He stood aside and only acted on it when one of Joe Biden's gaffes forced him. Don't remember Obama for the advances of SSM during his Presidency, remember Biden instead.

In the words of Andrew Sullivan who's not around to write them now...

Meep, meep.

To quote my dear friend Miriam Aarons, "Any ladle's sweet that dishes out some gravy."

"He pretended to oppose and we pretended to believe him."
That's terribly cynical and pretty much true.

This was one of the only two times I've thought he was lying.

The other one? That time someone asked and he said he didn't have any favorites for his next Supreme Court pick. Guy's a constitutional law prof; no way does he not already have his list of top choices, a list of people who should've gotten picked, and everything else that geeks have about the topic they geek out about.

Nobody believed him? The black churches were duped. I guess they feel like suckers now.

Obama was pushing the same line of bullshit in 2004:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XAVqrqr…

I especially love how he answers the question and follow-up that begins at 1:45

I thought it was a good performance as well, particularly the words he used to describe his fake evolution on the issue, which mirrored the kinds of things older and more conservative people say when they eventually soften.

This just in: Politician makes politically expedient statement.

@1, I think many of Biden's gaffs aren't gaffs at all, but calculated attempts to judge the temperature of the country on certain issues. Let Biden "mess up" and say something he "shouldn't" and see how people react, then decide if the president should stand up and agree or shake his head and mutter near a still active mic "That Biden, what a goofy character!"

Count me as one who never once thought Obama was in any way opposed to same sex marriage but just playing politics. That doesn't mean he didn't piss me off now and then, such as when he had that gay hating fascist Rick Warren give the invocation at his inauguration. That STILL pisses me off when I think of it.

But Obama played a shrewd game on this issue. He opposed same sex marriage officially during the campaign, but supported civil unions, something his opponent did not, giving the clear signal to gay people that he was at least far more on our side than any of the Republicans ever would be. He knew he had no fear of losing the gay vote, but could garner more non gay votes at the time by not being blatantly in favor of marriage equality.

I hate that we live in a country where we have to play these games, but I don't blame Obama for realizing how and doing what is necessary to win the game.

He doesn't believe in God either.

Necktie knot! Ya beat me to it! Meep, meep indeed!

Before becoming President, he was a member of the United Church of Christ, which is pretty progressive, and supports Marriage Equality. He has even addressed the General Synod, which caused Republicans to sic the IRS on the UCC to be sure we were in compliance with the whole separation of church and state thing. They wanted to pull the UCC tax exempt status over his speech. Considering how political some conservative churches have gotten, that is pretty ironic.

Yeah, I never believed him when he "devolved". I figured it was probably politics all along. Worked well though.

I hate it that politicians have to lie about their beliefs to get elected.

Obama advertised himself as a pragmatist. Remember if you will the surface temperature of our nation back in 2008. Far from friendly to marriage equality (& other issues we have barely even thought about showing progress with).
Politics is ugly. A person in favor of marriage equality could not have been honest about it back then and gotten elected. Think about the McCain/Palin administration we might have been stuck with if Obama had not downplayed his support for marriage equality.
Also remember, before Obama stepped up and supported marriage equality, it was we the people who truly led. If we hadn't led, Obama wouldn't have acted. If Obama's centrism on any issue frustrates you, find like-minded people, and step up.
Also remember that the president is just a figurehead. Change begins at the local level. Think about that with this years non-presidential, non-congressional elections (which tend to have low turnout.

@1, I think many of Biden's gaffs aren't gaffs at all, but calculated attempts to judge the temperature of the country on certain issues. Let Biden "mess up" and say something he "shouldn't" and see how people react, then decide if the president should stand up and agree or shake his head and mutter near a still active mic "That Biden, what a goofy character!"

It's astonishing how many people don't seem to be able to grasp this fairly obvious dynamic.

i got a black president and gay marriage out of it so..

@14 - pretty cynical considering how much whinging and crying they get up to about being persecuted by the IRS. Of course, they project horribly onto others what they themselves would (and do) do in a heartbeat.

"political calculation". I pray for a day we evolve beyond that.

@17 Seriously, I have no idea why folks think Biden is some kind of wandering buffoon. He's been in the Senate for years - he knows what's going on.

@12 Exactly. But how many votes does he get for saying that, versus saying the opposite? And how does it hurt anyone for him to lie about his private convictions?

@16 "Change begins at the local level."

Absolutely. Encourage smart, talented, pragmatic people to run for office. And then don't turn your back on them if they have to cater to stupid people from time to time. Most people are stupid and vote based on ridiculous priorities (such as which politician is taller), which is why democracy is the worst political system (except for all the other options).

Worst kept secret ever, but its nice for David Axelrod to officially take the blame.

Excellent political kabuki on everyone's part, and we got the benefit of the President role modeling that it was okay to change your mind on gay marriage.

None of the Bushes personally give a damn about abortion or gay rights either, for example; why is this news all of a sudden? I'm endlessly dumbfounded at how naive people can be about how the world around them actually works...

@12: I agree completely, supported by comments from friends who knew him at University of Chicago. Just imagine how many other closeted atheists (largely Dems) there must be in Congress. We are the most despised minority in the country, so closeting appears mandatory to get elected, at this sorry point in our history.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/0…

It's odd how conservatives are assuming that his supporters will think this is a bad thing. Sorry, but all liberals are well aware that we have to dumb the conversation down so that you people won't freak out. If you don't understand why, just look at this week's headlines featuring Alabama having a 1965 (or is it 1865?) moment. The sad truth is that a large segment of the population is made up of mental midgets who are armed to the teeth and think that there's an invisible man in the sky, that we should be following the rules of Bronze Age illiterate tribal people, that every kid who gets his legs blown off in another country for no reason is a hero, and that the born-rich are our betters who create jobs and deserve everything that they've got. There's no reasoning with people who subscribe to such transparently laughable bullshit, so we're stuck with them and have to work around them. Every liberal knows that as well as they know the sky is blue, because it's the sad reality we have to live with every day. Yeah, we have to lie sometimes, because we're surrounded by follow primates who are delusional and violent. We've had to lie for centuries, or else get burned alive by conservatives for saying that the Earth revolves around the Sun or that the lady down the road is clearly not a witch. It sure would be nice to live in a society where such lies where unnecessary, but we're not quite there yet. Sorry to burst your bubble.

I recall Dan once saying in "the price of admission" that all relationships are built upon a pile of lies. Such is the case of Obama and gay marriage. I recall that the year he got elected by a large margin in California, that state also passed prop 8. i recall Confucius once saying that a good leader certainly knows what to do but waits for the tide to turn before pushing where they can.

Nobody got hurt? My Positively Last Boyfriend was coming out during the 2008 campaign, and I assure all of you who think this is something to crow about that He. DID. Get. Hurt. By. This. Lie. It caused him a lot of grief from various quarters at the time.

I can almost live with political necessities, however ungracious it may be to sneer at people one has used as pawns, but the revelation is coming way too early. I still fear the FMA in 2017, despite "knowing" all the intellectual arguments against its ever being possible.

This was a severely restrained post, and now I feel far too sick to sleep, which will make me even more ill than my malfunctioning heat has already done this winter.

Patsy war criminal mass murderer - what's new?