The contributing editor of Americablog, Joe Sudbay, has a great article on Huffingtonpost entitled “Mr. President, It’s Been 500 Days… Evolve Already!” Sudbay was the reporter whose interview with President Obama first mentioned that the president’s views on marriage equality would “evolve.” And unlike Obama, Sudbay wastes no time in taking the president to task over Obama’s failure to do just that. He also reports that the president’s stated views are once again being used by anti-gay Republicans to negate accusations of bigotry against them.
Longtime gay rights activist David Mixner has also spoken to this same concern and recalls how Obama’s views were used against the gay community in the Prop 8 battle and how history now seems to be repeating itself with the battle for marriage equality in Maryland. “It is essential that he [President Obama] makes clear to the voters of Maryland, without any caveats, that if he were a resident of the state, he would vote against repeal,” Mixner said. “We can’t afford to have his statement be ambiguous so the other side can claim that he’s on their side.” Mixner stated in an interview with The Washington Post. Yet, as usual, the president remained silent.
There are lots of things I could say about Obama’s continued cowardly silence, but I think the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a true “fierce advocate,” says it best: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”