For most of the 634 days Barack Obama has been president of [the]United States, he and his voluble sidekick from Delaware have pleaded with the gay community to give them time, trust us, be patient, we understand, you'll be happy with us later, you know where we stand over the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Valerie Jarrett, the president's senior adviser who seems at his elbow virtually everywhere, this week gave a videotaped interview to Jonathan Capehart, an editorial writer at the Washington Post...In it, she described the pain of a gay man's family after his suicide: "They were aware that their son was gay. They embraced him. They loved him. They supported his lifestyle choice."

To get back in line with her boss' public position, Jarrett issued an apology Thursday clarifying that what she said about sexual orientation wasn't what she believes about sexual orientation. "I meant no disrespect to the LGBT community, and I apologize to any who have taken offense at my poor choice of words," Jarrett said. "Sexual orientation and gender identity are not a choice."