THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS UP
(true advocacy…or political ploy?)

President Obama recently openly spoke up in support of same-sex marriage. Whether, as he said, it was a long “evolutionary” process to reach that viewpoint, his openly saying so was carefully qualified by saying it was his….personal….viewpoint. The implication of that meaning it was not his official….policy…viewpoint. All of which has set off what may not be so much a fire-storm of debate about the issue, but rather, a storm-in-a tea cup argument about it.

Even so, for those who have supported him from the start, they are cheering him. It’s not often that a President speaks up about his personal viewpoints on sensitive issues. For them it simply demonstrates that he is, indeed, a man with the courage of his convictions. For those who have opposed him from the start, however, and even continue to resent his presence in the White House, these are just sneering. For them this is further proof he’s just another wily career politico who will pander to any demographic just to ensure his re-election.

While there may be some merit to both such views about his motives for speaking up on the issue at this time, frankly, we have much more serious problems to be concerned about. That is, the anemic pace of our economic recovery, the continuing non-action by Congress to make any serious efforts to reform our tax code to fix our fiscal condition, along with the related lack of jobs and an ongoing much too high level of unemployment.

So stirring up controversy about a hot-button social issue like same-sex marriage, does smack of it being a political ploy to divert the electorate’s attention….from these more pressing concerns, following a pattern that we’ve seen before….openly pressing the class warfare button (the super rich aren’t paying their fair share, the middle class is getting squeezed, etc.), the women’s vote (re-reproductive rights, etc), and now, the LGBT community, all obviously key demographics it what is shaping up as a very, very tight presidential race.

In any event this particular social issue will remain a divisive one for some time to come, and, there is little likely hood that a national consensus about it is likely to be reached any time soon. Long imbedded religious and cultural perspectives are hard to overcome. Frankly, given all that, the President’s position about it seems a more reasonable approach. That is, to leave to the individual states to decide for themselves as some have already done, until such time a firmer national consensus can be reached. It may take a second coming….but that’s the way it is.

CENTURION