I'm going to whore out some John Stuart Mill again: [View All]

[jpgray]

The worst (personal attack) which can be committed by a polemic, is to stigmatize those who hold the contrary opinion as bad and immoral men. To calumny of this sort, those who hold any unpopular opinion are peculiarly exposed, because they are in general few and uninfluential, and nobody but themselves feels much interested in seeing justice done them;

...

Unmeasured vituperation employed on the side of the prevailing opinion really does deter people from professing contrary opinions, and from listening to those who profess them. For the interest, therefore, of truth and justice, it is far more important to restrain this employment of vituperative language than the other;

We should respect the outrage of GLBT folks concerning the cowardice of our leaders on gay marriage. We should sympathize with their struggle to earn their fundamental rights. Above all we should recognize the justice of their cause and promote it to the fullest extent of our abilities.

They have faced a tidal wave of bigotry from the "prevailing opinion" of this nation for as long as it has existed. They have -earned- the right to be pissed off. Criticizing or belittling that outrage seems to me just about the worst possible use of a progressive's time.

Support and understanding for this outrage has nothing to do with renouncing or trashing Obama/Biden. On the contrary it has everything to do with promoting their victory. If that victory should occur, however, we need to stand together to demand courage from our president to do what is right. The act of putting off justice for the sake of political expediency should outrage any true progressive.