One new headline this morning, "Obama Widens Medical Rights For Same-Sex Partners", thrills me. It's real-world, it affects MY world -- partner and I have had those POAs and other docs prepared; we just don't always remember where we put them. The next time the ambulance comes, we won't have to worry about finding and bringing proof that we are the caretakers for each other.
This is Change. This is Progress.
Small to some, but very real progress, fellow Kossacks. And it tells me that he IS a Progressive. Maybe not as Progressive on every single issue as we want him to be; but f'ing light years more Progressive than ANY Republican alternative. And that, for me, is enough reason to re-double efforts now for November and to maybe be a little more vocal in support of this President.
Here's the article from the NY Times, front page:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
A couple of snips from Times article say it all:
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday ordered his health secretary to issue new rules aimed at granting hospital visiting rights to same-sex partners.
The White House announced the rule changes, which will also make it easier for gay men and lesbians to make medical decisions on behalf of their partners, in a memorandum released Thursday night. In it, the president said the new rules would affect any hospital that participates in Medicare or Medicaid, the government programs to cover the elderly and the poor.
And the Human Rights Campaign's reaction sums it up. And yea HRC (for a change)...
"It’s a huge deal," said David Smith, vice president of policy for the Human Rights Campaign, which worked with the White House to develop the memorandum, in an interview Thursday night. "Nearly every hospital in the country will now be required to provide hospital visitation rights to LGBT families. It’s an enormous step. In the absence of equal marriage rights in most jurisdictions, this step provides an essential right to LGBT families for a gay person or a lesbian person to spend time with their partner in a critical situation."
From the heart: Thank You President Obama.
Postscript: The comments in this diary should make it clear to all of us here that we.ARE.family. Thank you fellow Kossacks.
Postscript2: Thanks to blackwaterdog for bringing more information and visuals to support the importance of today's great news.
Postscript3: Thanks to commanda for recalling and then finding a heart-wrenching diary here at DailyKos (by Brubs) that provides the up-close context for understanding the gratitude expressed in this diary. Here's is Brubs' great diary...
http://www.dailykos.com/...