Obama Does It Right

There's no doubt that I have been critical of President Obama since this blog's inception, but I think he got this one right. Obama extended hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners:

President Obama mandated Thursday that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.

While I don't know how successful his repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the armed services has been, I think that this will be successful in bridging the gap for the civil rights of the gay and lesbian community or at least make it an issue that needs to be settled. I do, however, wonder if this will bring up a bigger issue over gay marriage. Critics of the decision are saying that it undermines the definition of marriage. Gays aren't allowed to marry though. Marriage shouldn't be an exclusive right. I'm not sure how the mandate was worded, but it could open up a can of worms in regards to who is designated as a visitor or what qualifies that right.

Regardless, I think it is a positive step because it will allow gays to have visitation rights. I still approach it with caution though because there is a much bigger issue lurking in the grassy knoll.