After the White House celebrated the historic same-sex marriage ruling from SCOTUS by lighting the White House in rainbow colors, hate group leader Mat Staver had this to say today on Christian radio:
“It’s unprecedented in American history that the president of the United States would be so in-your-face immoral and impose that immorality and sin on the rest of the country. I wept when I saw that and thought about what a horrible example that is to the rest of the world. I just felt shameful to be an American at that point in time, that this is my country and look what my country has come to. The president of the United States has put the cloak of sin over the White House, the cloak of shame over the White House.”
Seriously, folks. A rainbow – a symbol of diversity and unity – made this man weep.
Staver was so upset that more Americans now have equal rights he felt “shameful to be an American.”
“Shame on you,” he told his heckler, who was protesting deportations under the Obama administration.
Obama responded, “Listen you’re in my house … it’s not respectful.”
The interruption persisted, however, and Obama asked for the heckler to be removed from the East Room.
“As a general rule I am just fine with a few hecklers. But not when I’m up here in the house,” he said, as Vice President Joe Biden clapped him on the back.
Obama said later if guests are “eating the hors d’oeuvres and drinking the booze,” they’re typically expected to listen respectfully.
Shortly after the incident, an immigration group claimed the protestor was an undocumented immigrant named Jennicet Gutiérrez, who is transgender. According to a press release, Gutiérrez was a founding member of FAMILIA TQLM, established to advocate for LGBTQ immigrants who the group says are often excluded in the immigration debate.
While most presidents experience hecklers during speeches on the road, it’s very rare for such behavior at White House functions as most guests are
In the aftermath of the horrific Charleston church shooting, the Confederate flag – long a symbol of racism to many in the US – still flies over the South Carolina capitol.
In a rare moment of unity, both President Obama AND 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney call for the the flag to be lowered.
Current GOP presidential candidates were not so brave.
Sen. Marco Rubio derided such calls as ignoring a “states rights” issue. While Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal sought to divert to a false “religious freedom” angle.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush still isn’t sure if the attack was racially motivated although the shooter has admitted to wanting to start a “race war.”
The overall deal at the core of the debate, the Trans Pacific Partnership, would expand U.S. trade relationships with more than a dozen Pacific nations. Obama has argued that the agreement would inject a new global vitality into American markets and boost job creation.
While some Republicans, especially those from Rust Belt states, were in favor of the legislation, Democrats were going to have to unite to get the worker protections measure over the finish line. The most vehement opponents of the trade agreement, including the AFL-CIO, urged members to vote against it, saying that defeating the Trade Adjustment Assistance measure would be the fastest way to scuttle the whole deal.
President Obama hugs Vice-President Joe Biden after eulogizing Biden’s son, Beau
President Barack Obama eulogized Beau Biden Saturday as a good man of character “who loved deeply and was loved in return,” hailing the compassion and public service of his family in a moving funeral oration to grief-stricken Vice President Joe Biden’s son.
Obama said that the former Delaware Attorney General and Iraq War veteran, who died a week ago from brain cancer at 46, was a fine man who was full of integrity and refused to trade on his family name. He did his duty to his country and “did not have a mean bone in his body,” Obama said.
“Beau Biden brought to his work a mighty hearty, he brought to his family a mighty heart,” Obama said in his eulogy, during which he appeared on the verge of being overcome several times.
“Beau Biden was an original. He was a good man, a man of character, a man who loved deeply and was loved in return.” Obama said.
When he had concluded his eulogy, Obama stepped down from the pulpit of the St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and folded Biden in his arms, placing a kiss on his vice president’s cheek.
