Subscribe to Breaking NewsDaigle: Obama and the Theory of Berthas
President Obama is a Bertha.
Let me explain. One of my friends in college was a fabulous gay man named Eric, and Eric hailed from a very small town in south Louisiana called Welsh. There isn’t much to do in Welsh on weekends other than drink beer, go to the high school football game and cruise up and down the city’s main street in your pickup, so Eric got the hell out of there as soon as he was handed his high school diploma.
Eric and I ended up in the theatre program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette together, and while he and I were never close friends, we shared a couple of acting classes and did a few scenes together. And during one rehearsal, Eric shared with me his theory of Berthas.
“Berthas,” as Eric told it, were the Welsh ladies of class (insofar as you can be a lady of class in Welsh, Louisiana), and they were striking not only for their pretension but for another feature: the ability to charm the pants off you in one breath and slice your heart out with a butter knife the second your back was turned.
“It’s why I want to get the hell out of Louisiana,” Eric said. “You never know where the Berthas are, and, hell, around here they’re probably all Berthas.”
I never placed much stock in Eric’s Theory of Berthas (Eric was also prone to running into class in the morning, grabbing his curly blond hair and shrieking, “God must be a homophobe, because you’d have to hate fags to give one hair like this!”), but while reading the statement President Obama released today in honor of LGBT Pride, I got the sinking feeling that Eric was not only right about Berthas, but that we’d also elected one President.
The statement, while nicely phrased and brimming with the kind of hope-inspiring language you’d expect from our eloquent Chief (didn’t you love the mention of our “great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society?” Oh, yeah? What are they, while we’re at it? Can you list them? I like vague platitudes as much as the next guy, but I’ve also got this thing for specifics that hounds me.), fails to give us anything more concrete than the vague and formless campaign promises we’ve been hearing for the past year.
Obama “supports measures.” Obama has “joined efforts.” Obama believes we need to “commit ourselves” to things and “work together.”
What a Bertha.
According to the Theory of Berthas, a Bertha is skilled at giving people a sense of camaraderie, of support, of solidarity. Berthas excel at sounding committed to the things that matter to you but never giving any concrete ways in which their help will manifest. Berthas smile and receive respect from those around them for doing nothing but talking about what a good person they are – not actually doing anything.
And then, when your back is turned, they actively work against you and talk about how badly you dress.
While our Executive Bertha might not be sighing our wardrobes, he’s certainly fulfilling the Bertha profile. Expertly. And it’s our responsibility as a community to expect and demand more.
Obama’s statement called for the “promise of equality” to be fulfilled for LGBT people, but nothing he’s done since he’s entered office has moved us closer to that goal. DADT is still here. DOMA is still here. He was silent on marriage equality victories. He was silent on Prop. 8. He continues to hedge his bets with the marriage issue and supports civil unions. He touts the appointment of gay candidates to Senate-appointed positions as his big gay rights victory.
It’s nice. But it’s not enough. It’s not even in the ballpark.
So, what do you do with a Bertha? This is Eric’s solution.
“Here’s what I do,” Eric said. “Berthas thrive on polite, they live for it, they eat it for breakfast, they can’t do anything without it. So when I know someone’s a Bertha, I stop being polite, and I call it what it is.”
Eric may not have known what to do about his hair, but he was on the right track here. We’ve been patient. We’ve been polite. And all we’ve gotten is statements.
We deserve more. It’s time to call it what it is.
Cody Daigle is an entertainment writer for the Times of Acadiana and blogs about gay issues for theadvertiser.com in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Tiger,
Excellent point. The stuff is out there. There is a great documentary on Lincoln by critic Henry L. Gates. That strikes me as a good place to start because Gates deals with the myths and realities of Lincoln.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/lookingforlincoln/
Sincerely,
James
James Withers, You can’t see beyond text. I’m not trying to be a accurate historian, but there is no denying, slaves were set free with the cost of much Yankee blood. Whether before, after, or in between, it is a fact of great importance the war ended slavery Mr Withers!
Now try to get with the rest of the comment I made, or take a stand and make one of your own.
sam Said: “Abraham Lincoln, believed equality for black slaves was so important, that civil war was declared.”
To add to the post made by Withers *(and he is correct in his statements), Lincoln went on record stating that if he could save the Union without freeing the slaves, he would do so. Even when he made the Emancipation Proclamation, he only “freed” the slaves in states that were under Confederate control (It should also be noted that since Lincoln was not President of the Confederacy, his Proclamation had no legal standing outside of the Union). In addition, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves held in bondage within border states where it continued to be legal until the end of the war when slavery was outlawed by a Constitutional amendment.
Still, Sam, I will not condemn you or be too harsh as it is also a fact that the notion that the Civil War was simply about freeing the slaves is what is taught in public schools in many areas. The end of slavery was probably the only good thing to result from that conflict, but that was not the primary reason for fighting that war. Government propaganda would have you believe otherwise, so it is fed to our children as “education” (read indoctrination). Don’t take my word, or Withers for it. Don’t take what you were taught in school as gospel. One of the priveleges of being an adult is the ability to think for yourself. The history is out there if you are willing to put in the effort to study it.
I think you’re right!
“I got the sinking feeling that…. we’d also elected [a 'Bertha']President.
With all sincere & due respect…-
No shit.
Heres the punchline: The tribe would re-elect him regardless of what he does. The Orwellian re-writing of peoples memories on DOMA-DADT Clinton is proof of that.
The Dems LIKE dragging this shit out because they know they can squeeze you for elections for decades by just throwing a scrap here and there.
We dont have another party to go to on election. What people dont seem to get is that you can wield some constituent weight by simply not voting and getting duped. By witholding support and tuning out the orthodox rabble-rousers, you can actually enforce some accountability at the polls by simply showing both parties you cant be bought for scraps.
Its just Bubba Clinton all over again. And theres no denying the fact that despite all the casuist campaign demagoguery, the fact is that we made more advances during eight years under a pragmatically non-plussed republican just to score a huge loss the second we got out the vote for the Trojan horse incumbent now.
I might rant on a few “I told you so’s” if I wasnt absolutely certain that this will happen again and again, no one will learn jack from the last 20 years (or this) and that me pointing it out is a huge waste of breath.
Sam,
“Abraham Lincoln, believed equality for black slaves was so important, that civil war was declared.”
Read a history book (”Tried by War”) or watch the Ken Burns’ documentary “The Civil War.” The war was not fought over the freedom of slaves and Lincoln was taken to task by the leading the abolitionists of the day for being cool to black rights. The war did eventually turn to a war of liberation, but when it started slavery was not even on the agenda.
Sincerely,
James
I understand some of the comments who say we need to be patient. But I also think it misses an important point. I don’t want to speak for Cody, but for me, it’s not as much about actual movement toward equality as it is about clear indications from the President of his intentions to make it better.
I am not naive enough to think he could end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the first 100 days, but I do expect him to speak out against those being discharged under his administration. He promised to end DADT, and now he’s silent…which speaks volumes.
Also, I don’t expect him to provide marriage equality for all Americans, but can’t he at least speak out when it’s obviously an issue?
I voted for him and am still convince he is the better choice (How could I ever vote for a Republican) But he’s not shown me much at this point…in action nor in support.
A lot of lgbt thought that his first action would be to for us. Surprise Surprise it wasn’t his first or second or third. Now I’m not saying we should of voted for McCain, but having to give this person our unified support and not get anything in return is disgusting. Also having to wait for his second term to do something because he doesn’t want to lose his next election just proves that he has no backbone.
Abraham Lincoln, believed equality for black slaves was so important, that civil war was declared.
There is nothing more important than equal freedom of civil rights. Not the economy, nor fighting wars in foreign lands for other peoples freedom and democracy, charity begins at home.
Our oppression and persecution is not just shameful, to me it’s treasonous. It’s an historical testament to our country and it’s leaders hypocrisy and failure, to uphold our constitution, and enforce constitutional law of equal protection to all it’s citizens.
We must stage a rally in Washington, the likes of which have never been seen before, with friends, family, organizations, who are pro equality for all people.
If deemed necessary, the withholding of taxes, putting them into escrow accounts, civil disobedience, nothing must be ruled out, violence being the only exception.
IT’S TIME TO BECOME STRONGER AND LOUDER.
Thanks so Cody…. we needed a comman ‘HANDLE’ on Obama’s slitheriness.. Now everyone who had read this piece knows exactly what we mean, as we refer to Obama as a Bertha.
….but even Cheney is getting hounded by his daughter enough to crawl out from under his desk in his bunker and say that gays should be able to ‘unify’ somehow in their states… not federally, of course.
But then that’s what Obama’s parents did wasn’t it? ( e.g. 1961 6 years before Virginia vs Loving.)
So why should he look for anything more for us?
To abqkevin…
How long must we “wait”? I’ve been waiting for 30 years for a politician to follow through on his promises.
Why must we “be patient”? Haven’t we waited long enough for our place at the table?
Nobody is born equal, its just romantic, bleary-eyed notion. The only thing that is equal at birth is our nakedness. If we were truly born equal, there would have been no need for a civil rights march during the 60s,slavery would never have happened and women would have had the right to vote from the get go. As for our rights, that speaks volumes, indeed we have NEVER been equal and even with marriage equality in several states, we still do not have full equality at the federal level. If Obama doesn’t want marriage equality, at least give us federal recognition of our marriages as a gesture of good will. The fact of the matter is, it won’t happen under his watch and we’ll have to battle on, state by state while other countries will surpass us. I predict Denmark, possibly Finland will be next.
If we get nothing, repeal of DADT, DOMA by 2012 at least, the dems can kiss my vote goodbye. Back to the Greens.
I think it’s good to challenge leadership to move things forward, but I think we need to be more patient. We have gone from having one state allowing same-sex marriages to five with the opportunity of two more later this year if all goes well. When we elected Obama, a tidal change came roaring in with him. Yes, he’s been more hands off than I would like, but he mentions LGBT people in his speeches frequently and always in a positive light. Words do mean something when they are coming from the president. His words have certainly helped a number of citizens and state legislatures move from being apathetic on LGBT to helping our cause more openly.
We don’t have Superman for a president. We have a president trying to jump start our economy, finish two wars, prevent one with North Korea, establish dialog in the Middle East and more – all within the first couple months of his administration. We need to be vocal and hold him to his promises, but we need to be patient as well or we’ll shoot ourselves throughly in the foot.
In case you have forgotten, President Lyndon Johnson had the Vietnamese War and yet he was able to get passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Until then, segregation was the norm in the country. It seems to me that if Obama has the time to go to NY, he has time to sign an executive order putting a halt to the investigations of gay military people and he has time to push Congress to pass the numerous gay rights bills pending in Congress. That is, unless he is incapable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.
This elaborates things even more fully:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/29/politics/main5049944.shtml?tag=topStories;secondStory