Oh good, Obama IS on the side of LGBT's, he says Omar is his favorite character

[Bluebear]

:eyes: And notice the Senator explains, "he's the toughest, baddest guy on this show, but he's gay, you know."

======

...it should come as no surprise that our first post out of the gate is about both gays and politics.

Sen. Barack Obama was recently asked about his favorite TV show, The Wire. Here’s the interesting exchange, thanks to Slog.

Obama: I gotta say Omar’s a great character. That’s not an endorsement.Coolican: (Laughing.) Uh oh, you’re making national news here.

Obama: Exactly. That is not an endorsement. He is not my favorite person. But he’s a fascinating character.

Coolican: And there’s a real life story behind it, too.

Obama: He’s this gay gangster who only robs drug dealers, and then gives back. You know, he’s sort of a Robin Hood. And he’s the toughest, baddest guy on this show, but he’s gay, you know. And it’s really interesting. It’s a fascinating character.

http://gaycharleston.ccpblogs.com/2008/01/14/176/

[jackpan1260]

1. Am I supposed to be upset by this?

:shrug:
So what?

[Bluebear]

3. "There's this candidate for President on the show, but he's black you know."

How would that go over?

[ruggerson]

55. If you want to vote for a candidate who evidently

thinks gay men are all lisping faggots, knock yourself out.

I won't.

[LordJFT]

57. show me any evidence that obama thinks all gay men are lisping faggots

[ruggerson]

58. My favorite character

on television is clean, articulate and honest. But he's black. A very interesting character.

[readmoreoften]

2. Huh? Not an endorsement of gays or gangsters? I'm confused.

Not that said confusion is anything new when it comes to the Obama campaign.

[Bluebear]

4. Quiet, you, just accept the BAM. nt

[karlrschneider]

5. I am completely lost here...is this the tentmaker guy?

??????

[Bluebear]

7. 'Sen. Barack Obama was recently asked about his favorite TV show, The Wire'

[karlrschneider]

43. Okay...I never heard of the show. Seriously, not kidding...

we don't have HBO (googled it) in our satellite package...

[IndianaJones]

6. I know this guy that is gay, but he loves sports. Crazy. nt.

[Bluebear]

8. I am nuts over the Red Sox & Patriots, but I'm gay, you know.

What a freak I am.

[dsc]

13. I so don't get the notion we aren't supposed to like sports

I mean, where else can you see people who look like David Justice, Thomas Brady, etc in tight fitting clothes working up a sweat and, when lucky, being interviewed in locker rooms while half clothed. Gee, what gay man wouldn't find that at least a little exciting?

[IndianaJones]

16. Tom Brady? c'mon. nt.

[dsc]

22. Dude, he is beyond hot.

Of course, no Boomer from his young days but still hot, hot, hot.

[IndianaJones]

28. Boomer Esiason? Boo. nt

[dsc]

29. all I can say is Hanes underwear man

As a kid in high school I literally drooled over those ads. Plus I was already a Cincy fan.

[nonconformist]

61. Tom Brady is smokin' hot.

YUM

[Kucinich4America]

65. But he's a Republican, and a friend of the Chimp, for God's sake

Shouldn't that be a major turn-off? Male, female, gay, straight, whatever :shrug:

[Bluebear]

68. 'Smartly, Brady won't identify what political party he has aligned with'

Smartly, Brady won't identify what political party he has aligned with. So that got the media to send their top investigative reporters after him.

Brady's political persuasion is apparently so worrisome that one media outlet even went to all the trouble of checking his voting and registration records at the three residences Brady has lived in over the past decade.

The Smoking Gun Web site, owned by CourtTV, revealed the results of its own investigation.

In 2000, when Brady first registered to vote, he did so as "undecided" – joining no political party.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/2/2/02408.shtml

[IndianaJones]

72. he cranks out the kids though. nt.

[CorpGovActivist]

15. Seek Help

; )

[Bluebear]

17. There's not enough therapy or Bible in the world to make me an "ex-Sox"

[CorpGovActivist]

23. Give Me One Week at a Snakehandler Revival, I Can Cure You...

... be He-yealed!

- Dave

[bobbolink]

49. And, to think, people take expensive happy pills to "cure" depression....

When they could read a few posts from you a day...

~~gigglesnort~~

:hi:

[CorpGovActivist]

53. *giggle*

*snort*

:pals:

- Dave

[IndianaJones]

34. 26 World Championships? nt.

[CorpGovActivist]

41. 1918 and 1994 Have Something in Common...

... both started a long dry spell.

- Dave

[bobbolink]

47. You are soooo BAAD!

I really like that in a person.

:rofl:

:pals:

[CorpGovActivist]

52. Nah, Just Drawn That Way!

:pals:

- Dave

[davidinalameda]

62. outsports.com

go visit the site

[CorpGovActivist]

70. Awesome! Cool site! Thanks for Pointing That out! n/t

[davidinalameda]

74. my pleasure

it's a really good site

[CorpGovActivist]

9. I Know This Guy Who Is Straight, and He Signed DOMA into Law n/t (K/R)

[IndianaJones]

12. I bet he likes sports. nt

[CorpGovActivist]

18. Yeah, He Plays the Field n/t

[IndianaJones]

21. like Joe Momma? nt.

[CorpGovActivist]

24. Are Those Handrolled Cubans? Not Familiar with That Brand n/t

[IndianaJones]

30. ask around your neighborhood....pretty popular. nt.

[Kucinich4America]

67. And yet, some here actually think his wife would get rid of it.

Oh wait a minute... this is a sports thread. Or a gay TV characters thread. Or something like that.... :crazy:

[Der Blaue Engel]

14. I know this black guy who's really articulate

The world is topsy-turvy! :silly:

[Bluebear]

19. Jinx . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2691664&mesg_id=2691685

[IndianaJones]

20. that smacks of racism...we're stereotyping gays in this thread. nt.

[Der Blaue Engel]

25. Sorry, I got lost on my way to a Hillary thread

:rofl:

[IndianaJones]

32. or the aryan chat room. nt.

[Der Blaue Engel]

33. I can never tell when you're being serious

Maybe never. :shrug:

[IndianaJones]

36. sometimes. nt.

[JuniperLea]

27. LOL!!! ... eom

[Kucinich4America]

69. I know this guy who climbed Mt. Everest. BUT he's gay!

Er, I mean he's blind!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwjGz2TCx6s

[terrya]

10. Gosh, that's nice.

Well, that does make me feel lots better.

Thanks for posting this, Bluebear. Seriously. All is forgiveness now. We GLBT people have a true champion now. Dennis who?

I bet Obama was a fan of "Queer Eye", also.

[dorkulon]

11. I'm just impressed he likes The Wire.

I fucking love that show.

[JuniperLea]

26. Tough, bad, and gay?

Shocking! *juniperx clutches pearls*

I've never heard of such a thing!




Oh, wait... this is the real world...

Someone send that Obama dork to a gay rodeo, ok? You wanna see REAL men be rough and tough? Shoot. I've known so many MANLY gay men! Broke my heart some:)

[dsc]

31. This is like poor Susan on Desperate Housewives

who ends up humiliating herselves with her gay neighbors. Good golly he should know better.

[tishaLA]

35. I'm happy he didn't say

he's uncomfortable around gay people

[dsc]

39. that has been contradicted by Edwards on several occassions

and there is no witness saying either way.

[tishaLA]

44. I'll take his campaign's word for it

when the story first broke:

Harrison Hickman, Edwards’ pollster, whom the Washington Post says was in the room at the time he made the remarks, claims that Shrum, “is sensationalizing and taking out of context what was an honest discussion about <Edwards’> lack of exposure to these issues and openly gay people. I don’t remember anything that expressed any kind of venom or judgment about gay people.”

Eric Schultz, an Edwards spokesperson, says Shrum is more interested in selling books than in the truth.

But Edwards’ people don’t deny the accuracy of the quote; it was conveniently “taken out of context,” they say.

[NMMNG]

37. Jesus

Imagine this. In response to the same question, Hillary says:

"He’s this black gangster who only robs drug dealers, and then gives back. You know, he’s sort of a Robin Hood. And he’s the toughest, baddest guy on this show, but he’s black, you know. And it’s really interesting. It’s a fascinating character."


Can you imagine the :nuke: that would be going on right about now?

[FredScuttle]

46. I'm starting to really think that Obama doesn't know a single gay black person

Other than his concert buddy, Pastor Donnie, of course

[NMMNG]

50. I'm inclined to agree. n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

38. "OMAR COMIN'!"

My favorite show.

EDIT: I don't think it was a slur on Obama's part. He's showing that the Omar character isn't portrayed in the sterotypical way many gay characters are on television and film.

[jumptheshadow]

40. Clearly Obama doesn't have many close gay friends

And it doesn't sound like he's been around gays a lot. Maybe he's wet behind the ears. I am a little tired of the Greek chorus of racism, sexism and gayism complaints. I just want to know if his health plan is as naive as Krugman made it out to be in the Times.

I hope Omar survives, by the way, but it looks like he's a goner.

[bidenista]

42. seconded

Can we stop taking offense every 5 seconds? Or do we want the primaries to turn into a parody of the identity politics that we're accused of way too often?

[sjdnb]

60. Hey, if Colbert can get a 'black friend', I'm sure Obama can

come up with a gay one. :sarcasm:

[FredScuttle]

45. "Omigod! Omar's my favorite character! He's tough and bad....and gay! Crazy, right?"

"I wonder if sings gospel....I need an opener next week in South Carolina"




I bet Obama thinks Leopold and Loeb were a scream too.

[killbotfactory]

48. The Wire is a great show.

And it's nice to have characters on TV that break the stereotype.

Oh wait, I mean, OMG! OFFENSE TAKEN!

[xchrom]

51. The Wire is the most brilliant thing on -- movie or telley -- obama, not so much.

[ruggerson]

54. So basically Obama thinks you can't be tough and gay?

We're all effeminate lisping ballet dancers?

Barack, you need to get out and about a bit more.

[Nailzberg]

56. Good choice: Omar is a very complex and unconventional character in television.

It's nice to see a gay character that isn't an interior designer or choreographer.

And I think it's pretty cool that Obama watches The Wire.

[mondo joe]

59. At least he didn't say Omar is articulate. NT

[casus belli]

63. With all due respect...

I think disdain would be better placed on shows which further the stereotype of gay men as overly-effeminate, limp-wristed drama queens. I think surprise at a gay gangster character can only be blamed on the fact that most shows that push the effeminate stereotype are given a free pass as long as it makes people laugh - Will and Grace comes to mind. I think Obama pointing out a character that is interesting because it doesn't conform to a stereotype isn't a slam about what he thinks gays should act like as much as it is a condemnation of their typical role in entertainment.

I don't think there would have been any uproar if he were talking about a black character who plays a gangster who is also a Harvard graduate, even though it's obvious that such a character would be atypical. And its obvious the character he was referring to is designed to be a departure from stereotypical roles. Why else would there be any need to divulge his sexual orientation. He's gay for a reason, and Obama wasn't responsible for the back story.

[Bluebear]

64. After his anti-gay South Carolina tour, you would think he would be a little more discrete

when addressing anything having to do with gays.

[casus belli]

66. I'll give you that

he hasn't exactly been quick to discredit any accusations of homophobia, which is a huge mistake in my opinion. I'm hoping he'll correct that, whether he wins the nomination or not.

[FastHorizon]

71. Love The Wire.. nt.

[Political Heretic]

73. Just and aside: I. LOVE. OMAR. :D

And the Wire.