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Loading ...Neff: Leadership, at last
One by one, the old policies and positions are being reversed.
President Barack Obama cannot bring back the lives lost due to the bad policies of George W. Bush’s administration, but his administration almost daily is eliminating the practices and changing the direction of his predecessor on a number of issues.
Editors at news desks across the country need a thesaurus to make the headlines appear fresh:Obama reverses Bush policy.
Obama undoes Bush policy.
Obama invalidates Bush policy.
Obama annuls Bush policy.
Obama repeals Bush policy.
Obama renders null and void Bush policy.
The first change order was on the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay, followed by action to overturn the global gag rule that prohibited federal funding for international family planning groups that provide abortion related-services. The president lifted the seven-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, ordered the drawdown of troops in Iraq, approved of the defense secretary’s decision to lift the ban on photos of flag-draped military caskets, overrode the Bush administration regulation limiting scientific reviews of projects that could harm endangered species, signed three executive orders to make it easier for unions to organize, withdrew oil and natural gas leases offered on public land near national parks in Utah, and more.
The latest announcement of administration plans to reverse the Bush course involves a decision to sign a United Nations declaration affirming that international human rights protections must include sexual orientation and gender identity, and condemning abuses against GLBT people.
In December, 66 of the 192 member countries in the United Nations General Assembly signed on to the declaration, an unprecedented action that came about a month too early for the United States.
By signing the statement, the 66 countries reaffirmed “the principle of non-discrimination, which requires that human rights apply equally to every human being regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Further, they stated deep concern for “violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms based on sexual orientation or gender identity” and said “violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice are directed against persons in all countries in the world because of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Human Rights Watch said perhaps the Bush administration’s decision not to support the declaration was a Christmas present to the religious right.
If so, it wasn’t a gift in the true spirit of Christmas, and it was not a gift to last.
Now, the United States of America is ready to join Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia and Austria in condemning the killing, torture and arbitrary arrest of GLBT people.
The United States is ready to join Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria in condemnation policies that deprive GLBT people of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health.
The United States is ready to pledge with Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic to “promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The United States is ready to join Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece and Guinea-Bissau in calling for an end of criminal penalties against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In signing the statement affirming rights for all, the United States is ready join Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela.
And by joining, the United States is demonstrating again, after a long absence, its leadership abilities.
If you keep comparing Obama to the worst president we’ve ever had, you’ll keep coming up on top. That’s a good method to kid yourself that this “man” is a good president.
I’m actually horrified how on board you are. Keep drinking the kool aid? You could be completely delusional.
You’ll forgive me if I’m not bowing at Obama’s feet. Personally, I’m with Besen on this one, this is a hollow gesture that took little political currency to do and the declaration is inherently toothless, unless your telling me the UN is preparing to lay sanctions of some kind against anyone who is in violation of this declaration. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s surrounded himself with some worrisome people, and I’m gonna wait for him to do something of actual impact for the GLBT community.
Our President is a breath of fresh air from the last eight years. There will always be NAYSAYERS who will shout down anything our president does…if he exhales they will say pollution.
The closing of Gitmo was long overdue and is a stain from left by the last administration.
The funding of International family planning will serve well in the fight against HIV/AIDS around the world.
Stem cell reversal reflects the will of Americans which Bush and his croonies dismissed on “moral grounds”
Keep on going Mr President…let the NAYSAYERS hate on, thats what they are good at.
Ahhh Lisa, I’m still laughing.
You see leadership in signing an absolutely meaningless piece of legislation for an absolutely useless organization. Please tell me what this is going to do to the dozens of Islamic countries that kill their gay citizens. Do you really think that it will stop anything? The Obama Drones suck this propaganda up like caviar.
As far as all the great changes:
And making it more difficult to utilize our natural resources makes us more dependent on the Islamic countries that kill gay people.
1) Obama has ordered the closing of Guantanimo – ABC News Reported on Thursday that Eric Holder feels that detainees could be tried and released in the US. Do you really want terrorists released in the US?
2) Why is my tax money going to International Family Planning when we can’t meet the needs in the US?
3)The President lifted the ban on stem cells. Considering that it has wide support for the lifting on both sides, that took no leadership.
4)The order to draw down in Iraq. The actuality is that 50K troops will remain under a different name than combat troops. The troops will be repositioned in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is likely to be as much Obama’s war as Iraq was Bush’s.
5) Lifting the ban on flag draped caskets without consulting the grieving families. Callous. Simply Callous.
6) The endangered species act is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever enacted. The horror stories are rampant in every state.
7) I’ve not seen one Union that has done anything for the employees that actually work.
Yeah Lisa, I know you’re a liberal but this article made my head spin.
“And by joining, the United States is demonstrating again, after a long absence, its leadership abilities.” – I’m sorry, by being the last developed country to sign this you are somehow leading? I’d love this to be explained to me.
As I said in a prior post, yes it’s an improvement, but instead of a net improvement it still feels like it’s less bad behavior. The bad behavior–Prop 8, the California court’s evident reluctance to invalidate 8, Obama’s opposition to gay marriage–is hardly any better than eight years of Bush. There’s only one area I can think of–adoption–where gay Americans have fared as well as or better than gays in other countries, and now that’s under assault in one state after another. So while this is a move forward, it’s not unlike one foot moving forward when you have a firehose trained on you by a redneck sheriff’s deputy. It feels like it moved forward because that’s what the water from the firehose did to you when it hit a wall behind you.
Am I the only one who still watches the news, and sees these stories, and has to remind himself that this isn’t actually a movie or TV show? After 8 years of Bush, it’s so refreshing.
“The United States is ready to join Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria in condemnation policies that deprive GLBT people of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health.”
No, we are not ready. Prop 8 should have driven that point home but apparently some people missed it.
“The United States is ready to pledge with Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic to “promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
We may have signed their declaration, which is a positive step, but unless we enforce these values in our own country, it is a hollow gesture and hypocritical.
No offense. But until we have a leader, we will be disorganized and un-directed (if that is a word). We need our national leader and LAMBDA like the NAACP legal team does great work, but it a movement does not make with out the ground swell.
I am sorry, where are you seeing any “leadership abilities” ? They are just signing this declaration, nothing more. It doesn’t mean that the United States did something, that they are now the “leaders”. This is just ethno-centric !
In this case, the real “leaders” are the french and argentinian foreign ministers.
But great move from Obama. As the United States still have (unfortunately..
) a lot of influence in the World, maybe other countries will sign !
What has shocked me the most was that South Africa (where gay marriage is legal) hasn’t signed this declaration !
I think this is so long overdue it is
frightening. Can you imagine if the USA
had been so dumb to have elected McCain
where we would be?
Thank God we have a president who no longer panders to the redneck vote for
his office.
One step closer! thank you
Absolutely, Bush took us backwards. This president has a heart at least. Thank you.
Now if he would just join the forward thinking countries that allow gay marriage…
As always, a very insightful and significant piece. Thank you!