Are They Really THAT STUPID ??? - 'Obama Spokesman Denies 1996 Gay Survey' - FDL

[WillyT]

Or... do they think WE are???

:mad:

Obama spokesman denies 1996 gay survey
By: Tracy Baim - FDL
Friday June 17, 2011 11:45 am

<snip>

Despite a statement by President Obama’s White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer June 17 that a 1996 survey response was not written by the then-candidate for Illinois state Senate, Windy City Times newspaper stands by the reporting on Obama’s early support of gay marriage in at least two gay surveys.

The surveys were from a 1996 response to Outlines newspaper (which now owns Windy City Times) and IMPACT, a now-defunct gay political action committee. They are online at are available available at http://bit.ly/gMBR4e and also printed in the 2010 book Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage, by Tracy Baim, publisher of Windy City Times.

Pfeiffer, asked about the surveys by Joy Gray of the Daily Kos, said, “If you actually go back and look, that questionnaire was actually filled out by someone else, not the president.” This is the first time a claim has been made that Obama did not complete the surveys himself, even though his signature is on the typed one sent to Outlines, and the IMPACT survey appears to be completed in his own writing.

To Outlines he typed in the survey response, dated Feb. 15, 1996: “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” It was faxed from the law firm Obama worked for at the time. And it was reported in Outlines newspaper that he backed gay marriage, something his campaign never denied in 1996. He would have had a very small campaign staff, so it was unlikely he had someone else complete the form. In fact he went to the trouble of typing full answers when the form was actually able to be completed as a Q&A. Even if someone else completed the form, Obama signed it, and never denied subsequent reports of its content.

In January of 1996 he filled out the IMPACT questionnaire, and it appears to be in his own writing, and uses the first-person “I” throughout. While the IMPACT questions were a bit more complicated, Obama did say he would oppose any attempts to outlaw same-gender marriage, by supporting a resolution stating “the state should not interfere with same-gender couples who chose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of civil marriage.”

The complete surveys are online at: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php?APUB=wct&ADATE=2009-01-14&AGALLERY=obama

<snip>

Link: http://my.firedoglake.com/tracybaim/2011/06/17/obama-spokesman-denies-1996-gay-survey/

:wtf:

:banghead:

[Vanje]

1. Thats WEAK nt

[B-Stupid]

2. If the economy doesn't turn around soon

Obama is going to face a tough reelection bid. I think he's trying to distance himself from issues that could cause him problems in swing states (especially the ones in the south).

[kenny blankenship]

3. Hey, people change.

He used to be for a Public Option for health care, too. And there was also that "renegotiate NAFTA" pledge.

[DJ13]

5. "Stop looking backwards!"

:thumbsup:

[Scuba]

4. He's afraid he'll lose black male voters, reportedly among the most homophobic of demographic grps.

[WillyT]

6. Not Exactly Sure How Bald Face Lying Helps With That Issue...

:shrug:

:hi:

[Scuba]

7. Care to elaborate?

[WillyT]

9. LOL !!! - NOT YOU Lying... Pfieffer And The White House Lying...

In the OP above.

Sorry for any misunderstanding...

:blush:

:silly:

:hi:

[Scuba]

11. Thanks.

[johnaries]

8. Let's go to the source. what does the Whitehouse say on it's website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/civil-rights

Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Laws
On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act to ensure that all Americans receive equal pay for equal work. The President is committed to expanding funding for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to ensure that voting rights are protected and Americans do not suffer from increased discrimination during a time of economic distress. President Obama also continues to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. He supports full civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples and opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He supports repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security, and also believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.

And what did Obama do?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/02/president-obama-instructs-justice-department-to-stop-defending-defense-of-marriage-act-calls-clinton.html

President Obama Instructs Justice Department to Stop Defending Defense of Marriage Act calls Clinton-Signed Law "Unconstitutional"
February 23, 2011 12:39 PM


....President Obama has instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which has since 1996 allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex partnerships legally recognized in other states.....

...President Obama believes that section – Section 3 -- “is unconstitutional” given the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment (including its equal protection component), Holder wrote, and the president has instructed the Department of Justice to no longer defend the law in those two lawsuits.

President Obama “has made the determination,” Holder wrote, that Section 3 “as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.”

Once again, the Hamsherites at FDL are just trying to stir up shit that isn't there in their Quest for Relevence.

[Scuba]

12. Thanks for doing the homework!

[SidDithers]

13. Quest for relevence. That's it exactly...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[WillyT]

14. More For Your Records...

Link: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php

[Poll_Blind]

16. The link didn't work- do you mean these:

?

PB

[WillyT]

18. LOL !!! - Yep... That's Exactly What I Meant

:D

:hi:

[FreeState]

15. So he's against equal rights for gay families?

Civil unions are not equal to marriage. Never have been never will. Separate is not equal.

[suffragette]

10. By signing it, he agreed to it

Doesn't matter if someone else wrote, typed, or did it all up in calligraphy.


That's got to be one of the weakest and most weaselly attempts at deflection I've seen.

[guruoo]

17. He made it quite clear during the '08 campaign that this was not (no longer?) his position

DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama
Opposes same-sex marriage, but also opposes a constitutional ban. Says he would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. As stated on the Obama campaign Web site, he supports full civil unions that "give same-sex couples equal legal rights and privileges as married couples, including the right to assist their loved ones in times of emergency as well as equal health insurance, employment benefits, and property and adoption rights."

Says the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Advocated legislation that sought to expand federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Says the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy needs to be repealed.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.samesexmarriage.html

[xchrom]

19. he also made it quite clear with those questionaires -- what he believed too. nt

[guruoo]

22. What he believed -15 years ago. nt

[suffragette]

20. See posts 14 and 16

Clearly, at that point he regarded that as his position or at least as a position that would win him votes.

Either way, he put it forward publicly as his position.

[guruoo]

23. A 15 year old point of view. nt

[suffragette]

25. Obama's spokesman is trying to alter the past

by shifting responsibility for views Obama expressed in the questionnaire to some unidentified staff person.
That is deflection.

I pointed out that that it doesn't matter whether Obama physically wrote or typed answers. By signing them, he agreed to them.

I stated my point clearly and I just as clearly made my statement about the item in question from the OP, which is Obama's spokesman's claim from 1996.

You keep trying to deflect away from my simple statement about how it's not a matter of whether Obama drafted the answers, dictated them or had someone else write them; his signing of them shows his agreement with them at that time. You are doing this by continuing to shift the point away from the OP and my replies to it and to Obama's current position.

Why is that?

[guruoo]

27. He agreed with it 15 years ago. His stated position changed before the election. So?

I don't know about you, but I'm always open to learning something new every day.

[suffragette]

29. His spokesperson doesn't seem to agree with your 1st sentence

or, at least, is trying to obfuscate the facts about that survey and Obama's previous position.

I addressed what his spokesperson is doing.

From your 1st sentence, it looks like you do not disagree with me on the position Obama took on the survey.

What do you think about what White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said?

[guruoo]

34. I'm not sure why they would want to hide it, if that is the case. nt

[yardwork]

32. So Obama learned that equal marriage is a bad thing, and shifted to a less progressive stance.

How is that a good thing? And what could he have "learned" that would cause him to move backwards on civil rights?

[guruoo]

35. As I understand, he shifted from marriage to same rights as marriage under civil unions nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

33. Then why lie about it?

[guruoo]

36. They have absolutely no reason to do so, IMO. nt

[WillyT]

21. Kick !!!

:kick:

[Very_Boring_Name]

24. Obama just gave me an idea. I'm going to stop paying my student loans and claim "a staffer signed

the contract, not me. So I shouldn't be responsible for paying." I'll call it the "Obama maneuver."

[guruoo]

28. It wasn't a contract. It was only a statement of his views at that point in time. nt

[amborin]

26. K&R

[nomb]

30. I'm not comfortable anytime a Pol so easily tells you whatever you want to hear at the moment.

Seriously, it can never be a good thing. The lies, they just come so easily when you have a big well paid staff to sort the numbers and say whatever is needed.

Sorry, I take a lot of things but this is just so obvious - no one ever doubted Obama in the end supported marriage for all, so why the F lie about a form in the boss's own handwriting with his signature attached? Why?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

31. This isn't the first time he has weaseled on a questionnaire.

In both cases, I agree with the old Obama.



Obama Forgets Writing on Gun Questionnaire
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/obama-forgets-w.html
April 17, 2008 12:13 AM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Talal Al-Khatib Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., maintained at Wednesday's ABC News debate in Philadelphia that his handwriting does not appear on a 1996 questionnaire stating support for a ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns. The Democratic presidential frontrunner made this claim even though a copy of the original document suggests otherwise.

"No, my writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire, Charlie. As I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns," said Obama.

The Illinois Democrat made his remarks after ABC News' Charlie Gibson told Obama: "In 1996, your campaign issued a questionnaire, and your writing was on the questionnaire that said you favored a ban on handguns."

The questionnaire, which was filled out for an organization called "Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organizations," appears to have Obama's handwriting on the first page plus a typewritten answer to the gun question on the last page.

...

The questionnaire asked: "Do you support state legislation to: ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?"

Obama's campaign answered: "Yes."