Andrew Sullivan: 'I Never Understood the Power of a President's Words' Till Obama Flipflopped on Gay Marriage

Remember back in 2008 when Michelle Obama said, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country?"

The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan made a similar remark on this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show when he said of Barack Obama's flipflop on same-sex marriage, "I never understood the power of a president's words till today, till that day" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ANDREW SULLIVAN, DAILY BEAST: It's hugely important, and to tell you the truth, I didn't realize how important it would be till it happened. Beforehand, I was kind of steeled. I was like, “I don't care, he's going to disappoint us again,” and then I sat down and watched our president tell me that I am his equal. That I'm no longer outside, I'm fully part of this family. And to hear the president, who is in some ways a father figure, speak to that, the tears came down like with many people in our families, to be included.

I never understood the power of a president's words till today, till that day, really. I thought, all that matters is the states and the Congress and the Defense of Marriage Act, and I had all this in my head. And yet suddenly, this man saying, “I'm with you, I get it, you're like me, I'm like you, there is nothing between us, we are the same people, and we are equal human beings, and I want to treat you the way you treat me.” That, that was overwhelming. That's all I can say. I was at a loss for words.

This is the praise liberal media members give when a Democrat president is forced by his bumbling vice president to flipflop on a position that itself was a flipflop for political expedience four years prior.

Regardless of its consistency, the hypocrisy is staggering.

Media observers thought 2008 was conceivably a low for the journalism industry.

What's been happening so far in 2012 and is destined to continue through Election Day is making what happened four years ago look like journalism's heyday.