As for doing all he can to make gay and lesbian citizens Americans in every sense of the word, Obama's record is shameful. Yes, his extension of some federal benefits to same-sex couples was welcome. However, his failure to end the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is a betrayal, as is his failure to fight for the repeal of the odious Defense of Marriage Act. While Obama styles his preference for civil unions over full marriage rights as an act of personal conscience, it smacks of political expediency.
Then there is the vexing issue of health-care reform, which is in a category all of its own. Granted, passing such reform in this special-interest-laden country is a Herculean task. Likewise, congressional perversity has proven to be even more sociopathic than could be imagined. But that raises the question of whether Obama has contributed to the dysfunction by not waging more effective war on the true villains: the insurance industry and its publicly elected lackeys.
The bottom line is simple: Obama is good, just not as good as he promised to be — nor as effective as the nation needs him to be.
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