Obama Gay Marriage Endorsement Is 'Political Bravery'- RACHEL MADDOW (VIDEO) & Obama Lets Go Of Fear – “…I think of all the GAY KIDS out there who now know they have their president on their side…” By ANDREW SULLIVAN - NPR – May 9 & 10, 2012

Obama Gay Marriage Endorsement Is 'Political Bravery' – By Rachel Maddow -  (VIDEO) – 5/10/12

          Rachel Maddow reacted to President Obama endorsing same-sex marriage, calling Wednesday a "historic day in civil rights in this country."

          On her MSNBC show Wednesday night, Maddow said it was "icing" on Obama's previous record on gay rights. During her Thursday morning appearance on NBC's "Today" show, Maddow called Obama's endorsement "political bravery" as she was unclear what the electoral impact will be... Read/watch more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/rachel-maddow-obama-gay-marriage-endorsement_n_1505560.html Photo

Obama declaration "icing on the cake" of gay rights legacy - The Rachel Maddow Show (May 9th, 2012)

Video: Photo   twitter.com/maddow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAd7vgjzSQQ

Transcript: Excerpts -

          …The Barack Obama administration has been very, very, very pro-gay rights. They have pursued at every level policies to improve the lives of gay Americans and to further gay rights.

          …repealing "don`t ask, don`t tell."

          …expanding federal benefits for the same-sex partners of people who work in the executive branch.

          …signing the Hate Crimes Act into law.

          …clearing the way for hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples…

          … It`s expanding the census, even, to make sure that people in same-sex relationships get counted.

          …directing U.S. agencies who work with foreign countries to ensure that our humanitarian and diplomatic efforts abroad take into accounts the rights of gay and lesbian people in those other countries.

          …supporting states that are trying to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples…

          …refusing to defend… the Defense of Marriage Act.

If you are in favor of gay rights, the Barack Obama administration has been great on the issue of gay rights…

          …ultimately, what presidents do is they wield political power. And even before today [publically supporting gay marriage], that legacy of the first term of the Barack Obama presidency was already clear.

          Today, he added to that...

          …he took this extra step today...something extra…This was above and beyond.

          And it is not without risk. And now having said these words publicly that no president has ever said before, now we get to see how this changes the country.

Read complete transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47356492/ns/msnbc-rachel_maddow_show/t/rachel-maddow-show-wednesday-may/

Andrew Sullivan on Obama's Support of Gay Marriage – 5/09/12 – NPR – Transcript

…One interview doesn't make a difference. And then I watched the interview and the tears flooded. There is something about hearing your president affirm your humanity that you don't know what effect it has until you hear it. And I think of all those gay Americans over the centuries who never heard that, never believed it could happen. And I have to say I'm immensely proud of this president for doing what he did… Read/listen more: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/09/152367863/andrew-sullivan-on-obamas-support-of-gay-marriage 

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Obama Lets Go Of Fear - By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast 5/09/12

          I do not know how orchestrated this was; and I do not know how calculated it is. What I know is that, absorbing the news, I was uncharacteristically at a loss for words for a while, didn't know what to write, and, like many Dish readers, there are tears in my eyes.

          So let me simply say: I think of all the gay kids out there who now know they have their president on their side…

          …The interview changes no laws; it has no tangible effect. But it reaffirms for me the integrity of this man we are immensely lucky to have in the White House. Obama's journey on this has been like that of many other Americans, when faced with the actual reality of gay lives and gay relationships… Read more: Photo

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/05/obama-lets-go-of-fear.html

President Obama's Emancipation Proclamation – 9/22/12 |First U.S. President to come out in support of same-sex marriage

 …By becoming the first U.S. President to come out in support of same-sex marriage, President Obama has boldly illuminated bone-deep and often ugly differences of opinion dividing Americans, and exposed them to open civil discussion. Comparisons to Abraham Lincoln and his stand on slavery a century and a half ago are ample and inescapable.

          Both presidents, incumbents from Illinois facing difficult reelections, were forced to confront a crisis cleaving the nation along uncomfortably similar political and geographic boundaries: North vs. South, federal vs. state, equal vs. unequal. Harsh, often brutal and vulgar criticism, often having little to do with issues, was heaped upon both heads, with vicious lies and distortions about their private lives and beliefs running rampant. Photo

          Both men, from all accounts pensive by nature, apparently agonized over the slow, difficult conclusions they came to -- decisions overdue to many and rash to others, unwelcome to an unyielding third constituency and inconsequential only to a benumbed, indifferent fourth. President Obama described his position as "evolving" toward espousing same-sex marriage, while allowing, "I've always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally." Lincoln stated his decision was part of a "personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."…

          As landmark civil rights proceedings go, the two historic drafted documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation, made the third, unwritten one, President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage, possible. The president has in effect "edited" and enhanced Jefferson's classic dictum to avow, unequivocally, all men and women are created equal. As such, his pronouncement may be the last major civil rights action of our time. Photo

Ray Errol Fox is an Oscar-nominated documentarian and journalist/writer. He regularly posts on his on his wide-ranging blog, SON OF THE CUCUMBER KING.

Jacopo della Quercia is a history writer researching the Lincoln and Taft presidencies for an upcoming book.

Read complete article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ray-errol-fox/emancipation-proclamation-150th-anniversary_b_1905792.html

President Barack Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday night drew the largest television audience of this year's political conventions and ranked as the biggest political moment ever on social media site Twitter – 9/07/12

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/07/us-usa-campaign-media-idUSBRE88619220120907

Transcript: President Obama's Convention Speech – 9/06/12

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/06/160713941/transcript-president-obamas-convention-speech

GAY MARRIAGE – OBAMA’s Support - Courageous Openness & Moral Leadership for Simple Fairness & Human Yearning for Love | BENEDICT XVI’s Opposition - Secrecy & Cover-ups - Corruption & Sandals – Using Power to Settle & Silence Questions of Truth --- Related News Media & Research

http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2012/09/gay-marriage-obamas-support-courageous.html

Amistad Africans – Supreme Court Trial 1841 - President John Quincy Adam Addresses the Supreme Court

…The truth, in truth, has been driven from this case like a slave, flogged from court to court, wretched and destitute…

Yea, this is no mere property case, gentlemen. I put it to you thus: This is the most important case ever to come before this court. Because what it, in fact, concerns is the very nature of man…

…This is a publication of the Office of the President. It's called the Executive Review, and I'm sure you all read it. At least I'm sure the President hopes you all read it. This is a recent issue, and there's an article in here written by a "keen mind of the South," who is my former Vice President, John Calhoun, perhaps -- Could it be? -- who asserts that:

"There has never existed a civilized society in which one segment did not thrive upon the labor of another. As far back as one chooses to look -- to ancient times, to biblical times -- history bears this out. In Eden, where only two were created, even there one was pronounced subordinate to the other. Slavery has always been with us and is neither sinful nor immoral. Rather, as war and antagonism are the natural states of man, so, too, slavery, as natural as it is inevitable."

Now, gentlemen, I must say I differ with the keen minds of the South, and with our president, who apparently shares their views, offering that the natural state of mankind is instead -- and I know this is a controversial idea -- is freedom. Is freedom. And the proof is the length to which a man, woman, or child will go to regain it, once taken. He will break loose his chains, He will decimate his enemies. He will try and try and try against all odds, against all prejudices, to get home.

… Yet, if the South is right, what are we to do with that embarrassing, annoying document, "The Declaration of Independence?" What of its conceits? "All men...created equal," "inalienable rights," "life," "liberty," and so on and so forth? What on earth are we to do with this? Photo

…James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams: We've long resisted asking you for guidance. Perhaps we have feared in doing so we might acknowledge that our individuality which we so, so revere is not entirely our own. Perhaps we've feared an appeal to you might be taken for weakness. But, we've come to understand, finally, that this is not so. We understand now, we've been made to understand, and to embrace the understanding that who we are is who we were.

We desperately need your strength and wisdom to triumph over our fears, our prejudices, our-selves. Give us the courage to do what is right. And if it means civil war, then let it come. And when it does, may it be, finally, the last battle of the American Revolution. Photo

That's all I have to say,
John Quincy Adams

[Patrick Henry, American Revolution “GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH”]

AMISTAD - 1997 movie, Spielberg Photo

"Amistad" (1997) - American Rhetoric: Movie Speech – Video:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechamistadjqadams.html

AMISTAD - 1997 movie, Spielberg   

http://www.scruffles.net/spielberg/movies/amistad.html

Amistad Case 1839 - Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr021.html

"We can't afford to have

two kinds of citizens,

We must have

equal citizenship for anybody in our country."

Eleanor Roosevelt

 

Related links:

Obama’s embrace of Gay Marriage makes for a spiritual Mother’s Day – 51112

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechamistadjqadams.html

Obama's family influenced his gay marriage shift – 51012

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechamistadjqadams.html

Obama: ‘I Think Same-Sex Couples Should Be Able to Get Married’- 50912 ABC

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/obama-comes-out-i-think-same-sex-couples-should-be-able-to-get-married/

Nancy Pelosi praised Obama’s support of GAY MARRIAGE - for advancing civil rights…“quite historic” that “spoke to the values of our families, the values of our faith and the values of our country.” Pelosi said her Catholicism “compels” her “to be against discrimination of any kind in our country…” – 51012 ABC

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/obama-comes-out-i-think-same-sex-couples-should-be-able-to-get-married/

Do Most Catholic Theologians Support Same-Sex Marriage? – 51112

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/11/do-most-catholic-theologians-support-same-sex-marriage.html

Catholic coalition pleased with Obama's stance on marriage equality – 51012 NCR

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/catholic-coalition-pleased-obamas-stance-marriage-equality

            US VP Joe Biden on GAY MARRIAGE - “Who do you love? Who do you love and will you be loyal to the person you love?” Biden said, “And that’s what people are finding out what all marriages at their root are about.” - 50612 ABC

          http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/biden-on-gay-marriage-who-do-you-love/

Photo

              US VP Joe Biden - a devout Catholic - OK with equal rights for married gay couples – 50612 AP http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5igiUGJUdPGOUJv2PXniX6JMzxGeA?docId=4baf9ffeb3904d08a6c261eb8aa71bb8