Obama Poised To Shut Gays Out of Cabinet
First he booked an anti-gay pastor for the inauguration, and now the president-elect is expected to shut openly gay candidates out of the two cabinet seats they had a shot at.
If you think the left, gays included, were pissed off with Obama shutting them out of power before, oh man, just wait until the Wall Street Journal's report about Obama's Labor Secretary (who was supposed to maybe be gay) comes true:
Harley Shaiken, a prominent expert on unions, Detroit and the U.S.-Mexican border, has emerged as a top candidate for the post of secretary of labor, officials familiar with the vetting process say....
[Former Congressman David] Bonior has championed labor activist Mary Beth Maxwell, who would be the first openly gay cabinet member in history. But Shaiken has emerged as a candidate with strong backing from unions and high praise from corporate officials, according to people familiar with the selection process.
Labor was one of two cabinet posts considered within plausible reach of openly gay candidates.
The other? Interior, where on the shortlist was John Berry, director of the National Zoo and former Assistant Interior Secretary. And Obama Wednesday gave that job to Ken Salazar, a straight male senator, from Colorado, who wears a cowboy hat, unironically. He's just taunting gay men at this point.
In all seriousness, the past 24 hours has brought terrible news from the Obama administration in terms of relations with the gay community and advancement on gay rights issues. (And lifelong bachelorette and homeland security secretary nominee Janet Napolitano doesn't count, because if she's gay, she isn't talking about it.)