CNBC reporter: White House views gays as ‘Internet left fringe’

By Stephen C. Webster
Sunday, October 11th, 2009 -- 9:50 pm
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gayrightsmarchondc CNBC reporter: White House views gays as Internet left fringeFollowing Sunday's high-profile gay rights march on Washington, D.C., CNBC's John Harwood reported that while many LGBT activists are split on their approval of the Obama administration, the president is still polling extremely well with Democrats.

"The White House views this group [gays] as part of the Internet left fringe," he said, explaining why there has not been more swift action to bring equality to an otherwise sidelined segment of American society.

The comments come less than 24 hours after President Obama reaffirmed his support for ending the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits homosexuals from serving openly in the military. However, he did not provide a timeline for repealing the measure, which he has called "discriminatory."

Responding to a question on whether Sunday's protest signaled a growing animosity between Obama and his base of supporters, Harwood said he does not believe so.

"We've seen and certainly Bill Clinton learned that Democratic presidents can get punished by the mainstream of the electorate for being too aggressive on social issues, so for now I think the administration feels if they take care of the big issues -- health care, energy, the economy -- they're going to be just fine with this group," he said.

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"If you look at the polling, Barack Obama is doing well with 90 percent or more of Democrats," Harwood continued. "So, the White House views this opposition as really part of the Internet left fringe. ... For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn't take this opposition, an adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed and realized that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."

The pajamas remark in particular did not sit well with prominent netroots writers.

"I wonder how the Human Rights Campaign is going to explain how the White House just knifed our community less than 24 hours after he went to their dinner and claimed he was our friend," opined John Aravosis at Americablog.

"Maybe it's time for some White House advisers to get out of their pajamas and read a newspaper once in a while. They might find out that we actually won the election (and that the blogs - and the gay community - played a key role in that victory)."

Pam Spaulding with Pam's House Blend took a similar position.

"It doesn't matter why this behavior is occurring, really," she wrote. "What one has to take away from this message, naturally not attributed to anyone at the WH -- cowards -- is that bloggers are messing up their playbooks. And the answer is to diminish what influence we have -- it's limited at best. You have to ask why is this paranoid, juvenile message getting tossed out there. All those big brains in the White House and the best they can do is to bring up the hoary pajama game?"

She adds: "To me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this.

"Or do I just need to fold my hands in my pajama-clad, Cheetos-stained lap like a good homo?"

This video is from MSNBC, broadcast Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Story comments are below...
  • Yomama
    Fuck Obama. He has treated gay people like an ATM machine.
  • arundel
    WHAT is with this weird smearing of bloggers as being always in "pajamas"??

    Besides being MSM obnoxious and dismissive..who the hell wears pajamas ? Like in a some Cary Grant movie from 60 years ago?

    Just terribly weird. And I don't know if I trust a CNBC reporter to tell me how the WH sees gay people.
  • "And I don't know if I trust a CNBC reporter to tell me how the WH sees gay people". Exactly!
  • Jim Peterson
    Another un-named source. The Sources name is Mr. Idonot Exist. Name the source for this to be a real event otherwise you Mr. Reporter can be a paid for Karl Rove plant.
  • sandy763
    I don't believe anything these so called "reporters" say about things coming from the white house. Obama isn't that stupid people and the corporate MSM has it in for him and his administration. I believe Pres. Obama will do the things he promised. Getting health care through now means things aren't moving as fast as some would want. Give him a chance and keep writing, calling, marching to make sure he knows to get it done. Don't keep falling for right wing shit.
  • moi2cents
    Wow, slow news day, huh.
    I guess if you really massage it, you can wring some controversy out of it...but why dig that deep just to put a few panties in a twist? Has "news" come down to "reporting" on "newsmen"? This informs the debate, uh...how?
    Next on CNBC: John Harwood reports he heard some guy, coming from the direction of either Washington, D.C. or Chicago, say he understands by READING that Obama plans on rounding up gays for the FEMA camps with black helicopters, and fluoridating 'em to a fare-thee-well.
    And someone who looked really conservative, and sported a Reagan lapel pin, told him that the Republicans believe they can woo the gays with Crate and Barrel discount coupons, or something similarly impolite. Stay tuned!

    John Harwood: Doooood, he says your mom smells funny, and he might kick your ass after school.

    Hey, RS and CNBC: Youz are supposed to report news, not create it. No more weapons of mass distraction.

    "Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
    Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
    Whether saw it in Sun or BBC 1
    Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruct
    You coulda Caucasian or a poor Asian
    Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
    Whether inflation or globalization
    Fear is a weapon of mass destruction...

    Greed is a weapon of mass destruction

    We need to find the courage, overcome
    Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction"
    -Faithless

    Source it, own it, or STFU. There's enough bullshit to go around already.
  • go to my website to learn how to restore the constitution. i am only a concerned citizen armed with knowledge. please visit and pass it on to a friend.
  • click on my name to visit my website.
  • EarthAbides
    Harwood made this crap up!!! Get real people, Harwood is just a reporter, not a White House spokesman.
  • Tyke
    John Harwood has been called out in the past for ridiculous claims about "liberals" that are complete and utter bullshit. This entire "story" is based on Harwood's personal interpretation from an unnamed source.

    Preety lame that anyone would be fool enough to fall for it..

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/200908090011
  • Jhoffa_
    LOL!
  • Time to get the Pajama Party going. Bring your cheatos and fringes to
    http://facebook.com/whitehouse
    or go directly to the source
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
  • BillAnthony
    He doesn't source it in any way, shape, or form to any quote or comment, just an assumption he pulls out of his ass. This is the same MSM crowd that was in rapt awe over Dubya's infallible "gut instinct", again, something of their own creation.
  • Truth
    Fuck politics. Fuck our government. Fuck Obama. Politics' primary tools are bullshitting and deception for the motive of pursuit for more power.
  • Truth
    Oh, and btw, viewing the mainstream media is a waste of time. 99% propaganda and ignorant isolationist reporting. There can only be two acceptable viewpoints...just as there are only two viable political parties? Raw Story is hardly better...collecting articles almost solely from mainstream news sources.
  • Well, there's the gay internet fringe group, the anti-war fringe group, the single-payer fringe group, the anti-torture fringe group....
    How many of those fringe groups can Obama afford to lose before his chances for reelection in 2012 become totally illusionary? He wouldn't have won in 2008 if all LGBTs had voted against him, and it's not like he is becoming so popular on the right side that it will make up for any losses on the left...
  • Jhoffa_
    "He wouldn't have won in 2008 if all LGBTs had voted against him..."

    That's just stupid.. Because they never will.

    They know that as a teenie, weenie little bunch of fringers that no one cares what they think, and they stand to lose much more with the R's than with the D's. They'll whine and cry like little babies who soiled themselves, but then they will come out and vote D again because they stand to lose valuable ground otherwise.

    It's inevitable.. Why worry what they want? After all, they're just a bunch of fringers who self identify by what they do with their sex organs.

    Just shake Prop 8 at them and watch them STFU and fall back in line.

    Whiny queers just need to be reminded who is running the party sometimes I guess.
  • And "who is running the party"? Emanuel(le) Rahm, the former ballet dancer! Looks queer to me...
    :P
  • Jhoffa_
    PS: And STOP trying to attach yourself to legitimate movements with momentum and actual followers.

    Just like the black civil rights struggle, queers are always pretending that they matter.

    POTUS just proved otherwise.

    STFU and mind your place.. all three or 4 of you.

    They're not going to let a couple of people destroy the party, and if you don't like it.. Just go vote for PALIN in 2010!

    LOL! Angsty whiners! What a joke!
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