Shorter Andrew Sullivan– “Fuck you, Barack Obama, for signing the hate crimes legislation. How dare you? Just words. Asshole.”
And no, I am not kidding.
I also love that the GOLD STANDARD for some bloggers is the speed with which POTUS has remarks up on the website. Remember a couple weeks ago when that idiot freaked out because the HRC speech was not up fast enough on a Saturday night, and that was perceived as a grievous insult and demonstrated Obama’s “true feelings” about gay people.
*** Update ***
Some people might want to know- Has Barack Obama ever played basketball with a gay person? Can anyone get in touch with Savannah Guthrie?
beltane
If Obama hate women and gays, why isn’t he being embraced by the Republican party? They, too, hate women and gays.
Redshirt
Yeah, I was thinking: Am I reading this wrong? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
comrade scott's agenda of rage
I followed the link and didn’t find his dismissal of this that negative. It’s not really any worse in terms of overall criticism than you find over at Teh Orange on any given day.
I noted Sully’s use of the term “gay establishment”. I never knew there was one, my brother never told me. Go figure.
All of which adds up to the fact that Sully’s irrelevant. I felt bad clicking on the link since it’ll contribute to his site traffic numbers. Better he pontificate to a Daffy Duck-like audience.
Why oh why
Well Sullivan is against “hate crimes” legislation, he has already explained why.
Still, it is funny how gay rights is the one issue where he doesn’t just assume that Obama has a super-secret long-term plan.
BombIranForChrist
@Why oh why:
LOL, so true.
Paula
Jesus, how is giving federal support to people who don’t feel safe reporting discrimination to their own local officials “a piece of symbolism”???
Mike in NC
No one could have predicted that Sully would do a backflip to land on his fainting couch!
Jason
Sully is opposed to all laws that don’t give him some personal benefit, i.e. his support of the repeal of the HIV travel ban and legalized marijuana. As a wealthy citizen of a blue state, hate crimes doesn’t help him, so he’s against it.
What’s amazing is, the repeal of the HIV travel ban and Hate crimes are both moves by Democrats to counter anti-gay animus in law enforcement. Why does he not understand that they are both victories in the same war?
SpotWeld
… I’m not sure how to make heads or tails of that post.
It’s largely incoherant
Kastanj
Dammit Sullivan I am trying to like you as much as I can and then you go and do this!
eric
When is this Obama fella gonna get impeached already? i mean, i know that there is a Dem controlled House, but surely some of the southern Blue Dogs know what is best for the country and will bring about this horribly uppity end to an American experiment gone horribly wrong.
Speaking as one who appreciates the Obama-Fu more than the Obama-son, this guy would get bashed if he cured cancer in light of all the researchers it would put out of work.
eric
General Winfield Stuck
I don’t know what is going on anymore. I guess “Mission Accomplished” don’t mean what it youst to.
The Dangerman
Didn’t Obama just give a high profile speech to the Gay Establishment in the Bay Area? Was Andy on vacation and missed it?
comrade scott's agenda of rage
No one could have predicted that Sully would do a backflip to land on his fainting couch!
And the judges scores are:
4.5
3.2
4.8
2.6
3.3
4.5
The 4.8 score is from the closeted Republican House wanting to pile on Obama and make everybody overlook those photos of him and Jeff Gannon from their winter vacation in Key West in 2001.
geg6
Well, Sully is against this legislation. It is much more important, in Sully’s world, to constantly say the word “gay,” as if G was the only important letter in LGBT.
Colette
Oh, for fuck’s sake. This is a prime example of missing the forest, not on account of focusing on the trees, but for focusing on one of the tiny little beetles crawling on the bark. Sully should just go back to smoking pot in the woods.
Legalize
Because government isn’t the solution to problems; government IS the problem. Moreover.
Persia
I love how using the word ‘gay’ is now a requirement.
Trinity
I stopped reading Sully after he went all birtherific for a minute there.
The Bearded Blogger
@Jason: You answered your own question:
in the tradition of Alan Grayson calling a whore a whore, I’ll say this: Sully is a bitch
eric
@Mike in NC: that would be a “bare-back flip”
Redshirt
Has Obama played basketball with any gay folks? Transgendered? Some people might think this is an important matter to investigate. It would be irresponsible not to.
General Winfield Stuck
And where is our little pet troll to come around accusing Obama of being homophobic. 1…….2………3,,,,,,,,
Paula
Well, I got real upset when the White House Poetry Jam took days, DAYS IT TELL YOU, to wind up on the official blog.
They are ANTI-POETRY.
Walt Whitman must be churning in his grave right now.
licensed to kill time
Is there nothing that Obama doesn’t hate?! Teh gays, women, white people, black people, old people, ‘Murka, Bush, Fox News, freedom, good old regular mustard – I tells ya, the hate, it never stops!
The Bearded Blogger
@geg6: ’cause it’s HIS letter, no other letter matters
btw, when it’s spelt BLGT I read it as a kind of sandwich…
Mnemosyne
@Jason:
He may think so, but oddly enough gay-bashers don’t stop and ask their victims to verify their income level before taking a baseball bat to their heads. If Sully is unlucky enough to in the wrong place at the wrong time, no one is going to care how wealthy or influential he is. And that goes for his gay friends and relatives, too.
bobbo
I am still waiting for President Faux-bama to publicly announce his support for the first gay President. Why the delay, Mister “Fierce Urgency”? Just another disappointing Democrat using me for my money.
ds
How does Andrew Sullivan have the gall to call out anyone for betraying gays?
Up until a few years ago he was a fully fledged member of the conservative movement. And let’s be clear: The only reason he flipped was the moment he realized that they won’t carve out any exceptions for rich white male gays, even though they’ll defend to the death the right of rich white males to kill, steal, rape, etc.
Obama has shown far more commitment to advancing gay rights than Sully ever has.
The next time the Republicans wave some shiny new war in his face or some new racial determinism theories pique his interest, he’ll go right back to war blogging and sucking up to his bigoted Republican masters. I’m guessing it’ll happen some time in the beginning of Sarah Palin’s first term.
geg6
@General Winfield Stuck:
Which one is that one? I get confused, there are so many these days.
The Bearded Blogger
@Redshirt: He should get himself a jewish one armed arab-vietnamese lesbian midget to play tennis with, in order to stop criticisms
John Sears
Sullivan’s an idiot. The reason the audience was largely military was because they attached the hate crimes law as an amendment to the DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL to ensure it would pass without incident!
The reason there are two ceremonies is that they attached this unrelated bill to a big defense package that the Republicans wouldn’t dare oppose.
I guess Sullivan couldn’t be happy unless they kicked all the military people out of the audience of the signing for a big defense bill and constructed a dais up front for him to recline upon while Obama fans him with a palm frond.
And he’s really going to get hung up on the precise terms that Obama uses? Really? It’s a requirement to use the word ‘gay’? The quote Sullivan provides just looks like a standard Obama-ism to me, a rhetorical flourish, not an attempt to avoid discussing anything.
geg6
@ds:
But…but…Andrew marched! Marched, I tell you! A couple of weeks ago! Really! He did! I saw the pix!
Beauzeaux
I’m going to take this as my cue that there is no reason to consider Sully’s opinions on anything any longer.
John Cole
@General Winfield Stuck: You talking about BOB- because DougJ and I both banned him this morning after his disgusting performance in the rape thread.
handy
@geg6:
I’m sure GWS is referring to Make Wee Wee in this case, since that one deigns outrage about Obama’s alleged misogyny, naturally his supposed homophobia would similarly be a concern.
Violet
@John Cole:
Thank you for this.
General Winfield Stuck
@geg6:
The one who’s been wanking daily on Obama’s misogyny. I think this segs smartly into that meme floggery.
Comrade Dread
It’s amusing that Sullivan complains about the victimization and special interest group status he thinks the Democratic party puts him in, while he is playing the victim card because Obama isn’t caving in to his every demand right now and because Obama had the gall to use inclusive language rather than specifically mention teh gheys.
Jason
@Mnemosyne: The real advantage of Hate Crimes legislation is creating a federal option where local law enforcement declines to conduct a serious investigation. This was crucial for blacks in Southern states where police regularly colluded with the Klan. Crimes against wealthy people are taken very seriously by our justice system, and in a blue state his gayness is less likely to lead to a police blow-off of his case.
PeakVT
Along with the hate crimes amendment – which I will assume is actually good new because it annoys Silly Sully – the defense bill also kills the F-22, VH-71, YAL-1, and FCS. And that, my friends, is change I can believe in.
geg6
@John Cole:
Thank you, John. That makes my day. I’ve already told DougJ today that I love him truly, madly, deeply. So ditto that for you, too.
General Winfield Stuck
@handy:
yes
Max
I sent Sully an email and pointed out to him that at 6:05pm the President is having a specific reception and remarks on the M. Shepherd / J. Byrd bill.
He’s a fucking drama queen, or bear, or whatever.
Colette
@John Cole: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Even though I’m convinced that BoB is a spoof, it’s just gotten too damned ugly.
licensed to kill time
@John Cole:
Yay! {{does the byebyeBoBaloofrugponytwistpogoslamdance}}
Mayken
Once again, Andrew Sullivan is an asshat. You bother to read him why?
Molly
Heads or tails…Sully has a position, “I don’t like hate crimes legislation of any kind.” He’s been consistent; he didn’t approve when it was James Byrd in Texas, and he doesn’t approve of it for homosexuals either. Several people here agree with this position as well.
The amusing thing is his general snit because his views didn’t carry the day. He’s pissed at Obama, pissed at the “Gay Establishment,” but mostly pissed that something he doesn’t agree with was passed and no one really cared about his opinion.
My 4 year-old does that too.
geg6
OT, but I can’t believe this. Apparently, people are pining for more on Douchehat’s adventures with Chunky Reese Witherspoon.
FREE ROSS DOUCHEHAT!
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/10/a-movement-is-born.html
valdivia
So OT but I saw this when I checked out Sulli. Did you guys see the Free Ross thing? OMG! Please tell me they are joking right?
LD50
@John Cole: What’s the consensus here: does BoB actually mean anything he says? I’m not convinced he does, tho that doesn’t mean I’ll mourn his passing one bit.
valdivia
@geg6:
LOL we caught it at the same time and had the same reaction.
Bad Horse's Filly
Why, oh why did we elect this loser to the highest office in the land? He is obviously a gay-hating, misogynist, muslim, fascist, nazi, socialist…..loser, who can’t accomplish anything in the amount of time most woman can grow an entire human being.
General Winfield Stuck
@valdivia:
Ain’t it cool when that happens?
valdivia
@General Winfield Stuck:
yeah the BJ mind meld in action!
Bad Horse's Filly
Oh, crud, I must’ve used the soc ial ist word and got put in time out. My bad.
Martin
The problem is that the right has fully accepted their own propaganda, including Sully. Hate crime laws aren’t designed to add an extra penalty to these crimes, they are designed to federalize those crimes so that states and localities can’t ignore or mismanage them.
Sully needs to go all the way back to last month when he was complaining about gay bar raids by police across the south – Texas, Georgia, etc. You think those same agencies are going to bust their ass to investigate and prosecute an attack that takes place outside of one of those same bars? That’s the point.
The right fought back against these laws by minimizing them – arguing that they were redundant by arguing that all acts of violence are hate crimes. Sullivan has bought that argument 100%.
Dreggas
just swap out “Romans” for “Obama”
it’s like watching the Judean People’s front go after the People’s front of Judea.
SGEW
@John Cole:
Well well well.
Justified!
Molly
@John Cole: “DougJ and I both banned him this morning”
Thanks, guys. I couldn’t take any more.
geg6
@Dreggas:
LOL. I love that movie.
Mr Furious
@John Cole: Thanks, John.
Not that I can’t handle an opposing view, nor do I want an echo chamber, but that asshole had no sense of decorum at all. There was no subject sensitive enough to keep him from driving by and yelling the n-word from his car window.
The Bearded Blogger
@John Cole: Morality and decency judgements aside, he was a tedious annoying troll.
@Martin: it was put in cartoon form in an episode of south park, so it must be true!
Molly
@LD50: “What’s the consensus here: does BoB actually mean anything he says?”
I think he and Ann Coulter need to hook up.
SGEW
In all seriousness:
A sincere thank you to the blog hosts for the forced removal of Brick Oven Bill.
Sorry for having bugged all of you about it for so long. All’s well that ends well!
kommrade reproductive vigor
I wouldn’t piss on A. Sullivan’s feet if his shoes were on fire.
That is all.
Dreggas
@geg6:
The sad part is that you can, on any given day, find a Python reference related to our current political and social climate. It’s like the python crew were Nostradamus and predicted the current state of the U.S. through skit comedy and feature films.
General Winfield Stuck
I just put a mental pie filter on BoB’s drek and scrolled on by, but knowing all the while, if I was in the mood and wanted to fuck with some idiot jerk, he was there for that. But all in all, I’m glad he’s gone, or is it another time out?
dfd
@Dreggas: Splitters!
Bob (Not B.o.B.)
This is quite typical of people supporting progressive causes. The symbolism is more important to them than the action.
Mark S.
I don’t pay a helluva lot of attention to Sully, so can someone tell me if I got this straight: He’s opposed to the legislation Obama signed, and he’s mad that Obama didn’t say gay in his speech (along with whatever else he’s bitching about)? That would be like me being opposed to the war in Iraq, and then getting mad that Bush didn’t say anything about Saddam gassing the Kurds in a speech.
Garrigus Carraig
@John Cole: Huzzah.
Minionero
I thought B.O.B. was a spoof?
Stefan
I noted Sully’s use of the term “gay establishment”. I never knew there was one, my brother never told me.
Yes, there is. It’s better known as the Tony Awards.
Garrigus Carraig
Also, really, can’t we deport Sullivan already?
handy
@LD50:
I just read that thread. Dude clearly crossed a line. And this is from someone who has admired some of his more sublime trolls. But yeah, crossed. a. line.
geg6
@Mark S.:
You are correct.
General Winfield Stuck
@Minionero:
BoB was a lot of things, among them spoof, but persistent bigotry doesn’t have a protected status, it’s just persistent bigotry.
LD50
@handy: I’m not saying he’s not an obnoxious fuck. I’m saying that I’m not convinced he’s sincere about anything.
El Tiburon
Mark S at 71
Not even close. I don’t want to make too much out of Sully’s post, but the fact is Presidents and politicians usually choose their words very, very carefully. I’m not saying there was necessarily anything to Obama NOT saying the word ‘gay’, but perhaps that is because I am not gay.
To me it’s more like a Father saying he has no problem with his son being gay, but being unable to say that his son is gay. It is subtle, but I think has meaning for the gay community.
JustBeingPedantic
@max
Sully could have saved you the trouble of sending that e-mail had he been honest enough to quote the sentence immediately before his selection, but then he wouldn’t have been able to wallow in self-pity.
And the entire speech is on the White House web site.
Scandi
Looking for consistency from Andrew Sullivan is like searching for meaning in a Paulie Shore movie.
His post is a perfect example. He’s very anti any kind of hate crimes law but is also pissed because it hasn’t been covered well enough by the administration when it actually passes. You’ll get whiplash trying to follow that man.
Bob (Not B.o.B.)
Can I go back to just “Bob” now?
Zuzu's Petals
@Mark S.:
Here’s another reason why saying “the president couldn’t say the word ‘gay'” proves Sullivan is a single-minded dolt. The word “gay” never appears in the bill. Neither does the word “lesbian,” “homosexual,” or “bisexual.”
It protects people from being targeted because of their sexual orientation. Which of course applies to everybody.
So Obama was absolutely correct in describing it as a bill that “protects people based on … who they love.”
Demo Woman
President Obama had a separate signing ceremony
Sully won’t be happy but
Peter J
What about the countertops at the White House? Inquiring minds want to know.
Cathie from Canada
Actually, wasn’t it Steve Clemons at Washington Note who was flipping about about Obama’s secret plot to dis gays because Obama’s speech wasn’t posted quickly enough on a website? That’s where I read it, anyway, and it started me seriously wondering why so many progressives are apparently losing their minds.
There seems to be a knee-jerk anti-Obama reaction that some people have, whether they are progressive or right-wing. These people are trying to justify this attitude by blaming it on Obama’s mistakes, but it actually never matters what he does, its never good enough.
Here’s the root of it, I think — when it comes to their internal picture of a president, they want a President who they can think of as “Daddy” or “Grandpa” or “General”, and they are angry that none of these labels can be made to fit Obama. So Obama gets disrespected because these people instinctively want to blame Obama for not fitting their own stereotype of what a “president” should be. Clinton had the same problem. But with Obama, you have to add to it that he is black. And in the unexamined, even unconscious, worldview of many Americans both left and right, a young-looking slim black man is someone to ignore or to be scared of, certainly not to be respected. And again, people who feel this way blame Obama for scaring them, rather than examining their own feelings and prejudices.
Of course, I could be wrong.
handy
@LD50:
I thought he was sincere. Probably a decent guy, but his prism is a bit…out of sorts, to put it mildly.
rob!
Sullivan cracks me up. He was sooo critical of the writings/speeches of Sotomayor, saying she was too wrapped up in her identity as a Latino, and was insulted when she acted as though it gave her particular insights.
Yet he can’t go two posts without mentioning his homosexuality, and if something doesn’t fit his particular perspective on that issue, then its evil/bad/stupid.
I enjoy reading his blog, partly because its a helpful reminder that, no matter how fair-minded or thoughtful a self-described Conservative/Republican might be, there’s a part of them that is just as insane as the Tea Baggers.
For Sullivan, Liberal Talking Endlessly About Who They Are = Bad. Conservative Talking Endlessly About Who They Are = FREEDOM!
wmd
Obama mentions his commitment to Matthew Shepard’s mother, the bill Memorializes Matthew by name, and some how this is offensive to gays?
Huh.
valdivia
@Cathie from Canada:
I think there is something to what you say. I think it is the same reason people constantly say Obama is not doing anything about (fill in the blank) when actually working hard for it just not in the exact way these people want and why during the campaign why people said he did not want to be president enough to hit hard at McCain.
valdivia
it is going to be one of those days at Sulli’s blog. now he has another post about how Obama is purposely insulting gays by not talking about gays.
Neutron Flux
@John Cole: OK, but not forever, right? Where will I get my Natural Law vs Artifical Law and the Seven something or others? That would suck if I couldn’t laugh at that.
Max
@valdivia: I suspect within the next few days, we will get another one of Sully’s posts that reads something like…
I’m had time to cool down and rethink what I wrote. Turns out, I am talking out of my ass and am an emo-adult. Too much blogging. Not enough sleep. Heading to the Cape for a month. I will have the usual neo-cons fill in while I’m recharging and clearing my perspective.
soonergrunt
@handy: “out of sorts”?!
BoB is crazier than a shit-house rat. The only thing about him that was consistent was his misogyny and his racism.
valdivia
@Max:
LOL so right Max. maybe he will do his bit to liberate Ross Douchehat and give him the reign of his blog. Then again I imagine Ross cannot contractually do that. Which sincerely is a relief cause I hate the way he writes.
Deschanel
@valdivia: Oh god, I just saw that.
“A Movement is Born”- that is, a “movement” for the Times to allow Douchehat a blog. Accompanied by a graphic that says, “Free Ross”.
Because having a berth on the NYT Op-Ed page is just like being imprisoned, isn’t it? Why, Douthat is practically Mandela there, muzzled by the powers that be!
I feel like sending AS my own “movement” in a box, but that’s probably illegal. Never stopped Sharon Osbourne though, when someone made her cross.
kay
@valdivia:
Sullivan doesn’t care about hate crimes legislation. It contradicts conservative legal dogma. Conservatives portray it as a sort of affirmative action for victims of crime, and the dreaded “special treatment”.
That the legislation is intended to address the “special treatment” that certain people get from criminals, so not really an affirmative-action based benefit to resent, seems to escape them.
Maybe it’s a slippery slope typa thing. Most of them are.
SiubhanDuinne
@The Bearded Blogger:
And the G would stand for, what> Gruyère? Grey Poupon? Gherkins? Grape jelly?
Mark S.
@Neutron Flux:
The Seven Liberal Arts. Please try to take better notes.
tomvox1
@Paula:
Walt Whitman must be churning in his gay grave.
kay
@soonergrunt:
BoB writes the same thing over and over again.
“I’m best because I’m white, male and European”.
I got it the first thousand times. It’s all comparative, and at the end of every comment is the same conclusion. People just like him are the best people!
How many times has he posted the average black person/white person SAT-income score rant?
I’m going to make a wild guess. He did well on the SAT. How long ago might that have been? Long time. I hope he’s not still riding on it.
dweomer
@John Cole: was his banning offense material deleted? Maybe this is something of a “driving by a car crash slowly” moment for me, but I am curious to see what the BoB did to get banned.
(I’ve been lurking here for a while now and I have to agree with some of the other posters: I never took BoB for anything other than a spoof/troll)
mellowjohn
in case it hasn’t been asked already, is it OK to not hate gays but still hate andrew sullivan?
Neutron Flux
@Mark S.: Noted.
But remember, I have considerable influence.
But truthfully, it was just all so goofy it wouldn’t stay in my mind.
It was kind of funny tho, amirite?
But yeah, that racist bullshit just could not stand.
soonergrunt
@kay: You know very well that he’s still riding it.
Which is impressive in itself, because from the gramatical and comprehension standpoints, I see no way he got over a 600 verbal.
dweomer
@dweomer: ah, nevermind. I found it. For some reason the gang-rape post escaped me and I was constraining my searches to the Al Franken rape ammendment thingie.
valdivia
@Deschanel:
Lol! Mandela. How freaking pathetic are these people ah?
Darkrose
@John Cole:
Thank you for doing this, John.
chrome agnomen
leave……..BOB………ALOOOOOOOOONE!!!!
(sob)
i accepted him here as a project. many can be saved.
really, though, what it boiled down to was that he wasn’t very good at what he was trying to do.
tomvox1
Professional carping is a cottage industry–since it’s not possible to be 100% satisfied with any political leader’s actions, bitching about the small things that you disagree with will get you published.
Faux News
John and Doug J thank you for banning BOB. His shtick was no longer funny. I’m not a Freeper type who would advocate banning anyone who does not agree with everything. But even though I thought of BOB as a spoof I was beginning to think the racist stuff was not. Hell, I don’t even mind Paul L and he is the lamest Troll on this site. But BOB was pushing the envelope and got what he deserved.
Fern
Thank you, John. That was a true act of mercy.
Jason_M
I completely agree. His constant rejection and betrayals are SO EXCITING!
rick
@Zuzu’s Petals: That’s actually a really good point.
rick
No one said it’s offensive to gays. Sullivan just said that a Federal hate crimes law would not have changed the sentence given to Shepard’s attackers (death, commuted to life imprisonment at the request of Shepard’s mother).
So it makes little sense to name the hate crimes legislation after Shepard, unless you can find a way to make a sentence harsher than death.
Keith G
Even if BOB is nothing but pure performance art, with intention he repeatedly typed vile and hurtful things.
I do not easily support the notion of suppressing speech, yet communities such as the one here can establish limits and ask that commenters take responsibility for their words.
Hob
I’m happy to see BoB go, too. Thank you. I hope it’s for good.
Having seen him do his thing on Obsidian Wings for a long time before he showed up here, I’m fairly sure he’s not a spoof. The particulars of his bullshit are just too odd and too familiar from deeply crazy people I’ve known, and the streak of poison was way beyond what it would take just to stir up shit. In any case, none of the many approaches people tried – friendly curiosity, honest argument, outrage, snark, abuse – ever changed his mind. And in the end, you are what you pretend to be.
Gravenstone
@John Cole:
Am I the only one with the image of John and Doug in the bunker, turning their keys in unison at the Baninator console?
Larry
@beltane:
How many braincells did you kill thinking of that stupid comment?