NOT only did Obama finally say he supports same-sex “marriage” today, a statement which was no surprise at all, but he specifically affirmed the importance of redefining marriage for members of the military:

I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” he told ABC.

Of course, there are no soldiers constrained from committing themselves in marriage. All soldiers can marry. There are, however, no soldiers who are permitted to weaken military morale and dignity by “marrying” members of the same sex and to raise children under such conditions.

It is good that Obama made this statement, barring a complete change of direction on his part. It was clearly his position all along.

— Comments —

Mary writes:

            It may have been prompted by Biden’s statement.

Laura writes:

It appears that Biden’s statement made Obama’s own refusal to commit more glaring to his supporters.  The story by Michael O’Brien that I linked above suggests that he was concerned about the support of important donors, and that is plausible.

Frankly, I’m surprised. It seemed more politically advantageous for him to go on waffling. But he seems to have gotten very reckless in recent months. I think this will hurt him, though not necessarily lead to his defeat.

Michael D. writes:

It is important to realise that this announcement was a stage-managed political manoeuvre on a friendly news network. President Obama is a politician on the campaign trail; he didn’t just wake up yesterday morning and have an epiphany on “gay marriage.” As you rightly state above, this was his position all along, he just lacked the confidence and courage of his conviction to express it earlier than today. President Obama’s support for “gay marriage” is a carefully-calculated attempt to wedge Governor Romney and prevent him from adopting a convincing centrist policy stance in the months leading to the election, because Obama’s re-election depends on holding the political centre ground against Romney. Many, including myself, expected Obama to reveal his true feelings on “gay marriage” only after he is re-elected, that is to say, from the safety of a second term. Evidently his political advisers calculated otherwise; clearly they are professionals and they have much sharper political instincts than myself.

The political calculation behind this annoucement probably changed after Rep. Santorum withdrew from contention for the Republican nomination. Santorum would be impossible to wedge on this issue because he is implacably and unapologetically opposed. Such an announcement from Obama would be fortuitous “manna from heaven” for Santorum and the result would be broadside after broadside of conservative attacks on a elitist president who associates himself with depraved, disgusting and immoral behaviour of which ordinary mainstream people with wholesome values strongly disapprove. Don’t expect to see this from Romney as he tries to court centrist voters. Santorum’s strategy might have been to unite social conservatives with hard-working taxpayers and the fiscal conservatives of the Tea Party movement into a grand coalition to sweep Obama from office and eradicate his legacy; such a declaration from the president would simply make this task easier to fulfill. Obama has little fear of this now, hence why he made the announcement.

Laura writes:

You may be right. Perhaps Romney won’t take it advantage of it and make it major issue.

But it seems as if Obama is going for broke: same sex “marriage,” free contraception, statements that the Supreme Court doesn’t have the authority to overrule Congress. If his political instincts are right, this country is way past the point of no return.

Karl Hren writes:

I hadn’t realized this, but Obama openly stated his support of homosexual “marriage” a number of years ago. Redstate.com quotes Obama’s written response to a 1996 questionnaire from a Chicago gay rights publication:

 “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.”

 That post also provides a brief list of his subsequent waffles on the subject.

It is truly astounding how the voters of this country chose to overlook the long litany of leftist positions of our president prior to his election. We certainly seem to have a strong cultural death wish.

As always thanks for your work. Your blog remains a beacon for many of us.

Laura writes:

Thank you.

I have always assumed that a large percentage of Obama voters knew he supported the homosexual movement to the fullest and were just as happy he didn’t admit to it.

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