Of course…this is what he said during the campaign…AND he could immediately call a moratorium on enforcement of the policy…AND hundreds of highly trained soldiers, technicians, translators, and medical personnel have already been lost this year.  Since the policy’s inception in 1993, over 12, 500 men and women have been discharged…men and women that took millions of dollars to train, and who will take many millions of dollars to replace.  Men and women…who are American heroes AND citizens.

So I guess we can’t blame the people marching the next day for being skeptical about Obama’s promises regarding DADT, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), securing hate crimes protection for gays, and providing equal work benefits for gay employees and equal rights for their gay partners.

But…he has taken some steps:  Obama has just nominated the first openly gay person to serve as a U.S. Marshall, and there is word that talks have been initiated with Senator Joe Lieberman about repealing DADT, since Lieberman sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

And there is one thing you have to admit…the other side of the aisle, isn’t even trying.

For all the Republicans’ talk of being the “civil rights party” and the “party of Lincoln,” the GOP leadership has offered little in the way of hope to the gay community.  One notable exception: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just signed two bills, one honoring Harvey Milk, and the other recognizing gay marriages performed in other states.

But the GOP leadership? If Representative John Boehner is any indication…they are still engaged in the “dark ages” belief that homosexuality is a “choice.”  When asked why he opposed the currently proposed legislation to add sexual orientation to the list of things protected by hate crime laws (ie. race, religion, gender), Boehner said that sexual orientation is different from the currently protected classes, which he says are “based on immutable characteristics.“  It’s hard to tell which of Boehner’s positions makes less sense:  that sexual orientation is NOT based on permanent traits from birth…or that religious choice IS.  Seeing as this argument doesn’t make any sense, allow me to translate Boehner’s response on behalf of the GOP to the question of “why shouldn’t gays have equal legal protection:“ They just don’t respect gay Americans.  And it is, in part, because of this viewpoint…homophobia-fueled beatings like the one endured by Jack Price (disturbing video here) continue to occur with some frequency.

And the Prop 8 Supporters? If their lawyer, Charles Cooper, is any indication…the pro-Prop 8 groups can’t even explain why Prop 8 (a California ban on gay marriage) is necessary.  In a recent hearing U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker asked Cooper to explain just how gay marriage poses any threat to heterosexual marriage, as alleged in Cooper’s lawsuit.  Cooper’s response: “My answer is, I don’t know. I don’t know.“  Seeing as this argument doesn’t make any sense, allow me to translate Cooper’s response on behalf of Prop 8 supporters to the question of “why shouldn’t gays be allowed to marry:” They just don’t respect gay Americans.

And the right-wing media? If FOX News is any indication…they’ll cover Tea Party protests, no matter how small, but barely give airtime to a protest of 75,000 protesters in Washington, D.C., marching for gay rights.  In fact, the recent Tea Party protest in D.C. which netted about the same number of participants, seemed to warrant (by FOX’s standards) almost endless coverage and ads that also served to PROMOTE the event.  FOX News even had the nerve to criticize the other networks for covering the event too little, saying that the number of attendees alone merited great attention…but somehow the same number of gay people, and their heterosexual supporters, just don’t seem to count.  Seeing as this argument doesn’t make any sense, allow me to translate FOX News’ response to the question of “why shouldn’t gay civil rights protests get fair and equal treatment on the news:” They just don’t respect gay Americans.

Here’s Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on FOX News’ hypocrisy:

What all these people forget, is that there are consequences to ignoring segments of our own citizenry.  Republicans, and FOX…will increasingly just have to do without the votes and viewership of gay Americans.  Democrats, and Obama…need to show gay Americans the respect the others won’t, or they will similarly be penalized.  And they ALL should realize, that a growing number of heterosexual Americans…ALSO support equal rights for gay Americans, and will vote/spend/watch  accordingly.

But…upon what information are these claims based?  What has changed so PROFOUNDLY as to make these people feel that “their America” is slipping away from them?  Truthfully…is Obama really even THAT liberal?

Some points for your consideration:

-  Obama kept Gates as Defense Secretary and Petraeus as commander of U.S. Central Command…it was said that this was to preserve some sort of “continuity,” but the truth is, with our military so politicized under Bush, and our efforts in Iraq so badly planned and managed, is there really ANY justification for the holdovers?

-  Obama kept Geithner (elevating him to Treasury Secretary) and kept Bernanke as head of the Fed…and recently re-upped Bernanke for a second term.  Again, while many may credit Geithner/Bernanke with helping to “avert an economic collapse“…don’t we at least have to blame them a little for, well, WHAT LED US TO THE COLLAPSE?

-  Obama has stopped our torture programs.  And recently, he put a very special man in charge of making sure our interrogators don’t torture:  John Brennan, the same man who, under Bush, helped DEVELOP the torture program.

- Obama, while closing Gitmo…has kept the military commission available for use.

- The Obama Administration backed the Bush policy that Bagram detainees in Afghanistan…have no constitutional rights.

-  The Obama Administration opted NOT to release the photos of the mistreatment of detainees, despite their claim that such items CLEARLY fall under the Freedom of Information Act.

-  Obama has asserted the same, controversial “state secrets” policy employed by Bush to protect the government against multiple lawsuits…no matter how well-founded the charges.

-  Obama continued the Bush policy of refusing to release the White House visitors list.

-  Obama has repeatedly resisted calls to investigate torture committed by U.S. personnel…despite mounting evidence.  When forced to initiate investigations…he has called for inquiries to go no higher than the interrogators themselves (that is, ignoring the individuals who ORDERED the torture)…and only those interrogators who exceeded the fundamentally flawed DOJ memos which gave only the semblance of legality, not actual legality, to the interrogators’ actions.

-  Obama has continued the use of Bush’s infamous, and unconstitutional, “signing statements.”

-  The White House is required to save all emails…millions from the Bush years are missing.  The lawsuit from two advocacy groups calling for those emails to be recovered?  The Obama White House opposed it and took steps to kill it.

-  The Obama Health Care Plan?  Not even half as “nationalized” or “socialized” as the Clintons’.  It still allows for a system dominated by private insurance, even IF the public option is included.

-  A challenge against the anti-gay marriage “Defense of Marriage Act?“  The Obama White House asked the court to dismiss it.

-  A case that would have put the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in front of the Supreme Court…the administration let the deadline to file a Supreme Court appeal pass quietly.

-  The rendition/kidnapping program…kept alive.

-”Targeted killings” (we call them assassinations) in Pakistan and Afghanistan…expanded.

-  In fact, almost all but two of the eleven key components of Bush’s anti-terror tools have been kept (torture, and “black sites” are gone), some of them have even been expanded.

-  Warrantless Wiretapping…the Obama Administration actually fought to keep it in place.

-  Here’s another look…and another…and another…

In fact, it looks like the people who most bought the “campaign rhetoric” of “CHANGE“…were Republicans.  Because despite the fact that Obama has led as nothing, if not as a centrist…who has to date NOT called for drastic nationalization of the banks or the health care industry…who has NOT drawn a firm line in the sand towards defending civil liberties and equality…and who has NOT reversed more than a handful of the Bush administration’s most odious and unconstitutional policies…the Republicans are still seeing Obama as some sort of “lefty crusader.” New flash guys…you should be thanking your lucky stars:  the majority of Americans DID want real change, are ready for “lefty policies,” and are ready to see a return to the Constitution and the Rule of Law…we are the ones who should be most disappointed and scared thus far, not you.