Well, well, well the most qualified cabinet in history has room for zero gays

[dsc]

Not one single, solitary gay made the cut. I was told I was crass and vulgar for saying that we needed a gay in the cabinet. I was told that Obama surely would consider gays for the cabinet. Well, now here we are and not one single, solitary gay made the cut. Not an openly gay labor leader who lost out to a person who has no discernable history of working on labor issues. Not an openly gay former deputy at HUD. Not a single, solitary gay. We did find two Republicans. We have several Hispanics, several single women, a couple of Asians but not one single, solitary gay. Not one. Oh but we do have room for an evangelical pastor who hates gays to deliver the invocation (edit for the deliberatly stupid) Thanks.

[boppers]

1. Any women or other social minorities?

[dsc]

2. uh yeah

Women at State, Homeland, Labor, minorities at AG, Commerece, Labor, Interior, and both are just off the top of my head.

[Phx_Dem]

82. Compliments of Chuck Todd . . .

*** Updated Cabinet census: Here’s our updated list after the Solis and Kirk picks:

-- 8 State Schoolers (Daschle, Vilsack, Chu, Napolitano, Salazar, Gates, Solis, Kirk)
-- 7 Ivy Leaguers (Clinton, Duncan, Geithner, Holder, Donovan, Orszag, Jackson)
-- 5 Raised in the Midwest (Clinton, Daschle, Gates, Duncan, LaHood, Vilsack) Note: This doesn’t include Chu, who was born in Missouri but grew up in New York or Vilsack who can be now considered a "midwesterner" since he had lived in and lives in Iowa, but he grew up in Pennsylvania.
-- 5 Women (Clinton, Napolitano, Solis, Rice, Jackson)
-- 4 Raised in New York (Holder, Donovan, Geithner, Chu -- who grew up on Long Island) Note: This does not include Napolitano who was born in NYC or Clinton who currently lives there.
-- 4 Basketball Players (Duncan, Rice, Holder, Kirk -- who also was a cheerleader in college)
-- 4 African Americans (Holder, Kirk, Rice, Jackson)
-- 3 Hispanics (Salazar, Richardson, Solis)
-- 3 Westerners (Salazar, Richardson, Napolitano -- who was born in NYC but raised in Albuquerque) Note: Solis is from L.A., but is that really a Westerner?
-- 2 Asian Americans (Shinseki, Chu)
-- 2 Republicans (Gates, LaHood)
-- 2 Sitting Senators (Clinton, Salazar)
-- 2 Sitting Governors (Napolitano, Richardson)
-- 2 Raised in the South (Kirk, Jackson -- who was born in Philadelphia, but adopted a few weeks later and grew up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward)

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/19/1721537.aspx#comments

[lamp_shade]

3. What evangelical pastor got a cabinet position?

[Divine Discontent]

4. because we have a faux separation of church & state

being the one who gives the Inaugural Invocation, who already is his personal friend, is akin to a spiritual guide like many presidents have had in recent history. To mock off the point of the OP's comments - that not one Gay made the cut for a cabinet position, but Obama found that, combined with putting the most well known California minister who was FOR PROPOSITION H8 in as the one to give the prayer to God on the joyful inauguration day, despite him comparing Gay marriage to child rape, sex with your sister, or having 10 wives... wouldn't piss us the hell off!

no, not a F**KING thing wrong with that!

Just when I want to move on, someone makes a smarmy comment ignoring what is otherwise a great point by a fellow HUMAN being on a progressive website. I want to believe you care about the lack of full CIVIL rights (not even including marriage rights) for GLBT people.

[pnwmom]

7. None. n/t

[polichick]

18. Fundie pastors aren't part of the Democratic coalition.

[crappyjazz]

5. But but but ... there's going to be a GAY MARCHING BAND!!!! I'm SERIES!!!!!

[pnwmom]

6. How many cabinet positions are there? And how do you know

that none of these people -- single, or even married -- is gay?

What you wanted was an "out" to the media gay person . . . .

[Political Tiger]

11. Since there's only 15 cabinet positions

maybe we should be asking ourselves were there enough qualified openly gay candidates available for any of the positions?

I mean, truth be told, there are not that many openly gay people out there who hold office or have the necessary qualifications to hold one of the only 15 cabinet positions available....I'm not talking gay, but OPENLY gay.

In other words, there are probably plenty of gay people qualified for the job, but due to either choice or more likely circumstance, they are not openly gay.

Just because Obama did not appoint an openly gay person to one of those 15 seats doesn't automatically mean it as a slap in the face of gay Americans.

[Bucky]

34. Interesting distinction

Gay shouldn't be a political distinction--but it is, thanks to hatemongers like Rick Warren, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and other such un-Christ-like Christian misleaders. I think we're slowly moving toward a society in which the manner by which we seek sexual gratification and emotional partnership is not the basis for assessing access to our civil rights.

Emphasis on the word slowly, of course.

I honestly don't care if there is X number of gays, minorities, women, or any other demographic in the cabinet. The only relevant gauges should be (1) their expertise, (2) their commitment to preserving and defending the Constitution, and (3) the content of their characters. I believe if Obama brings in the best qualified people, he'll have all the diversity he needs.

That said, I do strongly believe in affirmative action. If you look at a group of appointees and you see a significant subset of Americans missing, it's probably a sign that something wasn't fully fair in the selection process. If there really are no publically identified gay cabinet officers, I hope that the president does make a serious effort to include some in his White House staff or see that significant subcabinet slots recieve qualified gay appointees.

[pnwmom]

77. That's basically what I'm thinking. Many gay people are open to their friends

and families, but not necessarily out at work -- and especially, not out to the national media. Does anyone really think Barney Frank is the only gay member of Congress?

[terrya]

8. I'm really seeing the handwriting on the wall here.

There literally isn't any place for us in his Cabinet, in his Administration, in his America. There's a place for the likes of Rick Warren, but not apparently for us.

Fuck that.

[alwysdrunk]

13. Warren is not in the cabinet

Neither are any evangelical pastors. Or any anti-gay activists. No openly gay cabinet members mean there is no place for gays in America? You sound ridiculous.

[Solomon]

41. You guys oughta really get a look at yourselves. It's getting

ridiculous. Do you seriously think he decided to replace a gay person who was the best qualified for a position with someone who is not gay because he doesn't like gays? This is getting absurd.

[Umbram]

69. Oh noes! Obama is Hitler and will round you up in camps! (nt)

[high density]

9. Where's the fat nerd with glasses?

As a fat nerd with glasses, I demand a fat nerd with glasses go into the cabinet.

[XemaSab]

79. Here:

[RC]

10. Any Liberals? I mean real liberals, not just someone with a "D" after their name or defined by

Rush or Hanney as such. But I repeat myself.

[Political Tiger]

12. How do you define liberal? n/t

[RC]

14. Someone left of center.

That is for single payer universal health care, without insurance companies practicing medicine.
Someone who thinks knows war is not the answer.
Someone who knows people count, it's the people that are important.
Someone that knows that government should work for the people, not the other way around.
Someone that know socialism is not an inherent evil.
Someone that wants to save some of what little is left of pristine nature, without putting up LED billboards telling everyone where it is.

[MadBadger]

32. Somebody who knows war is never the answer, or just certain wars?

I'm anti Iraq War, not anti-war. I'm still left of center.

[MadBadger]

30. Secretary of Labor Rep Hilda Solia

[babylonsister]

56. Hilda Solis-she's a progressive liberal, if that's okay, too...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8005258&mesg_id=8005258

[stray cat]

15. Who would you have liked to see and in what post?

[RC]

16. That is Obama's job and he is failing us.

[high density]

17. Failing at what?

I don't know of any quotas that Obama is supposed to fulfill in his cabinet positions. He'll choose the best person for the job, and none of these jobs have GLBT as a requirement.

[Medusa]

20. I didn't realize that Obama

had a constitutional obligation to appoint a gay to a cabinet post. Silly me.

[ellacott]

22. Very true

When people commented that they wanted a black person to take his senate seat people criticized that. They said it shouldn't be based on color.

Different standards at work here.

[The Doctor.]

38. If race, sex, religion, and sexual orientation are not reasons to DISqualify someone

from holding a position, then they are neither reasons to qualify someone.

[RollWithIt]

19. interesting

you can'y name one person but you're pissed he didn't pick the person you can't name.

[RC]

86. I'm not pissed. I'm disappointed. Disappointed thar Obama seems to be moving

to the right. Sometimes the best person for the job IS Left of center. Where are they among Obama's picks? Lots of centralist, a bunch of DINO's, a few real Republicans.
Real liberals? :shrug: Tell me, where are they?

BTY, In case you haven't noticed, the elections are over. Most of Obama's picks I have barely heard of. I have to look them up. I can't do much about his picks and can't see working myself into a heated lather and an early grave rooting for people that don't have a Chance. But I can state my views here in the dim hope others might be paying attention to what is going on, preferably without someone trying to guess my emotional state. There are too many that are still star struck with the democrats winning the election to really be paying attention.

BTW, you don't know me so don't be assuming I think and act like you. I most assuredly do not! You I can get pissed at for your assumptive arrogance. I am taking a wait and see attitude till Obama has been in office for a while.

[Left coast liberal]

78. Bull. this is not a failure. This is an isse. NT

[dsc]

24. I have answered that several times

Frank for Treasury, Actenburg for HUD, Maxwell for Labor all would have been excellent choices and in the case of Maxwell more qualified than the person who actually got the post.

[Neecy]

66. Didn't Actenburg serve in the Clinton administration?

She's extremely qualified, and I never heard her name being considered for the HUD post.

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. You do not know that

Some people, even those involved in public service, like to keep their private life private. Just because someone hasn't announced to the press that they are gay does not mean that they are not gay.

[QC]

23. But...but...but...the marching band!1!1!!!!

[marimour]

25. Well Bush's did if you believe the Condi rumors so does that make him more progressive?

You dont know that there are no gay people in the Obama cabinet. What you do know is that there are 0 gay cabinet members who feel the need to inform YOU of their sexual preferences.

[Maven]

26. There are more Republicans than gay people in the Cabinet.

Amazing!

[The Doctor.]

39. Well...

given the propensity of Republicans to be closet gays.... ;)

[slackmaster]

27. I didn't say you were crass and vulgar for saying we "need" a gay in the cabinet

I said before, and I continue to say, that selection of cabinet members is too important to be turned into a photo op for Affirmative Action.

I want the most qualified members available for each position irrespective of personal traits over which they have no control.

[Maven]

29. If you open your fucking eyes

you'll see there was an obvious effort to select a diverse cabinet, both in ideology and in background, to include one or two people from all parts of the population.

Except one.

[slackmaster]

31. I think you are being hypersensitive, looking for a reason to continue feeling oppressed

My eyes are wide open, thank you.

[Maven]

33. Oh what a fuckin surprise. You got yours

the oppression must be in my head.

Why do people like you even bother calling yourselves progressives? You're just fine with the way things are.

[slackmaster]

36. "...people like you"

Uh-huh. Flame away. You brought this sub-thread into ad hominem territory by accusing me of not having my eyes open.

:popcorn:

Why do people like you even bother calling yourselves progressives?

Where have I ever called myself a "progressive"? I lean toward libertarianism, and believe that real progress is not a one-way street.

[jberryhill]

50. "Except one"

Native Americans?

Physically handicapped?

[slackmaster]

57. Senior citizens like me?

:popcorn:

[Creideiki]

51. I apologize to everyone then

I should never have voted against the anti-Affirmative Action amendment in Colorado.

Really, I'm sorry.

[scheming daemons]

28. You mean no OPEN gays.....

A certain Arizona governor has a high probability of being a closet gay.

[Bucky]

35. Ah, unmarried women = lesbian. thanks for the info

Someone's sex life doesn't matter. The point is to include people who are publically identified as gay. Hiding one's identity, no matter what that identity is, makes it absolutely not a political consideration.

[Beacool]

42. Is Napolitano gay?

I don't know much about the woman.

[AspenRose]

45. No, she is not.

[Neshanic]

67. Really. You know that for a fact?

[AspenRose]

88. A search here at DU will show it's been discussed ad nauseam before.

Since I do not know her personally, I cannot say it is a "fact."

However, the last I remember it being discussed, the 'verdict,' if you will, (based on shared information gleaned from the media) was 'no, she is not.'

Personally, I don't really care. :shrug:

[Beacool]

76. So, it's one of those cases where people make up things

about a woman if she doesn't have a man in her life? Typical.....

:eyes:

[thewiseguy]

46. Why do you post such rubbish?

[The Doctor.]

37. This is a call for affirmative action.

This is obviously an intentional and deliberate statement by Obama that gays are not welcome in his cabinet. How many qualified gay men and women did Obama refuse on the basis of their being gay? We may never know.

It's obvious, at this point, that the only real qualification his cabinet picks have is not being gay.

Clinton? Unqualified. There are any number of far more qualified gay people that could be SoS.
Richardson? He's a hack. There were at least a dozen gay men or women that could do the same job better.
Eric Holder? He only picked him because holder is black!

Some people are saying that Obama might pick William White, an openly gay man, for Secretary of the Navy. But we know better. By now, Obama has deliberately proven that he hates gays, so we know that will never happen.

:eyes:


Ok, seriously... If Obama actually did pass up more qualified people because they were gay, then the OP might have a point. Telling anyone that they must make their picks based on getting every 'kind' of person in a position is telling them that superficiality supercedes qualification. If you don't think that being gay, black, female, or atheist is a substantive enough reason to disqualify someone for a position, then you'd be a hypocrite to claim those are the utmost qualification either.

Sure, Obama should be making an effort to put diversity in place, but not at the expense of skill and experience. Again; if Obama passes up an otherwise qualified gay man or woman because they're gay, then yes, I'll carry a dark note over every thought of Obama I have. Meanwhile, spending all one's efforts on finding deliberate insult in everything that doesn't adhere to one's ideal is an exercise in futility and embarrassment. If it turns out that he's actually a homophobe, then I'll rail about it. Till then, I think I'll wait for him to become President before I call for impeachment. K?


Now back to our regularly scheduled rage-hunt...

[dsc]

60. actually as the OP directly said Obama did exactly and precisely that

Solis has no, not an iota of, experience in labor related issues while Ms. Maxwell, who has a ton of experience in those issues was passed over.

[The Doctor.]

73. Obviously because Maxwell was gay.

Seriously though;

Sure, I would be disappointed to find that any more qualified person is passed over for a less qualified one. If this is indeed the case, then I have to wonder what other criteria he based his decision on. I'm not ready to claim outright discrimination.

Do you have more details?

[jenmito]

40. I'm physically disabled. He doesn't have room for ONE physically disabled person in his cabinet?

I KNEW he was against rights for the disabled-this confirms it!

[whistler162]

58. General Shinseki is a Disabled American Verteran....

while not extreme he did lose part of his foot in Vietnam.

[jenmito]

59. He lost part of his foot. That doesn't make him disabled, though.

He's still able to walk without any help, right?

[last1standing]

43. Yep. We were fucked. It won't happen again, though.

I expect a Hell of a lot of advancement in GLBT rights over the next four years or I will be working against the Obama campaign. I'm finally at the point where I feel that if I'm going to suffer then the rest of these fuckers can join me. It's either everyone or no one time in my mind.

[Umbram]

71. Cool, maybe you can start the new PUMA.

There's a lot of well adjusted intellectuals waiting to join, no doubt.

[Phx_Dem]

44. You might want to hold your outrage until

he's actually finished. He's still considering openly gay Bill White for Secretary of the Navy.

[last1standing]

47. When Sec. of Navy becomes a cabinet position let me know.

Until then you might want to hold your ignorance. ALL cabinet level positions have been filled and we were left out in the cold by a guy who took our money then spit on us.

[Phx_Dem]

74. Okay so only gays appointed to cabinet positions count,

any other gays which may he may hire for positions, particularly in the military doesn't mean shit. Is that it?

Do you lay awake at night thinking up things to complain about?

:cry:

[AZBlue]

48. I want people chosen for their qualifications and experience.

Not their sexual orientation, race, gender, religious affiliation or age.

[ellacott]

49. What about Nancy Sutley?

[Bluebear]

54. Not in the cabinet

[babylonsister]

52. Can you name a gay person who was more qualified for

one of these cabinet seats than who was selected? Thanks.

[dsc]

61. Yes

Barney Frank was more qualified than his choice as was Ms Maxwell over Ms. Solis.

[Lucky 13]

63. It was my understanding that Barney Frank didn't want a cabinet position

Did you hear differently?

[jberryhill]

64. Apparently he should have been marched at gunpoint to take it /nt

[Lucky 13]

65. In lockstep!

I'm tired of certain people speaking for all of gaydom. We don't all share one brain. We don't all march lockstep. We can formulate our own thoughts and opinions.

[dsc]

68. Ms. Maxwell did

[Lucky 13]

70. That's not my question. I asked about Barney.

You've provided ONE example of someone who wanted a position that didn't get it. (I don't know ANYTHING about Solis and Maxwell, so I can't speak to that. Can you give me their full names so I can try to google them and read more about them?)

It's very easy to point out that there are no OPENLY gay people in the cabinet, but without some actual examples of people that were qualified that were passed over, it's hard to have a logical conversation about this.

[babylonsister]

72. Can you give me her first name so I can research her? I don't

know who she is, and would like to try to see how she is more qualified. Thanks.

[dsc]

80. Mary Beth Maxwell

[maxrandb]

53. Are you sure?

No one thought Senator "wide-stance" was gay.

Is sexual orientation the only qualification we're looking for? I don't see any Dominatrix' or Sadist either, although I always wondered about Condi Rice in the previous admin.

Maybe who they sleep with, or what they do in the privacy of their bedrooms is less important than how they will do their job. If Obama is only hiring qualified people, he must be bigoted against unqualified people.

I mean, that is the only explanation, right? We can't have discrimination against "lazy ne're do wells", they were well represented in the last administration, but not now. It's a travesty!

:eyes:

[Pisces]

55. I'm pretty sure Janet Napolitano is Gay. Not Obama's fault she is in the closet.

[Jennicut]

75. Uh-oh

Was Janet Reno in the closet as well? I don't remember.

[Lucky 13]

62. I did a little research at VictoryFund.org

First of all you don't really mean that he doesn't have any gays in his cabinet. You must mean he has no OPENLY gay people in his cabinet. Unless you have direct personal knowledge of who his appointees sleep with, can you really claim there are no gays? If you do have direct personal knowledge... spill it!

Ok, so I began thinking who is openly gay in politics and qualified for a role in the cabinet. I cruised over to VictoryFund.org and I came up with only a few potential names:

Tammy Baldwin - U.S. Representative from Wisconsin since 1999.
Barney Frank - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts since 1981.
There are numerous out gay people that serve as state level representatives, but would they be qualified? Probably not when compared to people with national experience.
Now I'm sure there are openly gay people in the fields of energy, transportation, etc., but can you name any? Do we know if any applied?

Do we know of any gay people that wanted an appointment that were passed over? Until I know the answer to that question, I will find it hard to be outraged.

[Phx_Dem]

81. Looks like you're in good company.

Matthew Yglesias from Think Progress is pissed because there are no Jews in the cabinet. There are 4 Jews on the White House staff, but Matthew seems to equate that to being the hired domestic help. Apparently, Secretary Geithner isn't Jewish enough for Yglesias.

Basically, it’s a chock full ‘o Jews White House staff and a non-Jewish cabinet.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/12/no_jews.php

The Native Americans must be pissed too; as far as I know there aren't any NAs in the cabinet either. There are two Asians, but I don't know if they're Chinese, Japanese, Korean or other. So I'm sure that must be a problem with whomever was left out.

This is just outrageous! I want my money back!! Or something.

[dsc]

83. call me when the anti semitic or anti Asian speaker is brought in

Somehow I doubt that will happen any time soon.

[Phx_Dem]

84. As far as I know there are no homophobes in the cabinet or

the White House staff.

But keep complaining anyway.

[dsc]

85. I said SPEAKER

STOP LYING ABOUT WHAT I SAID.

[Vinca]

87. How do you know he hasn't picked any gays? Seriously.

I've never been asked about my sexual orientation during a job interview. In any case, some people prefer to keep their private lives private. They might not want to wear a neon light on their chest that says "I am gay" to satisfy the disgruntled masses.