I am so sick of this nonsense... both the criticism of the left... and what Bush is doing to himself.
Bush is NOT a homophobe. I believe he has actually appointed more gays to prominent positions than Clinton did. (or that we allowed him to do, anyway
) In fact, President Bush has faced criticism from the far-right, including from evangelicals like Ed McAteer, for doing so. President Bush has taken political risks for some level of support for gay rights, and for that he deserves at least some credit from his detractors.
The problem lies in the need to get re-elected. The President could have done the right thing and ignored the nutty harps from the "religious" right. But he didn't, he couldn't. Hell, I probably would have fallen for the pressure. He fought the FMA for as long as he could until he just couldn't stand it anymore. He cracked, but I respect him for holding out for so long.
The President has to find the votes in order to get re-elected. He can't count on moderates (as so many of us are so wishy-washy on our partisanship and loyalty to a candidate *stares at bullmoose*)... so he had to find a base to count on. And if you can count on anything, its that Christian conservatives will VOTE and will stay loyal.
I guess the ABB crowd around here will never understand President Bush. I know where his heart lies, and that's why I support him so strongly. I know he hates bigotry and discrimination. But I also know that he has to do what he has to do. We must keep his leadership in office. If he has to throw a bone to the conservanuts in order to do so, its still worth it.
