There are reasons why the LGBT community responds so strongly to athletes who come out publicly; it remains an extremely difficult decision to make and can lead to serious consequences, from career damage to physical and emotional harm. The LGBT community’s connection to the world of professional sports and athletics has a strange and sometimes […]
President Obama
Posted inNews & Opinion
Obama’s optimism overshadowed by a somber interview
A contemplative and at times somber President Barack Obama took to the stage at American University last night for an interview with Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball.” The interview in many respects showed a different president than the man who first took office in 2008. The big smile wrapped around a canyon of teeth was […]
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Uncle Sam creep show
The origins of Uncle Sam are not exactly clear, but some historians say that references to him go as far back as the 1700’s. Others say that Uncle Sam was a nickname given to Sam Wilson of Troy, New York for creating food care packages for soldiers. James Montgomery Flagg is credited with creating the […]
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What’s next? Obama, Syria, and Congress
Obama’s address on Syria on Saturday wasn’t what anybody expected. And it didn’t take long for the predictable critics to launch the predictable criticisms. (He looks weak; he’s making the US look weak; he doesn’t know what he’s doing; he’s emboldening Assad.) But I thought the speech was excellent. And seeking Congressional authorization before attacking […]
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Big Brother at work
Maybe President Obama is able to reconcile his words and his actions, but my head is spinning. This was Barack Obama on May 23, speaking at the National Defense University: “For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are as Americans, and served as our […]
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War, policy, and Obama
The days leading up to Memorial Day seem a particularly appropriate time to start a broad discussion about war and national security. And President Obama tried to do that in his speech at the National Defense University last week. If his actions back up his words (and if he can persuade Congress to support him), […]
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Local drone protesters arrested
This is a corrected version of this blog. More than 30 members of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars were arrested this week after participating in a protest outside the Hancock Air National Guard Base near Syracuse. Some of the US military’s killer drones are operated and flown to targets […]
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Rocking the cradle in Syria
After drawing a line in the sand warning Syrian President Bashar Assad not to use chemical weapons, President Obama is now in a precarious place. The unimaginable may have happened. Detailed accounts of Assad’s use of the weapons are not clear, but several reports of Assad’s army using chemical weapons began to surface last week. […]
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Hello recession, we hardly missed you
The countdown to another fiscal Armageddon between Congress and the president has begun. In a week from tomorrow, sequestration will kick in and about $85 billion in federal spending cuts will occur unless Democrats and Republicans can avert the crisis. The cuts will be painful, impacting everything from defense to early childhood education. Rep. Louise […]
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Obama and the liberal era
In a historic moment, Obama’s second inauguration speech was unapologetically liberal with numerous references to core Democratic ideals. On a day celebrating Dr. Martin Luther’s King’s legacy, Obama acknowledged the civil rights struggles of women, blacks, and gays. He reminded Americans that equality is good for a civilized society, and that inequality invites repression and […]
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Obama: ‘We’ve suffered too much pain’
A day after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed New York’s groundbreaking gun legislation (Cuomo followed that with a ceremonial signing of the legislation at Rochester City Hall this morning), President Obama unveiled his own recommendations for reducing gun violence in America. He made three main recommendations to Congress. Topping his list is enacting universal background checks […]
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Obama inauguration inducts acceptance
Hearing that Richard Blanco had been chosen to write a poem for President Obama’s second inauguration reconfirmed for me why this president will be remembered as a transformative leader. Blanco is a Cuban-American gay poet. His work journals the cross-cultural experiences of two minority groups — the LGBT and Latino communities — at a time […]
