Praise: Representative Barney Frank

Today's news includes that Barney Frank, currently serving his fifteenth term in the House of Representatives, will not be running for a sixteenth term.

Mr. Frank, 71, is the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and a prominent openly gay member of Congress. He said his announcement was prompted by congressional redistricting that added more than 300,000 new people to his district and lopped off areas he had long represented, like the fishing city of New Bedford.

It is not surprising that the Human Rights Commission is lauding Mr. Frank.

Barney's quick wit and intelligence in the halls of Congress will not soon be forgotten.  His service as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee during a time of great economic upheaval made a gay man one of the most powerful people in the country and he used that power for great good. America, Massachusetts and LGBT people are better off for Barney Frank’s service.

Joe My God notes the announced retirement and includes quotes praising Mr. Frank from more LGBTQ organizations and President Obama.

Perhaps somewhat surprising are compliments coming from Fox News Opinion Page.

Today, Barney is considered by people in both political parties to be one of the brightest members of Congress but to me he is still is the same guy I met on the couch almost forty years ago. 

He still works overtime for his constituents. 

I report for a radio station in his district and although the two hosts I work with are dyed-in-the-wool conservatives they know when it comes to local issues such as the fishing industry in the Bay State that Congressman Frank is always there. 

Mr. Frank is a hero to many in the LGBTQ Community.  His open status and support for equality have been incredibly valuable.

Repudiation: "Defining an Obama Nation"

The Family Research Council has a post that is very different from my review of President Obama's speech at the Human Rights Commission.  Before going into specifics, it should be understood that FRC is a known hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.  The purpose of FRC is to deny equal rights to gays and lesbians.  Their head, Tony Perkins, has ties with racist hate groups.  I started to learn about them from blog entries by Joe Jervis on JoeMyGod. 

In their "update", they agree that the 2012 election is a contest of values.  But most of the rest is at least subject to debate.

At the dinner the President sought to chastise a recent Republican debate where he claimed the crowd "booed a soldier." As a young Marine I remember my First Sergeant telling me how he was greeted at the airport on his return to the United States by being spit upon and cursed by anti-war liberals that dominated the college campuses at the time. I strongly condemn any disrespectful behavior toward anyone who has honorably served our nation in uniform. But that is not what occurred at the debate. Anyone who saw the debate could clearly see that the audience was booing not the soldier, but the President's policy to use our military as political pawns to force acceptance of a homosexual lifestyle that is abhorrent to most.

Mr. Perkins is correct that the left was wrong in how veterans of Vietnam were treated.  The soldiers were often drafted and blame for the Vietnam War should be at the feet of the four presidents (two Democratic and two Republican) who were responsible.  That is history.  What happened at the Republican debate is current.  The audience did not declare whether they were booing a policy or a soldier, they just booed.  Here is a two minute YouTube clip of the germane section of the debate.

It is not conservatives who are spitting in the face of the military, it is the President and his liberal allies who are using our nation's brave men and women to advance their radical social policy agenda.

Mr. Santorum does not address Mr. Hill (the now-out gay soldier) by thanking him for his service, as Mr. Santorum normally does.  There reaction of the audience and the candidates was against the repeal of DADT, but it was also personal.  Mr. Hill did not deserve a single boo.  It was wrong.  The failure of those on stage to respond to the boos by at least thanking Mr. Hill for his service, and better would have been to point out that booing a soldier on active duty on foreign soil is unAmerican, shows that each of those candidates is unfit to serve as Commander in Chief.

President Obama's end to Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not a "radical social policy agenda".  Wikipedia cites 42 nations that have homosexuals serving.  This is not radical.  It is also more than a social policy.  There have always been gays in the military.  When they have to keep their sexuality secret, as Mr. Hill and thousands of others serving had to, that secrecy can harm unit cohesion.  That kind of personal secrecy is demoralizing.  The repeal of DADT will result in a better fighting force for the United States.

Mr. Perkins goes on in his article to complain about President Obama not defending the Defense of Marriage Act.  DOMA is, to my eye (not an attorney), clearly in conflict with both Article 4, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and the 14th Amendment, Section 1.  Article 4 says that states must honor judicial proceedings of other states.  Marriage is a judicial proceeding.  The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws for all citizens.

The President has a much clearer understanding of what the 2012 election is about than many Republican leaders. It is about values, and whose values will guide our nation into the future.

Yes.

President Obama's values are clear -- marriage, life and the Constitution mean little to him in the pursuit of his radical agenda.

No.

Marriage means a great deal to the President.  He visibly enjoys his marriage.  Allowing full marriage equality extends marriage to all citizens without harming any.  If my partner and I were to wed there would be no subsequent divorce because of our union.  There would simply be equal treatment under the law, as our Founding Documents say there should be.

President Obama has stated that is in favor of reducing but not eliminating abortion.  So, he is not as pro-life as Mr. Perkins, but does not favor more abortion.  Rather, he favors programs that reduce the need for abortion.

The Constitution clearly means a great deal to President Obama.  He was a Professor of Constitutional Law.  That Mr. Perkins has difficulty understanding parts of the Constitution does not mean that the fault is with Mr. Obama.

Praise: President Obama at the Human Rights Commission last night

Last night, President Obama spoke at the Human Rights Commission.  The video begins with a speech by outgoing head of the HRC Joe Solmonese.  Mr. Obama begins to speak at about 9:55 into the video.

Here are a few lines that caught my ear:

Every single American:  gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society.  It's a pretty simple proposition.

The President is, of course, correct.  Equality is called for in the Founding Documents of the United States of America.  It is a simple concept, but will not be a simple achievement.

The President went on to enumerate his important achievements on that path to full equality

• The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Law
• Executive Order that hospitals that accept Medicare must allow same gender partners as visitors
• Lifting of the HIV travel ban
• Comprehensive National Strategy to fight HIV/AIDS
• Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)

He then cited the biggest legislation that needs to be done next, the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  As the President said, DOMA is in clear violation of the Constitution (both Article 4 and the 14th Amendment).  He has stopped defending its constitutionality in court, which has many Republicans upset.

Mr. Obama went on to speak against state efforts to further limit equality and against bullying.

We're not about restricting rights and restricting opportunity.  We're about opening up rights and opening up opportunity.  And treating each other generously and with love and respect.  And together we also have to keep sending a message to every young person in this country who might feel alone or afraid because they are gay or transgender, that may be getting picked on or pushed around because they are different.  We've got to make sure that they know that there are adults that they can talk to.  That they are never alone.  That there is a whole world waiting for them, filled with possibility.  That's why we held a summit at the White House on bullying.  That's why we are going to continue to focus on this issue.  This isn't just kids being kids.  It's wrong.  It's destructive.  It's never acceptable.  And I want all those kids to know that the President and the First Lady are standing right by them every inch of the way.  I want them to know that we love them and care about them and they are not by themselves.  That's what I want them to know.

Mr. Obama spoke about his pending jobs legislation.  He then spoke about the bigger picture of current politics.

Now ultimately these debates we're having are about more than just politics.  They're about more than the polls and the pundits, and who is up and who is down.  This is a contest of values.  That's what at stake here.  This is a fundamental debate about who we are as a nation.  I don't believe, we don't believe in a small America, where we let our roads crumble, where we let our schools fall apart, where we stand by while teachers are laid off, while science labs are shut down, kids are dropping out.  We believe in a big America.  An America that invests in the future.  It invests in schools and highways and research and technology, the things that have helped make our economy the envy of the world.  We don't believe in a small America where we meet our fiscal responsibilities by abdicating every other responsibility we have, and where we just divvy up the government as tax breaks for those who need them the least, where we abandon the commitment we made to seniors through medicare and social security, and we say to somebody looking for work or a student who needs a college loan or a middle class family with a child who's disabled that you're on your own; that's not who we are.  We believe in a big America.  An America where everybody's got a fair shot and everyone pays their fair share.  An America where we value success, and the idea that anyone can make it in this country.  But also an America in which everyone does their part, including the wealthiest Americans, including the biggest corporations, to deal with the deficits that threaten our future.  

We don't believe in a small America.  We don't believe in the kind of smallness that says it's okay for a stage full of political leaders, one of whom could end up being the President of the United States, being silent when an American soldier is booed.  We don't believe in that.  We don't believe in standing silent when that happens.  We don't believe in them being silent since.  You want to be Commander in Chief?  You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it is not politically convenient.  We don't believe in a small America.  We believe in a big America, a tolerant America, a just America, an equal America, that values the service of every Patriot.  We believe in an America where we are all in it together and we see the good in one another.  And we live up to a creed that is as old as our founding, E Pluribus Unum, out of many one, and that includes everybody.  That's what we believe.  That's what we are going to be fighting for.  I am confident that's what the American people believe in.  I'm confident because of the changes we've achieved these past two and a half years, the progress that some folks said was impossible.  And I'm hopeful.  I am hopeful <cheers> I'm fired up, too.  <pause>  I am hopeful.  I am hopeful.  I am still hopeful.  Because of a deeper shift that we are seeing.  A transformation not only written into our laws but woven into the fabric of our society.  It's progress led, not by Washington but, by ordinary citizens.  

The speech continued.  I'm impressed by the rhetoric of the "We don't believe in a small America.  We believe in a big America."  I think that the old President Obama, the one with fire in his belly who can inspire millions, may finally be back.

Mr. Obama has accomplished a lot in the last several years, but mostly quietly.  He has allowed the Republicans to tell a number of big lies without adequately countering them.  We saw this early on when people complained about "Death Panels".  Republicans complain that government is bad, but this has not been adequately countered.  Republicans complain that we can't spend money that we don't have, but the economics of borrowing has not be used to explain how this Republican simplification is simply wrong.

The speech at the Human Rights Commission is not a major venue.  It is before a group who are already friendly to the Democrats and to President Obama.  As in the election of 2008, this type of fiery speech needs to be everywhere.  The economics of the United States and the fairness of the United States will be seriously hurt if one of Mr. Obama's competitors wins in 2012.