In a perceptive post at TPM, Josh Marshall writes

Over the last few days, as the emerging national marriage equality consensus has become more clear, a number of social conservatives have begun suggesting they are now in a new and oppressive climate in which they’re no longer able to speak their minds about the immorality of homosexuality or why laws should discriminate against gays.

[snip]

Or, to put it more bluntly, they say they’re losing their right to calls gays gross and weird.

Marshall goes on to say “In a sense, this is no different from the standard rightwing memes about being an oppressed minority fighting the war against Christmas and other efforts of the hippie liberal majority.”

I think Josh is right, but as a confirmed hippie liberal, why do I not feel like I’m winning? While gay marriage is a great victory, entitlements are still under attack, the defense department is still spending about 10 times as much as any other budget item, “the deficit” is still front and center in the national policy conversation rather than the jobs an 8% unemployment rate indicates should be, and our so–called “liberal” President is on the wrong side of the progressive view on all those issues.

I mean, considering the alternatives (Romney? McCain? Blech!) Obama has been terrific, but he keeps allowing the issues of the day to be ones the Republicans want (Deficit! Entitlements!) and he hasn’t been a big fighter even for things like his own nominations to the judiciary (when he gets around to selecting them). He’s frustrating me.