"I would not compromise my principles for politics. You’re saying will it become politically unpopular to have the position I’m having? If it does, so be it…It’s my belief, it’s my core belief. And I tell people that. And my friends, whether they be homosexual or not, they know me and they know I’m not bigoted.” - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan
May 16, 2012
By: Linda Case Gibbons
You can say a lot of things about Joe Biden – and people usually do – but kudos to Joe for not being afraid to give his honest opinion about what it is he believes.
It used to be called having values, but there’s not a lot of that going around nowadays.
Instead when Joe stated he was "absolutely comfortable with same-sex marriage” on the May 6, 2012 Meet the Press, shock waves shot through the liberal community straight up to the White House. You could almost see the air turn blue through the windows in the Oval Office.
Pundits called it another one of Joe’s "gaffes” seemingly unable to recognize that Joe wasn’t afraid to state his position publicly unlike his boss.
That’s because over the course of time President Obama has repurposed the word "procrastination” and dubbed it his "evolving” position on – name any issue -- simply because of his most dominant character trait – the inability to make a decision and his unwillingness to take a side about anything before an election – even four years before an election.
What we would call his term in office, he calls a campaign swing.
Obama waited three plus years into his presidency to state his position on this subject. But who’s counting? Well, just about everyone.
As Daily Caller Pat McMahon pointed out, "Barack Obama supported gay marriage in 1996, opposed it in 2003, opposed it in 2008 and now supports it in 2012.”
And back in 1996, he says candidate Obama filled out a form indicating that he favored same-sex marriage. The Obama campaign and the White House later said someone else filled out that form and it was an incorrect statement of the president’s position.
So wearily accustomed have we become to Obama’s avoidance style of governance and narcissistic politicking -- from the BP oil spill to a wait-until-after-the-election approach to the Keystone XL Pipeline -- that it really wasn’t surprising Obama supporters described him as "brave” for simply having an opinion.
Brave for being pulled kicking and screaming into a decision? That’s like tarring John Edwards with the "brave” brush. Like little kids, neither Obama nor Edwards are sorry they fudged the truth. They were just sorry they got caught.
Brave? These are probably the same people who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. They’re probably the same people at the White House who are inserting Obama into previous president’s official bios as we speak...Yes, really! Check it out.
But this time even the New York Times bailed on him, quoting a poll which showed the majority of Americans recognize Obama’s move for what it was – politically, not policy motivated and something he did only ‘cause Joe did it first.
On a lighter note, two days after Vice President Biden’s statement, he took off for a fundraiser in Tennessee and left Press Secretary Jay Carney to perform mop-up at the White House press conference.
That day even the usual suspects who traditionally support Obama, come hell or high water, were merciless in their questioning, as reported in the Washington Post.
The White House Press Corps nearly laughed Carney off his podium, watching him twist in the wind while reporters hammered him with questions about what President Obama’s stand was on same-sex marriage.
CNNs Jessica Yellin queried whether Obama "was trying to have it both ways before an election,” and whether he should "stop dancing around the issue.”
ABC’s Jake Tapper said "it seems cynical to hide this prior to the election.”
NBC’s Chuck Todd said, "So help me out here. He opposes bans on gay marriage, but yet he doesn’t yet support gay marriage.”
One reporter, Les Kinsolving, known for his over-the-top questions, had to fall off his chair, sliding to the floor to be recognized by Carney. As Kinsolving, who appeared to pass out, was being helped up, he gamely called out, "I just have one question!”
Carney sputtered his way through the avalanche of same-sex questions with "I have no update on the president’s personal views…He, as you know, said that his views on this were evolving,” "I really don’t have any update for you,” "I will leave it to individuals to describe their own personal views,” and "his views are crystal clear.”
Shortly thereafter and true to form, President Obama held his finger up to see which way the wind was blowing and on Wednesday scooted off to the non-judgmental arms of ABC news for a White House interview to explain, yes, his "evolving position” to Robin Roberts.
And this week he fled to the adoring ladies on The View so he could pontificate in comfort. (I guess Jimmy Fallon was otherwise engaged.)
He needed to feel the love. Nobody puts Obama in a corner.
In a tactic you might remember from BP "Daddy, daddy, did you plug the hole?” days, to the Sandra Fluke contraception controversy and Obama wanting Malia and Sasha "to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on,” Obama once again dragged his kids into the fray.
He claimed he listened to his girls and that helped him and his "evolving position” on same-sex marriage. (Maybe voters should have elected his kids. They never seem conflicted and always seem to be up to speed on current events.)
His daughters, Obama said, have friends who have same-sex parents, "…and when we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”
That and Joe Biden coming out in support of same-sex marriage on prime time TV.
Well, to Plan B. Obama used the women he says "he loves hanging out with” on The View and poured oil on troubled waters, calling Joe an "honest, straightforward guy” whom he does not fault for forcing his hand on the issue of same-sex marriage.
Of course this was a change from his position the week before when he told ABC News that Joe "got a little bit over his skis” by publicly supporting same-sex marriage.
Oh, well. Potato, potahto.
As we have all come to know with this president, if it doesn’t get votes, it doesn’t get discussed.
Joe got it discussed. Way to go, Joe!
Hold the line, America.