I wanted to focus this primarily on Vermont, but I just have to say, this is one of the best speeches I’ve ever seen him give:

Obama gave this speech last night:

I have to say, I love this speech.  It actually made me cry.  

And the speech is a good start.  But it’s the same good start we made in November, and the same good start we’ve repeatedly had.

I’m one of the people that’s been urging patience, but I also think that since our President is refusing to issue a timeline, I should issue one of my own.

So here’s the deal: he took office in January of 2009.  

I’m counseling patience with pressure: never stop asking about DOMA, about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, about ENDA (and, specifically, one that includes protections on the basis of gender identity as well as sexual orientation).  Withhold donations to campaigns of politicians who refuse to answer questions on these issues.  Tell your representatives that these are important to you.  

But let’s give it a little time to work its way through.  And I do mean, a little.  I’m behind this President and I’m behind my party.  But since Obama won’t tell us when he intends to do these things except in vague and general terms, here’s my timeline (he’s got a lot to do, so I’ll be generous):

He’s got a year from the day he took office to make a serious impact on DOMA, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell or ENDA.  This means pressuring congress to do the right thing and get a bill on his desk that he can sign.  If I don’t see this by the end of January 2010, I will no longer be urging patience of any sort.  I will be urging constant and continual pressure without apology, without reservation, without anything.

This isn’t for me.  I live in Vermont, and work in New Hampshire.  My rights are actually pretty solid.  I want them on the federal level, but my day to day life… I’m fine.  This is for every queer kid in Indiana who has to tolerate abuse at school.  This is for the 15-year old in Oklahoma who knows she’s transsexual, but can’t understand what to do about it because the nearest resource center is hundreds of miles away.  This is for every gay couple in Maine who doesn’t know what the hell is going to happen to their marriage rights this year.

This is because I know where I come from, what I had to go through, and who I am and I’m not leaving my people behind just because I’m comfortable.  This is for all of us.

I’m not expecting that all I have to do is to click my heels three times and have everything be okay.

I’m with my president, and I loved this speech.

Now I want to see it made manifest.

Okay, after the fold, open thready stuff.

First, this pair of headlines showed up next to one another in the Herald this week:

Over at Daily Kos, there’s a link to this piece of wingnut art, which is almost funny enough on its own.  If you put the mouse over parts of the artwork, you get commentary about the various people, such as, with the Immigrant, “Why does he have his hand up like that…?  I wanted him to have a look of shock when he realizes where the source of America’s greatness comes from as he sees Christ holding the Constitution.”

There’s also a great spoof of it.  Here’s a screen shot of one of the mouseover bits:

And, finally, a question:

Are the people who made this decision competent at what they do?

…But the number of mudpuppies killed in the Lamoille during the lampricide treatment a week ago raises questions about how well biologists understand the population of the salamander, the effect of the chemical used to control lamprey and the potential that other stresses can put the creatures at risk during such treatments, Andrews said.

“These are complex systems we are tinkering with,” he said.

“It is a large number,” Laroche said of the mudpuppies killed. But, he added, “I am not alarmed.”

The large number of mudpuppies killed might mean that the Lamoille – which has never been treated with lampricide before – has a very high population of the mottled brown salamanders, he said.

“We could have an abundance of mudpuppies and just have a situation where it is difficult to find them and catch them,” Laroche said.

Really?  You kill over 500 members of a species of a rare species of serious concern and you’re “not alarmed?”