reason that DOMA doesn’t make sense is that traditionally marriage has been decided by the states and right now, I understand there is a little debate going on here in New York about whether to join five other states and DC in allowing civil marriage for gay couples. And I want to say that under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, New York is doing exactly what democracies are supposed to to do. There is a debate, there is a deliberation about what it means here in New York to treat people fairly in the eyes of the law and that is — look, that’s the power of our democratic system.

White House: Obama Will "Mention" NY Marriage Battle, But Won't Take A Position

Despite strong pressure for the president to endorse marriage equality at tonight's Manhattan fundraiser with LGBT community leaders, the White House says that isn't going to happen.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday that President Obama plans to “mention” during an LGBT fundraiser later in the evening a pending marriage equality bill in the New York Legislature, but won’t come out either for or against the legislation. Carney said the president will maintain the marriage issue should be something left to the states to decide. Many political observers believe New York is on the cusp of legalizing same-sex marriage and the necessary 32 votes are secured in the Republican-controlled State Senate to move forward with the legislation.

The president will begin the evening by attending a performance of the Broadway hit, Sister Act.

GetEQUAL To Obama: Evolve Already

RELATED: According to rumors circulating on Twitter this afternoon, President Obama will not endorse marriage equality at tonight's LGBT fundraiser in Manhattan.

TONIGHT: GetEQUAL To Protest Obama At New York City LGBT Fundraiser

With a demand that the president complete his "evolution" on same-sex marriage, tonight GetEQUAL will stage a protest at an Obama reelection fundraiser in Manhattan.

Lawrence O'Donnell On Netroots Nation

NETROOTS: White House Rep Denies Obama "Filled Out" 1996 Marriage Pledge

This may be the biggest news to come out of Netroots.

In an interview conducted in front of an audience at the Netroots Nation blogger conference early Friday in Minneapolis, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer claimed a 1996 questionnaire favoring gay marriage, which bears Barack Obama's signature, was "actually filled out by someone else." "If you actually go back and look, that questionnaire was actually filled out by someone else, not the President. There was a long debate about this in the campaign. ... This was litigated in the campaign," Pfeiffer said in an exchange with the Daily Kos' Kaili Joy Gray caught on video.

AmericaBlog was quick with a denouncement.