Josh's blog

“

Today, we are an inch taller as a nation. Today, we are a mile closer to the ideals described in the Declaration of Independence. Today, we have been transported light-years beyond where many ever thought we would be.

History will remember this president in this moment. He stood up for personal liberty and publicly affirmed what should have needed no affirmation: that in a just society the rights of some must be the rights of all, that we do not condemn those who love differently, that we are all made greater when we are all treated equally.

”

“ My grandfather just had a high school education, a grade school education, but in [his] country store he taught me more about equality in the eyes of the Lord than all my professors at Georgetown, more about the intrinsic worth of every individual than all the philosophers at Oxford, more about the need for equal justice under the law than all the jurists at Yale Law School. ”

“ Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there [points to the Lincoln Memorial], at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King’s dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century. ”

“ I think if people want to make commitments that last a lifetime they ought to be able to do it. I have long favored the right of gay couples to adopt children… I think what made me change my mind [on gay marriage] was I looked up one day and I said, “look at all this stuff you’re for”. I’ve always believed that, I’ve never supported all these moves of a few years ago to ban gay couples from adoption, because there are all these kids out there looking for a home. And the standard in all adoption cases is, “what is the best interests of the child”, and there are plenty of cases where the best interests of the child is to let the gay couple take them and give them a loving home. So I said, “you know, I realize that I was over 60 years old, I grew up in a different time, and I was hung up about the word”. I had all these gay friends, I had all these gay couple friends and I was hung up about it and I decided I was wrong, that if, that our society has an interest in coherence and strength and commitment and mutually reinforcing loyalties and if gay couples want to call their union “marriage” and a state agrees, and several have now, or a religious body will sanction it—and I don’t think the state should be able to stop religious bodies from saying it, I don’t think the rest of us should get in the way of that. I think it’s a good thing, not a bad thing. ”

“ We will not stand by or be aloof. We will move. I happen to believe that the 1954 Supreme Court school desegregation decision was right. But my belief does not matter. It is the law. Some of you may believe the decision was wrong. That does not matter. It is the law. ”