Over at the NYT Politics blog it's very important that you know "Obama to Name Openly Gay Ambassador." This is presumably because The President needs to "make progress" on gay rights and now he is making progress so that's pretty wonderful isn't it? The foot dragging probably has a lot of reasons, not least among them the "civil war" threats coming from anti-gay marriage African American Dems whose minority status places them awkwardly in unimpeachable Absolute Moral Authority territory.

The strange thing is I don't remember this kind of MSM framing when Bush appointed Michael Guest Ambassador to Romania, making Guest the first openly gay Ambassador ever confirmed by the Senate. And it's particularly weird because in contrast to Obama's appointment - which may objectively set back gay rights by relieving leftist pressure on him to do something bigger - Bush's appointment of Guest demonstrably advanced the cause of civil liberties. It did so internationally by helping shame Romania into repealing anti-gay laws. And it did so domestically by starting a heated debate on the right, which is where that debate will have to happen if gay rights are ever going to go mainstream:

During his speech at Guest's swearing-in ceremony in the State Department Diplomatic Reception Room, Powell explicitly noted the presence of and positively recognized Guest's life partner, Alex Nevarez. LGBT rights groups viewed Guest's appointment, and Powell's remarks, as historic and indicative of greater recognition of gay State Department employees and same-sex partners. Socially conservative groups expressed opposition to Guest's appointment and to Powell's gesture.

Three weeks after Guest took up residence, the NYT ran a story headlined "Bucharest Journal: It's Still No Breeze for Gays, Even Diplomatic Ones." So don't even think about giving Bush any credit. I wonder if the NYT will be running similar stories about Obama's appointee? I'm thinking almost certainly, because they're so assiduous.

In unrelated news, the Obama White House is launching a major effort to stymie the anti-White House leanings of the press. Because that's obviously what's holding him back.

References and previously after the jump...