The Chick-fil-A Controversy: Can I Get a Side of Hypocrite with My Chicken Sandwich, Please?

On Chick-fil-A controversy, see related blog:
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I'm a pretty open book when it comes to my opinions regarding politics and social issues. You can search my name on Patch to find a few columns I wrote sharing my political leanings. However, please don't judge this book by it's red cover. 

Sure, I'm passionate when it comes to governmental fiscal responsibility and my strong desire to vote Barack Obama out of the White House can't be wavered. But there's another subject I'm crazy passionate about. The rights of the gay community. 

If anyone on my social media networks breathes a stitch of anti-gay rhetoric, I'm claws out. The equality of law abiding, tax paying American citizens is not something that is up for discussion in my world.

I've had gay friends, a gay business partner, and I've marched in favor of the legalization of gay marriage. Although classifying my friends and business partner as "gay" seems unnatural to me...as they were just my friends and my business partner. I really do not understand why anyone's sexual preference makes them something different than me or you or anyone else. 

My personal thoughts on gay marriage is that all "marriages" should be classified as civil unions at the state level. If two citizens want to go to the county courthouse and make their partnership legal, and they have the correct documents to do so, then they should be granted a civil union. If those same two people want to then classify their partnership as a "marriage" they can and should do so via the religious institution of their choosing.

Treating "marriage" as I just described takes the religious argument, that so many cite to make their anti-gay debate, out of the equation. Personally, I can not wait until the day, and it's coming, when this issue isn't something that divides our country. 

However, right now our country is more divided than ever on the subject. Why? Because of a comment Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A made. Because of his comment to a Christian publication, the country is up in arms planning protests and boycotts of the restaurant. The mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, has even pledged to block Chick-fil-A's desire to open a new restaurant across from City Hall in his city. A restaurant which would provide much needed jobs in this strapped economy. 

To further add to the divide, Jim Henson Productions, at the request of Lisa Henson their CEO, has publicly denounced Dan Cathy's opinion and put an explanation point on that denouncement by pulling their promotional partnership with the restaurant.

And now my head starts to pound. I present to you the following: 

In November 2008, Barack Obama stated, "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.” 

In October 2010, Barack Obama stated, “I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage.”

Here's where my head starts to spin and is on the verge of exploding...

Lisa Henson, THE Lisa Henson, the very one who is the CEO of the Jim Henson Company, donated over $50,000 to Barack Obama's campaign at the time he made those comments.

Yet when Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A now infamously stated, "We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that." ....the very same Lisa Henson made a big display of pulling her company's partnership from Chick-fil-A citing "Chick-Fil-A’s CEO’s opposition to same sex marriage."

Soooo.....where was the outrage against Barack Obama? His statements on the subject show a MUCH more of anti-gay stance. Yes, he recently came out in support of gay marriage but as the most powerful person in the world he has yet to act on that position. Which seems odd as he's tossing executive orders around more than a pizza joint tosses dough in the air on a Friday night. Also, Lisa Henson has continued to donate more than $5,000 prior to Obama's sudden (and conveniently timed) change of heart.

I can see if Dan Cathy said something along the lines of, "Those [enter horrible gay slur here] aren't welcome to nom on my chicken"...but he didn't even MENTION the term or any variation of "gay."

Apparently I'm missing something here...because this makes ZERO sense to me.

Unless you mention the term "hypocrite"...then I get it.