On top of everything else we now find out McClurkin MCed the event?

Can it be any clearer that the Obama campaign doesn't get it? Time and again those of us upset at his role were told that McClurkin was just a singer, that he wasn't a headliner, and that his role would be totally minimalized. Now we find out he spent the night introducing acts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071029/ap_on_el_pr/obama_gospel_singer_2



McClurkin was headlining an "Embrace the Change" concert that capped a weekend of gospel music that Obama, an Illinois senator, is hoping to use to recruit churchgoers — and music lovers — in this early voting state.

But McClurkin's presence created a rift as gay and lesbian activists tried to force Obama to boot the singer from the lineup. Obama wouldn't budge, but he tried to quell the anger by adding an openly gay pastor to the event. McClurkin, who has said he does not believe in discriminating against homosexuals, spent much of Sunday evening introducing the acts.

end of quote

Let me be perfectly clear. I feel lied to. I feel disrepsected. Repeatedly we were told this man's role was to sing a few songs. Repeatedly we were told we were overstating his role in this concert. We were told this here and on Obama's website. This is rubbing salt in an oozing, open wound. This has gone beyond incompetent naivity into a direct insult. This is throwing us under the bus, driving over us, and then backing up and driving over us again.

If Obama's campaign were really proud of this strategy. If he were really trying to bring people together wouldn't he be open and honest about McClurkin's role? I will admit that nothing short of removing McClurkin would have satisfied me, but this is nothing short of infuriating. As angry as I would have been with McClurkin taking an MC role under any circumstances, Obama being honest about it would have made it somewhat better.

We deserved better.

I'm not an Obama supporter, but I respect him, and I don't think he's a bigot. But I'm very surprised that McClurkin not only remained part of the event, but he took a prominent role. I'm disappointed in him. I doubt, however, that this will have much of an impact on his campaign.

This PFLAGer has consistently taken the position that McClurkin should have been 'fired' IMMEDIATELY when Obama was notified about his activities, and Obama should have emphatically apologized to the GLBT community, and distanced himself from the man - getting as far away as possible.

We here, at the Temecula (CA) PFLAG have been aware of who McClurkin is because of our support for Wayne Besen and his Truth Wins Out organization ( www.truthwinsout.org - to counter this notoriously destructive 'ex-gay' stuff).

On edit:
I am actually kind of ticked off at some of my GLBT acquaintances who typically vote Republican; AND, I remind them that the ONLY candidate who is for marriage equality is Dennis Kucinich. He doesn't have a chance? He would if the GLBT community would rally around him!

alot of us are not sure he would be the Dennis we see now, or the Dennis we saw then.

and knows him well; he's going to be the Dennis you see now. I've met him a couple of times, and that's my sincere impression. He wasn't always pro-choice either, but there's no one more sincere in backing reproductive rights than he is now.

Just my humble two cents' worth.

P.S. I'll be out volunteering at the GLBT Pride Festival in Palm Springs next weekend!

Dennis K. really needs more contributions at the moment!

I can volunteer for someone who openly advocates marriage equality, but if more people aren't willing to help, well, then ... it's on them. The choice is there, and, if we don't make the right one, then we all live with the consequences. We must try; we must do the best we can.

Said with the utmost respect for all in mind.

until the GLBT community asserts itself ... by supporting Kucinich ... with the aid of PFLAGers ... not enough progress will be made.

Thanks for recognizing that.

To Toasterlad!

:toast:

This is throwing us out of the chartered campaign jet at 35,000 feet.

Reward good behavior.

<-----------That used to be Obama.

That is what I read from this event.

Very sad.

and candidates who will do anything for their votes and support. Sad day IMO.

Obama's decided anti-gay evangelicals are an easier touch than "the gays"...

I have seen your posts today - thank you! And welcome to DU. How is the weather in Santiago today?

It's beautiful down here...Spring is in full bloom. :hi:

Proud to be the 5th recommendation

A Democratic candidate should not give voice to someone who will stand against the civil rights of a group of Americans.

If Obama can't get this right, how can he make the right decisions involving America? If he won't stand up and do the right thing now, why should we expect him to do right when he's president?

Obviously, Obama is not YET qualified to be president. Sorry Obama, maybe next time.

To hear some talk about him, maybe he used to be. But it looks like he lost it.

--IMM

Redstone

Even if they decide this is all part of Obama's "bringing together" of differing groups, or just a bump in the road, it can't be ignored (although I'm sure it will be by diehards) that this is a blunder that is indicative of the kind of misjudgment he would be capable of repeating if he were POTUS. Despite what he purports to be, Obama has shown himself to be another divider, not a uniter.

I am still deciding.

Rather than finding out later that unifying America means getting a slimy bundle of voting blocks together.

Perhaps "headliner" isn't the best term to use...

What is WRONG with Obama? This guy just doesn't get it. He doesn't even get the CONCEPT of getting it. This is imbecility of the first order. Perhaps he's so steeped in this particular culture that he doesn't have a clue about the rest of the fractious groups that make up this country.

Whatever. This is amazing. His whole approach to this is positively Clintonian: playing both sides of the street and trying to pull a fast one. He played the race card WITH the religion card, and tried to mollify his critics with a gay minister while making this creep Ringmaster of the whole circus as he played down the guy's prominence. Deception upon deception, all played out, center stage, in the harsh glare of the spotlight on a Sunday night in the South. It's disgusting and idiotic beyond belief.

All at once, Obama's proven himself to have terrible judgment, lack of character, extreme obliviousness and trouble with math.

Will someone please show him the tent flap?

no words can express the contempt I feel towards this campaign.

k/r

Can I just say that I think Obama was being an ass with those remarks?

really?

I was never an Obama fan but now I am totally disgusted. There really are no words. How could he do this? Not only is it a slap in the face to the very notion of equality and the people who do not have it, it was a plain, damn, dumb move for someone looking to get elected.

One of the best tools we have and we use here is the fact that we can point to our opposition and declare with total honesty that they are all for taking away the rights of our citizens. While we can't say that about Obama we can certainly point out that he speaks of semi equality and then supports those who do not believe in it at all for his own political gain. Not cool and very very sad.

that thought.

In the past I posted my opinion that the Obama criticism was overdone. My reasoning was that McClurkin was a respected performer and was going to be used only for his talents and thus I didn't oppose keeping him on as an act.

It was reenforced by the Obama campaign that he was just going to sing and that's it. But to give him access to some position of authority and respect as MC shows some major disregard and lack of sensitivity on the Obama camp's part.

Dissapointing.

Disgraceful of you, Senator Obama.

He isn't a bigot, but he is taking some advice, no doubt, from some people who insist that he go after the African American evangelicals.

That's a tough spot, and this was handled badly.

Master. Of. Ceremonies.

M.C.: Master of Ceremonies; person who presides over the program.

That's a far cry from "But it's just ONE singer, singing a song or two -- and he doesn't represent Obama!"

To add insult to insult to insult upon injury: In his Advocate interview, Obama (who video'd in his praise of "the evening's acts" as 'inspirational talent' that were among his favorites") insisted that M.C. Self-Loathing Homophobe was not his "surrogate."

What a final, incontrovertible, utterly disgusting FUCK-YOU to all American gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.

And: I AM NOT a Hillary supporter. Never was, never will be.

Flame away.

You said it.

You're right, dsc. An insult directed right at us.

Maybe it will take people like Obama losing ALL our votes for them to understand that homophobia is not negotiable.

You deserve better. :hug:

No, MCing the event isn't "Donnie" just singing a song.

Perfect analogy, dsc. We were lied to...by Obama, by the campaign. Yes, thrown under the bus, and run over, repeatedly over and over again.

Barack Obama's words to the GLBT community are worthless. And I'd strongly suggest to the GLBT Democrats that they find another candidate. Immediately. This is a big, huge slap in the face to our community from Barack Obama. And one that's unforgivable.

But at least they won't be coming on here MCing the thread and trying to "cure" people...

I am completely dissapointed in Barack Obama's failure to do the right thing.

Not only did he MC, he also spent 30 minutes telling us he isn't a bigot and that he was saved from the same feelings (gayness) by God.

then you're a bigot.

It almost amuses me to hear these bigots being so defensive about their bigotry.

But then again it's hard to market bigotry these days.

nt.

but he did`t. it`s sad that with his excellent record on civil rights his staff got him into this and he decided he could`t or should`t dump the bigot`s on the show. yes, all his supporters deserved better from him.

I think that McClurkin was chosen precisely because of his homophobic message. Obama is reaching out to homophobes. Simple as that.

and being second to Hillary. Obama will learn a hard lesson now you don't betray a major faction of the Democrat camp to pander to the worst element of Middle America. McCain also tried to appease to the agents of intolerance in a desperate attempt to boost his campaign and It failed, even for a GOP candidate.

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I love ya DSC but I think this crap is over the top at this point. You are seriously willing to condemn a guy that has voted your way on every single bill that has come his way on GLBT issues because he chose to book one of the most popular Gospel singers out there at a concert designed to draw in a religious crowd hoping to get them to abandon the hacks that have been voting against you continuously and embrace a new direction?

You are willing to throw a guy who is on record every single time voting for you away because some duchebag was in a concert put on with a lot of other people present as well who generally as a whole vote against you because he wanted a chance to speak to them.

So in your mind he should have just got up on stage and told all those religious people in the audience that they are fundamentally flawed. That they are just bigots hiding behind a mask of religion. Cause that probably would have opened their minds up to different possibilities right?

Sure he could have dumped mc crack head or whatever his name is but is it necessary? really? Were you going within ten feet of that concert no matter what? It was clearly put on for the fundies to try and break down their barriers and get them to maybe just maybe open their minds to some different ideas in a comfortable for them setting.

Do you honestly for one freaking second believe that obama is anti gay despite every single vote he has cast on the issue being the exact opposite?

Sure mcrackheads a dick. So what the fundies eat him up and if one person there changed their vote to a dem because they decided Dem's didn't really hate religion cause obama brought all their favorite wack jobs for them to see so he had a chance to talk some truth to them then so be it.

You know i really do sympathize with the gay community and it strikes me as ludicrous that there should not be equality for gays straights whatever. Time again though I see such self destructive behavior from that community it just boggles my mind.

No we don't want civil unions..... WTF take it! get the name later grab the rights while you can! Hell with black people it started with a damn seat on the bus and you know what THEY took it! and kept fighting for more! Why the gay community has to have all or nothing is beyond me. Take what you can and keep fighting for more! The all or nothing approach just keeps getting you more nothing.

:popcorn:

In full disclosure, my companion is a big Obama supporter and still is. He wears his Obama button every day and has since early this year. This episode did not change him one bit.

I'm the one that bounces around from candidate to candidate and I like them all.

I don't understand how Obama allowed himself get into the trap he did. I don't hold it against him to rally church people to his cause. He's spoken to the Mega Churches about AIDS and Global Warming. But how he wound up in this situation and then allowed his campaign staff to misslead those who had voiced concern is not a good thing.

That said, John Edwards has said a few goofy things about our community, even using the word "uncomfortable" more than once that some found hurtful, but I know that John is on our side. Bill Richardson repeated over and over that sexual orientation was a "choice" and then corrected himself. He's also clearly on our side. Hillary and Bill both sneaked out of Washington D.C. the day of the GLBT National March in the 1990's. I know as I was there and as the nearly 1 million of us marched passed the White House, all I could think of was what chicken shits they really were. But, like the others, they are on our side.

I'm old enough to know that even my closest gay-friendly straight friends will never totally get us. I can never speak to the hard discrimination that blacks deal with every single day or what women deal with. I can't because I am not black and I am not a woman. I try to understand and have done so every year of my life since I remember. I try to be a better and understanding person.

Barck Obama is a straight black man who has a proud record of supporting our community. So, while I am not excusing the mistake and the hurt it has caused, speaking only for myself, I do try to see it in a larger perspective. He would still be a great president and would be a great friend to our community. That I don't doubt.

I read your post twice before posting here. I read your words "I feel disrespected." That will be the task that Senator Obama and his supporters and staff will need to face bravely: they have hurt and let down some people.

it has no validity in the real world...it only lives in the "blogosphere"...nothing to see here, folks...keep moving...:eyes: