He Was For It Before He Was Agin' It...

And other news on the ever changing Barack Obama.

Perhaps you have now heard that a 1996 questionnaire for Barack Obama has mysteriously reappeared AFTER he was elected (which of course he could not have done without the DNC's new take on voting, i.e., it doesn't really matter for whom you cast your vote - they will give it to whomever they damn well please). Yes, it is a questionnaire Obama filled out, and signed himself (though he'll probably blame it on some staffer pretty soon here) in which he says he SUPPORTS same-sex marriage! Say, WHAAA??? Yes, indeedy! Ben Smith of Politico.com has this article, "Obama Backed Same Sex Marriage in 1996":

A document has emerged suggesting that Obama had taken more public, liberal stands in the past than had been revealed in the digging of reporters and opposition researchers over two years of campaigning, the latest of several pointing to a rightward shift as he moved into national politics.

In a 1996 questionnaire filled out for a Chicago gay and lesbian newspaper, then called Outlines, Obama came out clearly in favor of same-sex marriage, which he has opposed on the public record throughout his short career in national politics.

“I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,” Obama wrote in the typed, signed, statement.

There was no use of “civil unions,” and "no compromise whatsoever," the Windy City Times story today notes.

On another questionnaire the same year, Obama said he would support a resolution in support of same-sex marriage.

The editor of the Windy City Times, a successor of Outlines, Tracy Baim, said she hadn't deliberately held onto the news until after Obama's election. Baim, who had been the editor of Outlines at the time, said that just before the election, she ran across the old Outline story saying Obama backed same-sex marriage, but only dug his forgotten questionnaire out of an old box this week, having assumed that she'd lost it.

Obama now says he opposes same-sex marriage, though he backs giving gays and lesbians a parallel package of marriage-like rights, and opposes a federal ban on same-sex marriage.

Here is a copy of the document:



Okay, now why does ANYONE believe Obama on ANYTHING he says? He changes like the wind. You never know which way he will turn. Oh - and did you notice his response on #10? He has dialed down that rhetoric a bit now, too. Here is but one take on his position. A quick search will provide many more.

Next on the list is Obama's choice of dining companions last night. Marc Ambinder has a report in this article, Obama Dines With Conservative Opinion Leaders":

It's true.

He motorcaded to a house in Maryland this evening, and if the press pool report is accurate, he is breaking bread with William Kristol and David Brooks. (If Brooks and Kristol seem to be unusually briefed about Obama's thinking, you'll know why.)

CBS News's Dan Raviv tells the pool that the house, on Grafton Street in Chevy Chase, belongs to George Will. (Unless he's moved.)

Tomorrow, I hear Obama has another private meeting with non-Republican opinion columnists.

Ellen Moran, the incoming White House communications director, set these meetings up.

Again -- establishment opinion matters to the Obama communications team.

Oh, I just can't wait to see what's next with Mr. Slippery. But I won't have to wait for long, thanks to Comcast. Oh, yes - Comcast has decided to run an All-Obama-All-The-Time Channel. No, I am NOT making this up. Seriously - it's for real.

I know I have said before that some Obama supporters (oh, all right - many) are just delusional, not accepting the reality of who this man is and for what he stands (if you can figure it out, that is - except we do know he is at least anti-gay, so there's that). But this has morphed into flat out insanity. I honestly thought we had reached the zenith of nut-job-iness (yes, that's a technical term!) with the Bush supporters, but Obama's supporters are making them look like the most well-balanced, intelligent, grounded folks around. Except for those of us in the reality-based community, that is. This is just crazy. Crazy!! Can you IMAGINE what all of these exact same people would have said if Comcast has an All-Bush channel?? You know that everyone would be screaming BLOODY murder about that! But now, our nation has collectively crossed the line, and this has become acceptable. Holy crap.

There are two bright lights in the news this week, though. One is that Caroline Kennedy is being edged out in her Camelot quest for Senator Clinton's Empire State seat. Yes, the people of NY, you know, the ones who really SHOULD have a say in all of this since it is their representation at state, are backing Andrew Cuomo. Assuming their governor is paying attention, it will be nice to see that at least one person doesn't sell out to the highest bidder and actually listens to their constituents (oh, you know about what I am talking - all of those senators and representatives who didn't give a WHIT who their constituents wanted for the Democratic nominee - I know, I know, not that it would have mattered since the DNC didn't care, either, but still...It would have been, um, nice if SOMEONE had a backbone. Maybe Paterson does!).

And the other bright light - well, bittersweet, really - is seeing Senator Clinton display her brilliance and command of the issues during her confirmation hearing (if only C-Span would STOP tossing it from channel to channel to online back to channel). Watching her, though, is just a reminder of who we SHOULD Have had, this brilliant woman who knows policy. Who makes it CLEAR where she stands,e.g., with women and girls who are being abused as she did yesterday, when she said this:

“They want to maintain an attitude,” she charged, “that keeps women unhealthy, unfed, uneducated, and this is something that results all too often in violence against these young women.” (NYTimes Live Blog)

“This is not culture, this is not custom, this is criminal,” she said.

She's got that right. And to all of those women who supported Mr. Misogynist, you blew it. BLEW it. He is not the one who will ensure that women's rights are human rights, Hillary Clinton will. Obama is a perpetrator of sexism. Clinton is on the side of equality. But I digress.

Back to the hearings: She has a mastery of issues and policies that should be the envy of Obama. Yes, she looks tired. Unlike Bush, I mean, Obama, she has not had a vacation (Obama has had two since the DNC gave him the nomination, in case you are keeping score - TWO). Clinton has continued her tireless work. So, yes, she looks pretty tired, but she can still talk circles around Mr. "Uh, Um, Uh, Well, Look."

Bittersweet, indeed. Watching Senator Clinton talk is just an ugly reminder of how the DNC and Obama screwed the majority of Democrats in this country. Seeing her is a reminder of who we COULD have had, who we really needed to get us out of this mess we are in. Because Mr. First Term Senator With No Record On Which To Stand is not going to be the one to fix it. The one saving grace is the comfort of knowing Secretary of State Clinton will be handling some major issues facing us, at home and abroad (I still cannot get over the way Obama LIED about her extensive Foreign Policy experience, with his minions buying it. No sooner had the last state reported, for all intents and purposes, he announces Clinton for this very important foreign policy post, citing her experience!! Oh, but the Obots will excuse that, too, just like every other damn thing they refuse to acknowledge.).

So that's the quick round-up. Feel free to add other goings-on of the day!