Michelle Obama Confronts Gay-Rights Protester, Threatens To Leave Fundraiser

[Jingthing]

I just don't want the movement to be messed up now by irresponsible actors when so much progress has been made, and victory looks inevitable EVENTUALLY. This isn't 1975. Different stage, different tactics.

[impulse]

If she had pulled the same stunt in 1975, it couldn't have gone viral...

It would have been too late for Laugh-In, but could have made excellent fodder for SNL.

And keep in mind, had she done the same in 2005, she'd be on a terrorist watch list, or worse.

[Jingthing]

You missed my point. The movement had almost nothing to lose in 1975. Now it has already achieved massive PR gains with a public consensus of inevitable total success. Way too much to LOSE to fool with juvenile tactics now.

[impulse]

I do get your point.

Her act may prove to be just as you describe, a juvenile tactic, or it may prove to be (accidentally or deliberately) a boon for the cause.

I think it's way too early to write the last chapter here.

To be honest, while I support equal rights for gays, not being one, and not being married, and not being entitled to any spousal corporate or government benefits one way or the other, it's just not a hot button issue for me.

[chuckd]

I think you need to tell all that to someone who cares or who might be a bit interested.

Thanks for that but I hit my target audience. Cheers.

[Publicus]

I think you need to tell all that to someone who cares or who might be a bit interested.

Thanks for that but I hit my target audience. Cheers.

Yeah, I'm still reading your stuff - mostly. I can't speak for others.

[Publicus]

55 posts (and that's in Thailand, no less) and still going.

Had she been polite and proper, nobody outside the meeting would have ever heard of her or the point she was trying to make.

Woman behaves badly and succeeds wildly. She got her 15 minutes. I can see a book deal next. Kind of like Monica....

(Not a slam on her as much as our society's obsession with fame and the infamous)

The topic would have got some news coverage whether the person had been polite or impolite. There was a media chosen pool reporter present who professionally would have had to mention it, either at the moment or afterward, to the press/media waiting outside.

(Given it was a fundraising event, and in a private home, the media agree on one reporter to fit him/her self into the place. Sometimes there's a camera, sometimes not, depending on the place itself, the event etc. Polite or impolite, the gal would have had the story grabbed by some media and would have been ID'd easily by the press for interview.)

Prez Obama is proceeding rapidly yet deliberately in this. I'd just posted yesterday that the president has authorized equal benefits to same sex couples in the military, effective in September. It's a strong argument to make to unions and corporations who work government contracts to hire gay workers and to provide equal benefits to same sex couples once the military has those same or similar benefits. It's a strong argument to make to anyone once the military has those same or similar benefits.

A gigantic step at a time, that's all. The loudmouth needs to have some patience and understanding - she's not the first or only gay person to experience discrimination, or deadly hate. People such as her trouble me in many ways, one of which is that they habitually go after straight women, in this case the First Lady.

Prez Obama in this matter is proceeding thoughtfully and with a good rationale to support his approach.