memeorandum: Barack Obama's Bulls**t Gay Marriage Announcement (John Cook/Gawker)

9:25 AM ET, May 10, 2012

Top Items:

Rick Klein / Yahoo! Good Morning America:

President Obama Affirms His Support for Same Sex Marriage — President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president. In an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, Washington Post, The Heritage Foundation, Wall Street Journal, Roger L. Simon, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, New Yorker, CNN, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Politico, The Greenroom, slacktivist, New York Times, NO QUARTER, Campaign Stops, The Reaction, DownWithTyranny!, Public Discourse, The Mental Recession, Truthdig, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer, PoliticusUSA, SEIU.org, Outside the Beltway, Freedom to Marry Blog, msnbc.com, The Democratic Daily, Newsy, White House.gov Blog, American Prospect, TIME Ideas, Weekly Standard, Politicker, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, TVNewser, ACS Blog, GayPatriot, his vorpal sword, Washington Wire, Instapundit, Power Line, Poynter, Gay Politics, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, The BRAD BLOG, Mother Jones, Eclectablog, Campaign 2012, Crooks and Liars, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Boing Boing, Firedoglake, Stinque, Gawker, Guardian, Mother Jones, Gay Politics, Taylor Marsh, The PJ Tatler, Liberal Values, RedState, Midwest Voices, Wake up America, Alas, a Blog, Blue Mass Group, JustOneMinute, Indecision Forever, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Rod Dreher and Shakesville, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Biden blamed; politics drove timing — Joe Biden just might go down in history as the guy who forced Barack Obama to publicly announce his private support for gay marriage. — But the vice president is no hero in the West Wing, and administration officials are struggling to cast Obama's truly historic …

Discussion: Salon, The Caucus, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, US Politics and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

John Cook / Gawker:

Barack Obama's Bulls**t Gay Marriage Announcement — ABC News has only released one brief clip of Obama's conversation about gay marriage today, but it seems fairly clear from the network's coverage that his announcement amounts to much less than meets the eye. He now believes that gay couples should be able to marry.

Discussion: Human Events, GayPatriot, The Agitator, ABCNEWS, Politico, Shot in the Dark, Towleroad News #gay, Business Insider, The Lonely Conservative and CNN

Elliott Abrams / Weekly Standard:

‘On My Behalf’ — The debate over same sex “marriage” has engaged the heartfelt feelings and convictions of millions of Americans. Then there is Barack Obama. — In his ABC interview, the president pretended that his much touted “evolution” had now led him, ineluctably, to speak out now, today; he simply could longer stay silent.

Discussion: Right Wing News, The Gateway Pundit, American Spectator, The Daily Caller and Betsy's Page

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Top social conservative worried the right may lose on gay marriage — Conservative religious leaders predicted President Obama's support of gay marriage will hurt him this election — but one fretted that the tide has turned against them long-term on the issue, and that Obama's statement could further erode their position long-term.

Discussion: Politico, 2012 Decoded, CANNONFIRE, Reuters, BuzzFeed, CNN, ABCNEWS, National Review and Liberal Values

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

House strikes back on gay marriage — Just hours after President Barack Obama publicly backed gay marriage, the House struck back and passed a measure aimed at reinforcing the Defense of Marriage Act. — With a 245-171 vote, the House voted to stop the Justice Department from using taxpayer funds …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

News Analysis: Obama's Watershed Move on Gay Marriage — President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage on Wednesday was by any measure a watershed. A sitting United States president took sides in what many people consider the last civil rights movement, providing the most powerful evidence …

Discussion: Politico, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, theGrio, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay, The BLT and msnbc.com

KDVR.com is the website for KDVR Television …:

Romney in Colorado: “I do not favor civil unions” — DENVER — Mitt Romney, who's now a sure bet to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee this fall, commented about gay marriage and civil unions during an interview with FOX31 Denver's Jeremy Hubbard Wednesday.

Discussion: CNN, Yahoo! News, Poliglot, ABCNEWS, CBS News, Ballot Box, Business Insider, The Hill, Human Rights Campaign, New York Magazine, The Caucus, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, Harry's Place and Advocate

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Gay Marriage Reversal Means Cash For Obama

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politico, New York Magazine, Obsidian Wings, Right Wing News, Daily Kos, THEROOT.COM, New York Times, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Lonely Conservative, Towleroad News #gay and Campaign 2012

Log Cabin Republicans:
Obama Announcement Is Cold Comfort to LGBT Americans

Discussion: Firedoglake, Addicting Info, Hot Air, SEIU.org, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Politico, Guardian and Indecision Forever

CNN:
Responses to Obama's same-sex marriage announcement

Discussion: Good As You, This Just In, Mediaite, Joe. My. God. and Daily Kos

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Obama Lets Go Of Fear

Discussion: The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line and Politico

Steve Clemons / The Atlantic Online:
Bring It On: Obama Rallies the Base With Gay Marriage Endorsement

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Politico

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Obama Evolves

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Master Feed, American Prospect and ThinkProgress

GOProud, Inc.:
GOProud Statement on President Obama's Remarks Regarding Marriage Equality

Discussion: Washington Post, American Power and The Huffington Post

E.J. Graff / American Prospect:
I Am Gobsmacked

Discussion: The New Republic, pandagon.net and Washington Monthly

Matthew Dowd / The Huffington Post:
The Facts: Gay Marriage Didn't Tilt 2004 Election

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Weekly Standard

Rush Limbaugh:
Obama Declares War on Traditional America

Discussion: Good As You and Poynter

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
The Influence Industry: Same-sex marriage issue shows importance of gay fundraisers

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:
News Analysis: Obama's Marriage Equality Support Is Not the Half-Loaf Some Are Claiming

Discussion: Mother Jones

NOM Blog:
NOM Promises Pro-Marriage Americans Will Defeat Obama This November For Abandoning Marriage

Discussion: rightwingwatch.org, The Catholic League, Good As You and Towleroad News #gay

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
President Obama's calculated gamble on gay marriage

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Maddow Blog, ABCNEWS, American Power, Los Angeles Times, Ezra Klein, Gawker, Patterico's Pontifications, JOSHUAPUNDIT and msnbc.com

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama Backs Gay Marriage

Discussion: Slate, MN Progressive Project, ABCNEWS, CNN and New York Times

CNN:

Obama hits Romney with ‘Etch A Sketch’ — (CNN) - President Barack Obama labeled presumptive challenger Mitt Romney's comments that took credit for the auto industry's recovery as an “Etch A Sketch moment.” — “I think this is one of his Etch A Sketch moments.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

New York Times:
Obama's New Courting of Hollywood Pays Off

Discussion: The Caucus

CNN:
TRENDING: Dinner with Clooney, Obama nets $15 million

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Shep Smith: ‘Wrong side of history’ — Fox News anchor Shep Smith made his own news today when he said President Obama was “now in the 21st century” after announcing his support for same-sex marriage. Minutes later, in a conversation with colleague Bret Baier, he added:

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Raw Story

Media Matters / Media Matters for America:

Fox Nation: “OBAMA FLIP FLOPS, DECLARES WAR ON MARRIAGE” — In response to President Obama's declaration of support for marriage equality this afternoon, Fox Nation ran the following headline: — Fox Nation's post linked to a Yahoo News article on Obama's announcement, which ran the headline …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, PoliticusUSA, Business Insider, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Advocate, US Politics and Towleroad News #gay

ABCNEWS:

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum put out a statement blasting President Obama's decision to support same-sex marriage Wednesday. — Although his thoughts on the topic were not unusual, the group it came from was not the old Rick Santorum for President organization.

Discussion: GOP 12

Katherine Ellison / The Atlantic Online:

An Inconvenient Lawsuit: Teenagers Take Global Warming to the Courts — Industry giants say their case is misguided. But that isn't stopping a group of high school students from using the legal system to make environmental demands. — Alec Loorz turns 18 at the end of this month.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Guardian

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months—As Number of Women Not in Labor Force Hits Historic High — (CNSNews.com) - 324,000 women dropped out of the nation's civilian labor force in March and April as the number of women not in the labor force hit an all-time historical high …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Althouse and UrbanGrounds

Scott Gottlieb / RealClearMarkets:

The Obama Health Plan Will Squeeze the Middle Class — President Obama promised that the brunt of any financial reckoning will fall mostly only on those making more than $250,000 annually. Under his healthcare plan, the economic agony starts at income levels that fall much lower than that.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and The Enterprise Blog