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Hillary Clinton to Announce Equal Benefits to Gay Diplomats
According to the Washington Post, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to release a memo that will extend equal benefits to gay diplomats and their partners:
PD toolbar!This is unquestionably a good thing, and the country will be better off after these changes than before them.
Still, when I read news accounts that talk about "granting" rights to gay people, it makes me wince a little. It takes a special kind of arrogance to dole out to others those things which you, yourself, take for granted. The way I see it, "We, the People," aren't granting anything, but rather, recognizing rights that we were, heretofore, violating.
According to WaPo, Hillary had this to say in the memo:
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The Bush administration had eased some rules, opening up some training to same-sex partners, but had resisted efforts to treat homosexual partners the same as married couples. Thus a wide array of benefits were denied to same-sex partners, such as paid travel to and from overseas posts, employment opportunities at the embassy, visas and diplomatic passports, mail privileges and evacuation in case of a security emergency or medical necessity.Bravo, Secretary Clinton.
Many of these benefits will now be granted under the policy shift that will be announced by Clinton in the coming days, according to an official with the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies organization who has seen a draft copy of a memo she plans to issue. The official provided a copy of the memo to The Washington Post.
PD toolbar!This is unquestionably a good thing, and the country will be better off after these changes than before them.
Still, when I read news accounts that talk about "granting" rights to gay people, it makes me wince a little. It takes a special kind of arrogance to dole out to others those things which you, yourself, take for granted. The way I see it, "We, the People," aren't granting anything, but rather, recognizing rights that we were, heretofore, violating.
According to WaPo, Hillary had this to say in the memo:
In the memo, Clinton said: "At bottom, the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex domestic partners because it is the right thing to do."Here's hoping that this philosophy soon translates to other parts of our government.
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Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is a freelance writer, blogger, and online journalist based out of New Jersey and Washington, DC...moreComments (11)
kloel
8:46PM May 25th 2009
The world is in turmoil and all this moron can come up with is benefits for gays. Why is that even her job ? Maybe it's time to bring in a real diplomat. How about janet reno ? She was real effective with elian.
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jan
9:48PM May 25th 2009
Why do you say it's ALL she can come up with? Do you mean you have no clue how complex and overloaded her job is? Or perhaps you think this means she can't do her job?
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(-5) brntrewesl
8:49PM May 25th 2009
Tommy:
If it was not for gay issues, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Rush Limbaugh and/or Sarah Palin, you would have writer’s block. What is it about irrelevant topics that you fail to understand? Our nation is in crisis.
North Korea detonated another provocative nuclear device.
Nancy Pelosi denies knowledge of CIA “waterboarding” or “torture” briefings.
Obama , Pelosi and Reid saddled our children and our grandchildren with unimaginable debt.
Banks are insolvent.
The Auto industry collapsed.
We have a possible Swine Flu pandemic.
The Iraq war is flaring up again.
Afghanistan is losing ground.
Pakistan is nuclear and unstable.
After eight weeks of market gains, the DJIA is 1300 points lower than it was on election day.
Foreign nations have given the Obama Administration lip service but not much else.
The Administration recently proposed the most severe tax on fossil fuels in America's history. Unemployment is headed for 10%.
The taxpayers effectively own GM and AIG. Stumblin' Joe Biden thought it was prudent to tell the world where the VP secret bunker is located.
And you continue to obsess on Meghan McCain, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Gays. This thread has been up for hours, and I posted the first comment. Have you noticed how few people even bother to respond to you any more?
If it was not for gay issues, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Rush Limbaugh and/or Sarah Palin, you would have writer’s block. What is it about irrelevant topics that you fail to understand? Our nation is in crisis.
North Korea detonated another provocative nuclear device.
Nancy Pelosi denies knowledge of CIA “waterboarding” or “torture” briefings.
Obama , Pelosi and Reid saddled our children and our grandchildren with unimaginable debt.
Banks are insolvent.
The Auto industry collapsed.
We have a possible Swine Flu pandemic.
The Iraq war is flaring up again.
Afghanistan is losing ground.
Pakistan is nuclear and unstable.
After eight weeks of market gains, the DJIA is 1300 points lower than it was on election day.
Foreign nations have given the Obama Administration lip service but not much else.
The Administration recently proposed the most severe tax on fossil fuels in America's history. Unemployment is headed for 10%.
The taxpayers effectively own GM and AIG. Stumblin' Joe Biden thought it was prudent to tell the world where the VP secret bunker is located.
And you continue to obsess on Meghan McCain, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Gays. This thread has been up for hours, and I posted the first comment. Have you noticed how few people even bother to respond to you any more?
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-1)
(-1) bob
7:09AM May 26th 2009
brnt,
Really smart folks like Tommy and giles (below) know that all the things on your list there have already been taken care of because Obama told them so. Tommy, in particular knows because he gets to go to press conferences and ask the guy with the big forehead who works for Obama directly.
For each item on your list, Obama has done one or more of the following:
Made a speech about it.
Answered a question about it.
Signed a piece of legislation about it.
Called someone in and gave them a stern talking to about it.
So they're all handled. All done. We can move on to the really, REALLY important stuff.
And that would be all the gay rights related stuff. And the Meghan McCain stuff. And ll the funny Republican stuff. And then when we're done with that there's bound to be some more gay related stuff. And Meghan will have tweeted again.
So just relax, ignore the economic indicators and the folks still losing jobs and stuff because Obama's on the case, he's got it handled and what you should really be doing is bugging your local and national legislators and make sure they know a third grader in Denver who definitely WASN'T put up to the task by an adult is having a rally in support of gay marriage.
That's what you could be doing instead of worrying about all the stuff Obama's got handled.
Have a great one!!!!! :-)))))
Really smart folks like Tommy and giles (below) know that all the things on your list there have already been taken care of because Obama told them so. Tommy, in particular knows because he gets to go to press conferences and ask the guy with the big forehead who works for Obama directly.
For each item on your list, Obama has done one or more of the following:
Made a speech about it.
Answered a question about it.
Signed a piece of legislation about it.
Called someone in and gave them a stern talking to about it.
So they're all handled. All done. We can move on to the really, REALLY important stuff.
And that would be all the gay rights related stuff. And the Meghan McCain stuff. And ll the funny Republican stuff. And then when we're done with that there's bound to be some more gay related stuff. And Meghan will have tweeted again.
So just relax, ignore the economic indicators and the folks still losing jobs and stuff because Obama's on the case, he's got it handled and what you should really be doing is bugging your local and national legislators and make sure they know a third grader in Denver who definitely WASN'T put up to the task by an adult is having a rally in support of gay marriage.
That's what you could be doing instead of worrying about all the stuff Obama's got handled.
Have a great one!!!!! :-)))))
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(1) giles chauvin
2:39AM May 26th 2009
burntweasel,
just don't stand there.......Panic!
just don't stand there.......Panic!
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(-1) loyaltv
5:51AM May 26th 2009
BARNEY FRANKS HUSBAND SHOULD MAKE OUT LIKE A BANDIT,good job HELLORGY.
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(3)
(3) nos2001
7:28AM May 26th 2009
dont forget fannie and freddie.....we lost half our 401 ks while barneys boyfriend nade nillions..barney should be in jail......
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(4)
(4) ftworthcowboy33
9:17AM May 26th 2009
This is just a policy change. The media picks it up because it has the word "gay" in it to catch readers attention. Clinton has traveled the world and met more leaders in the first few months....than worrying and focusing her main attention on gay issues. People get a life and stop hating others. We all came from the same place and we all end up in the same place.....what matters is how you treat others during your lifetime.
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(0) giles chauvin
10:13AM May 26th 2009
gee bob,
we should take YOUR word for it?
ahahahahhahahahah
we should take YOUR word for it?
ahahahahhahahahah
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(0) bob
3:28PM May 26th 2009
ahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahah
yes you should.
ahahahahahahahahah
yes you should.
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(0) brntrewesl
4:41PM May 26th 2009
giles chauvin
“burntweasel,
just don't stand there.......Panic!”
----------------------------------------
Not quite yet! The California Supreme Court finally decided to abide by the (legal) will of the people. The 6-1 decision gives hope to those who oppose homosexual marriage. Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step.
Those who were hoping to wave rainbow boas today face a dilemma. Move to Massachusetts or fight on? Unless homosexual marriage supporters can torture some meaningful Constitutional deficiency from Prop 8 as written, it is time to find another issue.
“burntweasel,
just don't stand there.......Panic!”
----------------------------------------
Not quite yet! The California Supreme Court finally decided to abide by the (legal) will of the people. The 6-1 decision gives hope to those who oppose homosexual marriage. Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step.
Those who were hoping to wave rainbow boas today face a dilemma. Move to Massachusetts or fight on? Unless homosexual marriage supporters can torture some meaningful Constitutional deficiency from Prop 8 as written, it is time to find another issue.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (-1)
(-1) 
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