Obama (Allegedly) Evolves -- By Matty Jacobson

Matty Jacobson owns, operates,
edits and contributes to
TheSkewedReview.com.
The ring he wears symbolizes his
stable and loving relationship,
which is consequentially illegal
in the state of Utah. 

NEWS & POLITICS -- Is it genuine, or is it simply campaign season?

It's made headlines on every viable news site across this great nation of ours: President Barack Obama openly expressed his support for marriage equality.

Obama has managed to become one of the most popular modern public figures when it comes to LGBT human rights. After all, it was he who made an official LGBT Pride Month for America, and he made waves of progress by allowing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to expire. I remember watching the news as the clock counted down to the end of an era.

I got a little choked up when I saw how many people were cheering for the chance to fight and possibly die for the United States of America -- all while being openly gay.

I was waiting for Obama to take a stance on marriage equality directly afterward. You would think that any person who openly allows a gay person to fight for our country would also allow that same person to get married. But, it didn't happen. At least not right away.

It may have taken some time, but he's said it at last. I just hope his comments weren't prodded by Vice President Joe Biden's similar remarks in an interview just days before.

The White House was very quick to react when Biden said he was "comfortable with gay marriage." I'm not sure if the president's advisers wanted to quench the flames of controversy or ride the coattails of progress, but one or two of my own eyebrows were raised when Obama quickly reiterated Biden's thoughts.

Right now I'm torn between a lesser of two evils. On one hand, I see a great presidential candidate in the form of Mitt Romney. Yes, pundits are touting him as this Republican loony who will force his LDS beliefs upon the nation, but I look at his political history as the former Governor of one of the most liberal states in the union. He's also a shrewd businessman, and he's saved many a company from the brink of bankruptcy, and I think that's exactly what our country needs right now.

On the other hand, I see president Obama (who I voted for, by the way) and his ever increasing fight for the equal rights of those who deserve equal rights. The president's view on marriage equality has continued to evolve, and evolution is something every politician needs to be capable of. Some people may call it "flip-flopping," but I call it the ability to become educated and change accordingly.

In Romney's case, I am afraid he might try and push DOMA to the next level. I personally don't think he cares about a person's right to marry whomever he or she wants to marry, but he also has an obligation to his Republican base. I think if he weren't hounded by the far-right to condemn marriage equality, then he might just step aside and let social issues such as these continue to progress. But like any politician, he may have to do a few things he wouldn't regularly do in order to retain the votes of the very loud minority.

In Obama's case, I look at all his campaign promises from the 2008 circus. I voted for him because he promised to end Bush-era policies that infringe upon personal rights. However, when Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, I couldn't help but wonder where that campaign promise went.  Not only did Obama break the promise that our personal liberties wouldn't be toyed with in the fashion of the Patriot Act, but he also took everything wrong with the Patriot Act, gave it steroids, and then gave himself the God-like power to indefinitely detain anyone within the United States borders for any reason that could be attributed to terrorism.

And believe me, anything could be called "terrorism." In fact, this article alone could be used as evidence against me if any legal party was so inclined to do so.

So both candidates have shining qualities of what I want in a president, and both candidates have pieces of decayed morals that I wish would simply vanish.

Last week I would have said my vote was going to be for Mitt Romney. But today, I'm not so sure. If Obama continues on this trend of evolution, I just might return to his camp. I just hope his endorsement of marriage equality will grow into a demand, and I hope the trend will actually come to fruition if he's re-elected.

On a closing note, I encourage everyone to read this suggested campaign speech written for Obama by Sally Kohn, which was published on FoxNews.com on May 9, 2012. If there was ever a more logical argument for the ban on marriage exclusion than this, then I've yet to hear it.