David Axelrod: Obama Was 'Bullshitting' Opposition To Gay Marriage In 2008

[Act_of_Reparation]

59. I would hope our president's motivations are more practical than my admiration.

Because if it is kudos he's looking for, he's barking up the wrong tree. My admiration isn't given out lightly, and it is rarely given out to people who have made careers out of politics.

That said, there's an old saying you should probably consider: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Obama isn't the progressive we really want in office; but, as a candidate, he was better than the other guy, and he was electable. Given the situation we were in, Obama was and remains better than our other options. If he had to lie about his position on marriage equality to get elected... no, it's not admirable, but we are still in a better place than we would have been if he came out with a hardline stance and lost because of it.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the marriage equality war is all but won at this point, and the true victors aren't going to be the guys on Capitol Hill. The real people who are going to win this war are our LGBT brothers and sisters who fought tooth and nail for decades to get it through to straight, cis folks like myself that this is a civil rights issue that needs to be addressed. They're the real heroes here, and the people most deserving of our admiration.