Comments

1
So, it looks like the comments got cleared out, but this was what I was about to say:

I'm with @1&2, but I understand @3...
Who are we to tell other countries how to treat their citizens when we won't ensure health care, child care, education, housing and equal rights for our own citizens? Sure, homosexual americans don't have the same threats as people do in other countires, but it seems we should remove our own stick-in-the-eye before pointing out, say, Iran's human-rights flaws.

But, good on her for making the speech. I guess ultimately this is progress.
2
"Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights" but marriage is between a man and a woman? Is that right, Hillary and Barack? Which side of your mouth are you speaking out of today, I wonder?

Evolved yet or still playing political shell games?
3
Absolutely agree new @1. But this speech IS a big fucking deal, as Dan so eloquently put it. To not celebrate that--just because we have our own issues in this country--I feel, is missing the point a bit.

Kudos to the Dems for making some noise, election year or not.
6
@2: There's a conflict between their rhetoric and their stated positions. That conflict will ultimately be resolved -- in our favor. And they actually give us leverage when they make the conflict between their positions and their rhetoric so stark.
11
This is great. Now we need to get 100% behind Obama's re-election so this continues as a U.S. policy.
13
Say goodbye, KALISKA. What is this, 14 now? I've lost count.
15
@1, To be fair, if it were up to Hillary, the country would've had a national insurance system in place since the mid-nineties. And who else are you going to support to carry the policy forward...Romney? Santorum?

And BTW, Hillary looks much better with short hair IMHO.
16
KALISKA RE@9
1. Fuck off.
2. Marriage has evolved faster than humans. In 10,000 years, marriage has changed with the whims of the society that defines it for themselves. Why should our society differ from history? We get to define marriage in our society. You get to have your say just like I do. If more of us agree to change the definition than those who don't, we get to redefine it. If you want to convince people to your view, stop being a fucking asshole and try to convince people. As my grandmother says, you'll catch more flies with honey than shit. (And while that may not be factual, I like the sentiment.) Which takes us to...
3. Fuck off.
18
I'd like to know why my comment was removed. It is because I called this speech hypocricy, scolding other nations while working to insure that the Denial of Marriage Act remains US law?
19
Sounds like somebody commenting on here hasn't been dicked this morning.

This is an interesting position Hillary is stating given the backlash from the EU, UK, or whoever just recently from the same countries that Hillary is courting right now. Anyone care to make a comment on that? (all syntax of my post aside)
20
Our friend KALISTA is in the process of the boot by Dan. You can thank me later.
22
"Of getting the boot." Fucking BlackBerrys.
24
@21 Well, do you think we are "one united nation" or "fifty individual states"?
25
Kaliska...we can deal with your comments--free country and all that--but could you maybe summarize them into one idiotically long post? The comments section is for discourse and nothing destroys discourse more than one assbag yelling over everyone else. In addition, one post--instead of many--will exponentially increase the odds of your account *not* being deleted. Win/win, as far as I can tell.

Also, fuck off.
26
@18, you probably just got caught in the cross-fire. Try again.
27
Teehee
28
Dang, what did I miss? sounds like an uber troll was here.
29
@18, I saw your earlier comment, which unfortunately was followed by a bunch of unregistered trollspew. Dan forgot to set up the post initially as registered-commenters-only, and I think he had to delete the whole thing and re-post to enable that option.
30
A fantastic speech and a fantastic reaction from those present, followed by predictable reactions from the Christo-fascists and a surprising reaction from the American press (i.e. near-total silence).
31
an astonishing speech, really--very very courageous, and I'm betting it will prove a historic moment.
32
@28, yeah, there was one, but it's gone. Anyone who needs convincing this new policy is a big deal, I offer you exhibit A: This slog post, celebrating the new policy, was the most vigorously trolled post in months. The poor thing was foaming. The thought of the US officially taking exception to laws condeming gays to death by stoning left it totally unhinged. The policy that drives my enemy crazy is my friend!
33
I watched the speech last night, and I was cheering the whole time. Yes, the US has a long way to go to be fair and ethical in how we treat sexual minorities, but there are laws in place to prosecute those who commit violence against them. And hopefully, by taking a stand internationally, we will be forced to take a stronger stand internally as well. It is a huge step in the right direction.

Big thanks to 5280 for helping to boot the troll.
35
Saw it earlier. It is a big deal and I hope it helps the US progress as well.
36
@34
Dan was praising the message, I certainly do. I don't think it could have been stated any better. You're off on some tangent about the messenger (and her party and blah blah), but the implication is you could give a fuck about the message. Whatever her background, her position in our government and her world stature makes it especially groundbreaking and newsworthy. Yay LBGT rights, yay World.
37
So good. So exciting. So late in coming.
38
@32. Thanks, figured as much. Bummed I missed it, I love the trolls. Some mindless entertainment to help get thru the work day:)
39
Please be aware that Senator Demint has blocked approval of the US Ambassador to El Salvador, Mari Carmen Aponte, because she wrote an op-ed in support of the Salvadoran government's pro-LGBT efforts. It looks like she will be removed from office at the end of the year. See http://luterano.blogspot.com/2011/11/amb…
40
Yay! Transcription here:

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/1…

Hurrah for the Dept of State!
41
@34, congratulations on a very persausive post. Clearly you were trying to convince everyone what an arrogant, condescending little turd you are. Mission Accomplished sgt_doom!
42
As if there was anyone left on Slog who doesn't think Doom is an idiot. Congratulations, you may be the last person to come to that realization.
43
This is a big deal. Step outside of your white, liberal, western bubble, and you know that most of the planet does NOT support gay rights. Being gay is a perversity to most of the planet. Huge risk, on Hillary's part, wow.
44
@42, Sorry, I'm relatively new, and as I don't live in Seattle, I only really ever read Dan's posts on Slog. sgt_doom doesn't seem comment terribly often on the posts about sex, at least the ones in which I've read the comments.
45
Great to hear such wise words finally coming out of the government's mouth!

I wonder how the right-wingers, from Mr Santorum to Mrs Bachmann to Fox News -- will react. Will they mention Mrs Clinton's speech as evidence of the Gay Marxist Caliphate that Obama is supposedly establishing in Washington?
46
This is a big fucking deal. Just as marriage equality in one country advances the struggle for marriage equality in another, promoting LGBT rights abroad advances the cause of LGBT equality at home.

With the current congressional makeup, it's not like Pres. Obama could make any further advancements on LGBT rights legislatively. But re-framing the argument for LGBT rights as a struggle for human rights is important. And I'm sorry, but my right to marry my partner is not more important than a Ugandan person's right not to be imprisoned and murdered based on their perceived sexual orientation. This was something that the Obama Admin could do to further LGBT rights globally without having to deal with the Repub bigots in congress.
47
@1 Did the fact that we were oppressing gays in the 1960s mean that we shouldn't pass civil rights laws? Improving society is a process. The U.S. isn't perfect, but we're working on it. And YES, someone with a speck in their eye does get to say, "Hey, you've got a log in yours." The country that had yet to pass anti-lynching laws did get to say "Let's go defeat the Nazis for their murdering ways." At least confronting problems in other countries holds a mirror up to our own flaws.
48
This is fantastic news, thank you Clinton, I should hope a step by the administration toward respecting full LGBT equality. That said, she *really* should change her hairdo, that ponytail does not flatter her age.
49
@47, I was going to say what you've just said in a more long-winded way, but you already did, and quite well. I agree entirely. One does not need to achieve moral perfection in order to help others improve themselves.

The critics of this position are probably afraid that Mrs Clinton's speech is just political expedience -- that they're lying about their concern just to get support. That would indeed be wrong. But that's different from saying you can't help others improve unless you are yourself perfect.
50
For big additional courage points, add a rule saying that we don't give foreign aid to countries that don't treat women as human beings.
51
Simply raising the issue in an international forum like the United Nations is a step in the right direction. I applaud Hillary. What she has said here will shine a spotlight on U. S. policies as well, and perhaps we'll see some progress out of it. One can always hope.
52
Clinton's speech is already having an effect. Malawi is going to reconsider their anti gay laws in light of Clinton's speech and general public sentiment:

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/12/08…

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