Well I’m sure that he agrees with what he has just said and that he has thought so for some time but at least he’s come out with it in the end even if he had to work out the politics first. He’s a politician after-all and he’d be doing no one any favours if he just laid back and let the Americans suffer the consequences of a Romney presidency.
I’m a naive, and foreign, optimist on the question of President Obama. I know that with the help, not just of George Clooney but of a troupe of fairy god mothers and the total absence of any elected Republicans, he could have done a lot more in his first term but, hey, this is politics and he has to survive in a democracy where there are still, sadly, some electors with pretty weird ideas. For instance, I was amazed to read recently that there is a substantial pro-Israeli Evangelical Christian movement that supports an Israeli Palestine because, or so they believe, when that happens, Jesus Christ will begin his Second Coming. Wow! How do you persuade these people to go along with more down-to-earth things like equality let alone such “liberal” ideas as every person’s right to marry?
So I forgive President Obama if he feels he has to tread carefully – once he is in his second term, maybe, he can act even more boldly and not just say things but act on them. I’d rather work towards Obama’s Second Term than that evangelical vision of a Second Coming.
Sadly, it was too late for this couple:
I'm an American citizen moving back to the U.S next week. You have no idea how bizarre and dangerous the Christian Right can be. They are and have always been the greatest threat to freedom & equality and there are lots of 'em.
The Republicans made a big mistake during the Reagan years of courting the evangelical vote. It helped them win elections but the more moderate, non-wingnuts among the Party are beholden to their irrationality as a result. Plus they remain a huge voting block. They are truly a huge threat to progress and sometimes a physical threat where gay people are concerned.
Well, Brian, I'm pleased that I haven't got this completely wrong even if it is a depressing reality. I wish you all the best for your return home and look forward to hearing how it went.