I Love A Tirade

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Obama's anti-gay religious right activist used the opportunity Obama gave him last night to preach his hate to thousands of African-Americans. ... As for Obama, he did a taped introduction in which he praised McClurkin, the religious right activist, as one of his favorites. That's nice, because the way to help combat homophobia in the black community is to make sure the gay-basher is first endorsed by someone as high-ranking as Obama, who then chooses to say nothing about the gay-bashing. --AMERICAblog

Obama's campaign now says that McClurkin only wants to cure the unhappy gays. (The rest of us are, I guess, fine to continue trying to kill America's children.) --AMERICAblog

And I have to say, I’m not buying it -- I think when Obama booked McClurkin he was engaging in dog-whistle outreach, and when people got pissed he just didn’t want to take responsibility for it. --Firedoglake

This looks like Obama is giving a wink and a nod to bigots. And that's consistent with campaigns that do not empower progressives at the top level; this concert should have been killed a month ago in meetings of staffers where the progressive got up on the table and screams no. It should have been killed on Monday when that advisor could have talked to Aravosis and asked 'how big a deal is this', and brought that feedback into the campaign. But that advisor doesn't exist, and so the South Carolina consultant who thinks that McLurkin is the route to votes in the state won by defaut. --Open Left

This isn't simply a mistake, despite what I first wrote. ... Hopefully, at the very least, the downfall of Obama's campaign will serve as a warning to anyone else in the Democratic Party who wants to harness the activism of the netroots to win, but who distances him or herself from the netroots in order to look palatable to the establishment. You can't throw us under the bus and expect us to still support you forever. --Open Left

We cannot, we must not abandon our full and vocal support for the right of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transmen and transwomen to be full and equal participants in our society. That's a bigger issue than any campaign, and a more important fundamental calling than any single race. In short, a candidate for the Democratic endorsement should be willing to lose before they abandon a commitment to equality. And the fact that you seem to put winning ahead of equality for gays and lesbians tells me that you are not somebody I can support for president. --Shakesville

Is he really saying that 1) fighting for a tolerant "faith community" is impossible because 2) it is vehemently, inherently, and un-redeemably homophobic? I know for a fact the latter point is not true, so this truly looks like a big STFU for a politician who suddenly doesn't like the second-guessing of his actions.

This is truly an epic flameout by the Obama campaign, engaged in actions that are completely indefensible. Those of you who continue to try and rationalize it -- would you be making the same exculpatory arguments if it was George W. Bush doing the things Obama is doing right now? Or one of the rival campaigns? --Daily Kos

... you know what I'm damn well tired of? Being told my concerns as a Democratic voter in a Democratic primary aren't as important as those of "independents" or "centrists" or whatever it is we're calling assholes who can't make up their minds these days.

I'm getting really fucking sick of being told my concerns are out of reach because addressing them might piss off some whiny pussy who thinks it's just too much for her to think about, the whole "equal protection under the law" thing, who equates co-existence with having something "shoved down my throat," who thinks "other people might be uncomfortable" is a legitimate reason to refrain from letting right be done. ...

YOU'RE IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

TRY GETTING DEMOCRATIC VOTES.

Try doing things that appeal to passionate, involved, activist Democrats. --First Draft