Hurray for Obama! Meaningless gesture, of course, as so many states still seem to be keen on curtailing the rights of their citizens at least as far as gay marriage is concerned. I mean it's not as if he would have said it a day earlier North Carolina wouldn't have voted to amend their constitution to fully entrench marriage being between a man and a woman even though gay marriage was already illegal in that state to begin with. Daaaaamn, just driving the nails in. I heard one pundit say that Obama's statement was the biggest civil rights declaration in America in half a century, but it's got no teeth as long as individual states are still permitted to refuse civil rights to their own citizens in the manner carried out by North Carolina yesterday and in other places.
That's not to say that his words today carry no weight, though. Maybe not a meaningless gesture but perhaps a significant gesture? Especially for young people and those whose outlooks are still evolving, like Obama's. But I still think just a gesture nonetheless.
You're right, him changing his view doesn't change the fact that many, many states have laws or amendments banning gay marriage. But it does show that the tone in America IS changing, even while the anti-gay movement is pushing through some of the worst anti-gay laws. Basically they see the situation changing fast, so they're trying to get as much on the books as they can, in the hopes that it'll be hard to get rid of pretty much... but even many younger Republicans now aren't opposed to gay marriage. It's mostly an age thing, older people are opposed.
Kids can be stupid, but I was never a bully myself. What this says is he's got that in his personality. I can forgive something cruel and stupid he did a long time ago a lot better if he clearly demonstrated he was remorseful of it and considered it cruel himself. So far he hasn't done that.
Yeah, if he'd have apologized and said it was wrong, it'd be possible to forgive him; what he did was awful, it sure sounds, but he WAS only 14, and it'd go a long way if he'd apologized... but instead, he claims that he doesn't even remember it happening? Yeah, right.
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Heh.